I-67 Development Corporation formed and officers elected

There was a meeting in Huntingburg Thursday morning hosted by Hank Menke on the topic of I-67. Menke reports that a not-for-profit corporation was set up called I-67 Development Corporation and the elected officers include Menke as President, Eric Schue as Treasurer, and Travis McQueen as Secretary.

The board met to approve the $200,000 for a traffic and economic study by Cambridge Systematics. “The money raised through the Huntingburg EDIT fund, the Jasper EDIT fund, the Dubois County Area Development Corporation, and through money committed out of Washington and Owensboro is for this study.” Menke said. “The momentum is just absolutely huge.”

Menke stated the $200,000 will only cover the cost of the study but the initial stage of the project will cost closer to $250,000. Menke did state with the money Owensboro has committed to the project and if the Dubois County Commissioners and County Council approve county EDIT funds to be used for this initial study they will be very close to having the entire cost of the studies covered.

If the new interstate gets built, it would create a continuous four-lane interstate highway running from I-69 in Washington, south through Daviess, Dubois, and Spencer Counties in Indiana, then through Owensboro and continue on to Bowling Green.

Menke reports that the next steps include gathering the remaining funding for the study, then commissioning that study with the results expected to come in April.

He also says that the State of Indiana is going to send a representative to talk about a P3 partnership to address funding of the 38 miles of the new terrain interstate in Indiana. P3 stands for public-private partnership and is an alliance of business and government organizations to design, build, maintain and operate highways.

The I-67 concept has wide support both in Kentucky and Indiana and while there appears to be little in the way of obstacles, all of the normal permits and processes will need to be followed, including environmental impact studies. That makes this a long-term project which could stretch into 15 years or more to be completed.