Letter: Thank you, Commissioner Blessinger

I applaud Chad Blessinger for standing up publicly and stating his opposition to the Mid-States Corridor. Does this mean that Commissioners Hostetter and Stenftenagel are still in favor of the project? It would be great if the whole Board of Commissioners voted to drop out of the Mid-States Corridor RDA? Remember, this is possible as membership is voluntary and membership requires financial support from the tax payers.

I noticed that Ms. Kyanne Wheeler’s time savings answer was another misrepresentation of the facts. Mr. Blessinger asked what are “…the benefits specifically for Dubois County residents, [Ms.] Wheeler cited travel time savings as the primary advantage. The project would generate “over 300,000 hours of travel time savings annually within the 12-county study area…”. Does this mean there will 25,000 hours annually, or 68 hours/day, for just Dubois County? This is the type of razzle-dazzle that is so common from INDOT, the Lochmueller Group and the Mid-States Corridor RDA spokespeople. Also, note that Ms. Wheeler cited travel time savings as the primary advantage, not connectivity, lower congestion, freight movement or access to multi-modal destinations.

The cost of the project through Dubois County is now estimated at $1.1 billion, without land acquisitions. Let’s not forget that the proposed project is 54 miles long and only 22 miles are in Dubois County. The next longest stretch, close to 20  miles, is through Martin County; and Martin County like Dubois County can ill afford more highway maintenance. The cost alone is getting to be a reason for all our elected officials to vote no to the RDA and end the Mid-States Corridor.

Saying J-turns and a high-speed divided highway are safer than a lower speed, 2-lane highway is preposterous. The safest way to cross a 4-lane high-speed highway is via an over-/underpass. The next safest is a traffic signal. Having to cross multiple lanes of fast-moving traffic to make a U-turn is not safe. Highway engineers/professional should know this, it’s just plain common sense.

“Despite individual commutes potentially adding a minute and a half each way, the overall model still shows net travel-time savings, according to INDOT.” Who are they trying to kid? A minute and half each way amount to half of the 3 minutes savings as reported in their latest Report. Once again showing the disdain and total lack of candor on the part of Ms. Wheeler and INDOT.

It’s good that the Commissioners are starting to ask the hard questions and that at least some of them are attending the informational meetings around the community. It would behoove all of our elected officials to attend these meetings and even more important get out and ask their constituents about the Corridor project. Unless they all get out of their echo chambers they will never know what the people of the County want.

Thank you Chad Blessinger.

Jim Arvin*
Rutherford Township
Martin County

*Not the former CEO of Jasper Desk.