Jasper Council members announce opposition to Mid-States Corridor as poll information released

Members of the Property Rights Alliance, the Stop the Mid-States Corridor Coalition, and residents gathered at the Dubois County Courthouse to announce the results of a recent poll regarding the proposed highway.

Along with the polling results, Phil Mundy, President Pro Tempore of the Jasper Common Council, and fellow council members, Chad Lueken and Vince Helming, publicly announced their opposition to the proposed Midstates Corridor.

Conducted by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling, the poll was funded by donations from residents and members of the Property Rights Alliance and the Coalition Against the Mid-States Corridor.

According to organizers, Public Policy Polling contacted registered voters in Dubois County via text and phone calls. Respondents were asked about their support for the corridor, their support for politicians who supported it, which candidate they supported for President in the most recent election, and how they rated Gov. Mike Braun’s performance as Indiana’s governor, among other questions.

There were 636 responses collected in the poll that was sent to 16,000 residents. The results are at the end of the story.

“You don’t make big decisions on gut feelings. You make them on data,” said Brad Hochgesang, a software engineer who co-founded Midstates Update. “That’s why we commissioned a professional poll.”

Hochgesang said they chose Public Policy Polling for its accuracy in past polls, including a correct prediction of the recent New York City election.

The Mid-States Corridor poll was conducted on December 16 and 17 and yielded, according to opponents of the corridor, a clear indication of residents’ position on the roadway. The results show 72% strongly oppose the project, 9% somewhat oppose it, 14% support it, and 6% remain unsure. Public Policy Polling reported a margin of error of less than 4 percent.

“When that many people are opposed to a project, it’s probably time to listen,” said Hochgesang.

The Mid-States Corridor is a proposed four-lane highway that would run 23 miles through Dubois County. Early estimates for this portion sit at about $1.1 billion, or roughly $47 million per mile.

Supporters describe the primary justification as connectivity, including regional access, safety improvements and travel time savings. However, according to the poll, 82% of respondents said travel time savings are “not important at all,” and an additional 8% said they are “not too important.”

The poll also reveals strong opposition to local financial responsibility for the project. If the Mid-States Corridor is built, Dubois County, Jasper, and Huntingburg may be required to assume responsibility for U.S. 231, including maintenance costs, using local tax dollars. The Indiana Department of Transportation is also seeking a 10% local match from Dubois County to support the road’s construction and has stated that taking over U.S. 231 may be considered as part of that match.

The poll indicated that 84% of voters oppose using local tax dollars to maintain US-231, with 78% strongly opposed.

Councilman Mundy emphasized the City of Jasper’s financial constraints, noting that they cut approximately $1.5 million from the 2026 budget to keep spending flat.

“We don’t have the money to do that. Nobody has the money to do that,” Mundy said regarding potential local contributions to the project.

The poll shows voters want clarity from their elected officials on the issue: 87% say local elected officials should clearly state where they stand on the Mid-States Corridor, and 77% say they would be less likely to re-elect someone who supports the project.

Mundy said he has approached the project with an open mind over the years, attending meetings and listening to presentations from all sides.

“My goal has been simple. Ask the right questions and insist on real answers,” he said. “Today we finally have an answer to one of the most important questions of all. What do the people of Dubois County want?”

The city council president said he has been waiting for compelling information to justify the project but has not received it.

“If somebody comes with some compelling information that says this corridor is going to change, this is the way it’s going to be, it’s the benefit for everybody, and it’s undisputable information, I would say it makes sense to me, I would agree with it,” Mundy said. “But we haven’t gotten that.”

Mundy criticized the project’s design, particularly the inclusion of J-turns at intersections, saying it demonstrates that local safety is not the paramount concern. The inclusion of these types of turns was a clear indication for Mundy that this highway had never been about benefiting Dubois County and that the cost was too high for him to support.

He said it makes sense for through traffic and multi-state connectivity, but this 30,000-foot view of the corridor’s purported benefits isn’t a strong argument for the potential damage it will do to the county, the councilman said.

“We always use the expression the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. This is one of them,” Mundy said. “I don’t think the juice and what it’s going to cost is worth what we’re going to put the county through.”

Mundy committed to sharing the poll results with all decision-makers involved in the project and to asking them to respond to the community’s voice.

“When 8 out of 10 voters vote no, the responsible response isn’t to press harder, it’s to listen,” he said.

The council president said his door remains open to new information but emphasized the need for compelling evidence to change his position.

A bystander in the crowd asked councilmen Helming and Lueken their positions on the corridor.

Helming said he did not support it, while Lueken remarked that he had confidence the project was conceived with good intentions, while noting his mother’s warning about roads paved with good intentions.

Hochgesang said they were surprised by the poll results.

“The results aren’t ambiguous. They’re not a split decision. They’re not mixed. They’re very decisive,” he said. “And I think the scale of opposition should cause every proponent of this project to stop and reflect.”

We’ve reached out to Public Policy Polling for comment on the data and statistics, but have not yet received a response as of the publication of this article.