Letter: How bad is the infrastructure under U.S. 231?

Recently the Property Rights Alliance (PRA) asked the Dubois County Commissioners to adopt a resolution not to continue to support the Mid-States Corridor. The Commissioners listened and although they did not adopt the resolution they did say they wanted to review more information. The same resolution was presented to the Huntingburg City Council with the same result.

These are minor victories for those opposed to the Mid-States Corridor. At the latest Dubois Commissioner’s meeting assuming the maintenance of US 231 was discussed. It appears INDOT is anxious to off-load their maintenance onto the county and cities of Jasper and Huntingburg. Loogootee will be next. The Commissioners are reluctant with Chad Blessinger stating that it would be better to wait until the Corridor is complete.

There have been recent articles asking about the condition of the infrastructure under the current US 231. Excellent question and one that needs to be answered sooner rather than later. Could it be that INDOT knows the infrastructure is in a poor state of repair and INDOT does not want to spend the money to upgrade and repair it?

The Mid-States Corridor Project is not a partisan issue, and the opposition to it is not either. The Mid-States Corridor is a travesty and is not in the best interests of the people of Dubois, Martin or Daviess counties. People from both political parties will be negatively affected.

It’s easy to blame a political party, but is it necessary? Extreme partisan rhetoric causes more harm than good. Taking a partisan approach to the Mid-States Corridor will only alienate potential supporters of the opposition. There are comments on social media where one can readily see this happening. The partisan rhetoric presented just brings more rhetoric that is even more partisan, and then what happens? Both sides stop talking and nothing gets done.

Now is the time for the partisan rhetoric to stop. The Mid-States Corridor is a highway, and it is non-partisan. It is not what is best for the counties and cities in the area. We need everyone, regardless of party, to oppose the Corridor. We need a unified affiliation, regardless of party, to battle INDOT. We must stop the partisan harangues and attacks and focus on INDOT.

If we are united, we will prevail and we will stop the Mid-States Corridor.

Jim Arvin
Rutherford Township
Martin County

To clarify, this is not Mr. Jim Arvin of Jasper, the former CEO of Jasper Desk