Letter: None of the Mid-States Corridor routes are desirable

The proponents of the Mid-States Corridor have offered four alternate routes around and/or through Loogootee. None of them are desirable. 

The study of the proposed Mid-States Corridor should have SERIOUSLY considered the proposed Mid-States Corridor versus improvements to the existing US 231. Instead, the $7 MILLION study focused only on the misguided MSC in an attempt to make it SEEM like a logical and beneficial option. 

The four new proposed route options around and/or through Loogootee serves to further prove that this project is being continued SOLELY for the purpose of lining the pockets of the folks at Lochmueller Group, INDOT, and the wealthy Dubois County businessmen who WANTED an interstate-grade route in order to gain perceived savings in shipping costs but had to settle for a divided 4-lane instead.  When it was found that a new interstate-grade route was NOT WARRANTED for this area, the entire project should have ENDED. 

WORKFORCE – The study so far has proven that the workforce will NOT be improved by a new-terrain highway.  In actual fact, the workforce in Dubois and Martin County would use a new route to LEAVE Dubois and Martin Counties to pursue higher-paying jobs elsewhere.  That would create additional hardship for the existing businesses and manufacturers in Dubois and Martin Counties in finding and keeping qualified employees. 

HOUSING – The study so far has proven that a new-terrain highway will REDUCE available housing sites in both Dubois and Martin Counties by PAVING OVER viable land available for housing, and making land in the near vicinity of the monstrous highway totally unusable.  On top of that, a new-terrain highway will DESTROY over 150 EXISTING HOMES and businesses. 

TOURISM – People are drawn to this area of Southern Indiana because of the rural charm, the peaceful landscapes, the low crime rate.  Building a new-terrain 4-lane highway will DESTROY the rural charm that brings folks to this area. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT – Building a new-terrain 4-lane highway will have a DETRIMENTAL effect on the economy of the region.  Businesses and farms along-and-near the proposed route will be DESTROYED.  The cities and counties affected will bear huge increased costs for law enforcement, and for maintenance of the existing US 231 once it’s abandoned by INDOT.  Businesses in the bypassed cities and towns will suffer — this has been IRREFUTABLY PROVEN by the effect that the divided 4-lane US 231 has had on the Spencer County cities/towns Rockport, Dale and Chrisney, just in the relatively few years since the new route was opened to traffic in March 2011.  Folks with pipedreams can tout their “projections” of “economic development”, but it has been PROVEN BEYOND DOUBT that bypassed cities and towns suffer an economic decline. 

AMISH OUTREACH – it’s admirable that the Lochmueller Group is now looking for alternatives to lessen the impact on the Amish community in Martin County, BUT……. What about the non-Amish community, ALL of the other folks along the proposed route who will be adversely impacted?  Those folks ALL need to be considered.  The only acceptable choice to lessen the impact on the Amish and the non-Amish as well, is to ABANDON the Mid-States Corridor and make improvements to the existing US 231 instead. 

A RATIONAL COMPARISON of the proposed Mid-States Corridor versus the announced $75million improvements to US 231 will EASILY show that the MSC project should be scrapped and improvements to the existing US 231 should be pursued instead. 

COST OF BUILD – The proposed MSC will cost a MINIMUM of ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and that projected cost was BEFORE Covid-era inflation.  That projected cost also did not include land acquisition, which could EASILY raise the cost to over THREE BILLION DOLLARS.  The US 231 improvement project is expected to cost only $75MILLION.   

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT – The proposed MSC will IRREVOCABLY DESTROY over 925 acres of forestland, about 1832 acres of farmland and around 733 acres of prime cropland.  Covering nature’s green earth with asphalt and concrete will contribute to climate change, generating heat and greenhouse gases that will destroy our atmosphere.  Removing nature’s green natural air cleaners will further contribute to the problem of climate change.  An additional 54 miles of new asphalt and concrete will pollute our rivers and waterways with runoff of salt and other chemicals that will be applied to the new road every year.  At the same time, salt and other chemicals will continue to be applied to the existing US 231.  That is an unacceptable environmental impact. 

DISPLACEMENT – The proposed MSC will DISPLACE OVER 150 HOMES AND BUSINESSES.  That includes both Dubois and Martin Counties.  In addition, the thousands of acres of DISPLACED FARMLAND AND FORESTLAND can never be replaced.  Once they are gone, they are gone FOREVER. 

SAFETY – The proposed new-terrain MSC will NOT improve safety.  To the contrary, a 4-lane divided highway will INCREASE the number of MULTIPLE FATALITY WRECKS, along with an INCREASE in LIFE-ALTERING INJURIES.  This fact has already been proven time and again by the existing 4-lane divided US 231 in Spencer County.  Since it opened to traffic in March 2011, that stretch of highway has been the scene (and cause) of a number of fatal crashes – INCLUDING as recently as February 18th of this year (2023) when FOUR Holland IN residents (and a dog) all DIED in a horrific crash at the intersection of US 231 and County Road 1000.  Due to increased speeds along a divided 4-lane highway, crashes are MUCH MORE DEADLY.  So safety CANNOT be considered as a benefit of a new MSC.  And the Draft Environmental Impact Statement agreed. 

LOCAL IMPACT – The DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT of a new-terrain MSC is IMMEASURABLE.  The UNDESIRABLE IMPACTS include DEVASTATING LOSSES to the families and businesses along the proposed route; INCREDIBLE LOSSES to quality of life in the region (loss of rural atmosphere, increased crime, increased costs to the cities/counties (ie: taxpayers));  INCREASED DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS on CLIMATE CHANGE; area residents will be INCONVENIENCED DAILY by alterations to their travel patterns to get over/around the monstrous MSC; ALL local impacts created by the MSC are UNDESIRABLE to the residents of this region. 

CONSENSUS/NEEDS – Simply put, the Mid-States Corridor is NOT NEEDED, AND NOT WANTED. 

I’m not an economist, I’m not an engineer, but I AM a sane, sensible, pragmatic person (who LIVES HERE) who can see clearly that the proposed Mid-States Corridor makes absolutely NO SENSE – not from ANY STANDPOINT.  I can see the destructive results that have already been PROVEN by the 4-lane US 231 in Spencer County.  I’m a practical person who can LEARN FROM HISTORY — especially the history provided right at our fingertips in Spencer County. 

The Mid-States Corridor project should be ABANDONED for all time.  And the sooner the better so that the hundreds and hundreds of people on the route’s path can resume their lives without this horrible specter hanging over their heads. 

Sue Krampe, Ferdinand