Letter: Believing ‘the Mid-States Corridor is necessary for safety’ is a joke
In a 4/29/24 Letter to the Editor published in the Dubois County Free Press, Steve Stallings of Jasper claimed the Mid-States Corridor was “necessary to maintain a safe flow of traffic.” Mr. Stallings claimed to have done “research” which led him to that conclusion. His research apparently failed to include any factual evidence or even a basic search of recent news articles.
The Mid-States Corridor will NOT “maintain a safe flow of traffic.” Instead, it will be devastating to “the future of southern Indiana.”
The Mid-States Corridor is proposed to be a new-terrain, four-lane divided highway — a continuation of US 231 that was built from the Ohio River through Spencer County to I-64. It is a proven fact that the divided US 231 in Spencer County has INCREASED fatalities and life-altering injuries. Because of the increased speeds, the dangerous at-grade intersections and the nonsensical J-turns, that stretch of highway has become extremely dangerous.
In the 13 years since the new divided US 231 was opened to traffic in March 2011, there have been many, many horrific accidents. In fact, so many accidents with multiple fatalities occurred during just the first five months of its existence that then-state representative Sue Ellspermann published an official statement in August 2011 asking drivers to use extra caution when traveling the new roadway.
Sadly, fatal accidents continued. In just the first three years, there were at least four deaths and nine serious injuries at the intersections with SR 62 and SR 68 alone. As recently as February last year, FOUR Holland residents (and a dog) lost their lives at the intersection of CR 1000 N and US 231. In February of this year, TWO drivers lost their lives when a driver traveled north in the southbound lanes and crashed head-on into an innocent driver who was traveling in the southbound lane. And there were many others in the 13-year history of the divided US 231.
Driving the wrong way on a divided highway is fairly common. Just a week ago, a driver was arrested for doing so on I-64 in this area. The Indiana State Police frequently report stopping wrong-way drivers on interstates 64, 65 and 69 in Southern Indiana.
School buses in three of the four Dubois County school districts would have to cross dangerous intersections multiple times every day, putting all of our children and grandchildren at risk. I assume the same would hold true in Martin County.
Dubois County residents fail to realize the divided highway would effectively split the county in two from top to bottom. Those who travel between east and west anywhere in the county would have to cross the dangerous highway every day. And perfectly good county roads they use now would be cut off, forcing residents to go miles out of their way every day.
Those are just the driving-related dangers of the proposed corridor. Mr. Stallings correctly states “Nothing is more important than the safety of our children and grandchildren”. I wholeheartedly agree.
The proposed Mid-States Corridor aims to create a direct route from Nashville, Tenn., to Indianapolis – a direct route that would facilitate drug trafficking, human trafficking, and criminal activity. Just look at the law enforcement traffic stops along I-64. Do we want more of that criminal activity to come directly into the heart of Dubois and Martin Counties, threatening the safety of our families, our children and grandchildren?
The Mid-States Corridor is NOT necessary. It will be a total waste of BILLIONS of taxpayer money that should instead be used to repair and maintain the existing roadways. Even US 231 in Spencer County, which is now 13 years old, is badly in need of repair and has been completely neglected by INDOT.
There are so many, many reasons that the Mid-States Corridor should be scrapped. It simply defies logic that the proponents of the MSC continue with this farce – those millionaire/billionaire businessmen who somehow feel no shame in stealing and paving over the land belonging to hardworking families and neighboring businesses.
Commercial traffic already has easy access to Interstates 64, 65 and 69. Use them. Stop the Mid-States Corridor.
Sue Krampe
Ferdinand
