Letter: Mid-States Corridor will destroy rural Indiana communities
The Mid-States Corridor project threatens the very heart of our small communities in Dubois, Martin and Daviess counties, as well as 12 surrounding counties. It promises to carve a four-lane highway through our peaceful neighborhoods.
Our rich and vibrant history will be stripped away. Farms that have nourished our families for generations face destruction, and wetlands that host diverse ecosystems are endangered. Five historical sites that tell the tales of our forefathers will be erased.
This project imposes a massive financial burden on all Indiana taxpayers, while we can’t afford to maintain existing highways, roads.
Locally, INDOT is making a sales pitch to county and city governments for a used highway (Highway 231), complete with snow plows and training on how to use them. Don’t buy it! It is not affordable!
At a recent county commissioners meeting, INDOT representatives stated, “It would be good for INDOT to not maintain 2 parallel highways”. Then don’t build it. Make improvements to what we have. With numerous alternative projects to improve U.S. Highway 231 that focus on traffic safety, congestion relief, sustainable infrastructure, and less disruption, all at a massively lower cost to taxpayers, why should our communities and all Hoosiers bear the wasteful cost of this horrific new terrain highway?
According to the INDOT/Lochmueller tier 2 study, the new highway construction cost estimate is $46 MILLION PER MILE, plus acquisition expenses! And that expenditure might save us 3 minutes of travel time from Jasper to Indianapolis or to Louisville, Ky.
Moreover, independent studies that impartially evaluate the economic impact of small city and town highway bypasses cast doubt and refute speculative benefits to the economy.
While proponents imagine over-the-rainbow job creation and dreams of spectacular economic growth, with no independent study or verification, these claims are tenuous at best and fail to justify the irreversible impacts on the environment and quality of life.
Contact your elected officials. Talk to your family, friends, civic leaders and local business owners. Stop the Mid-States Corridor.
Roger and Pam Pund
Dubois County
