Letter: The Mid-States Corridor, a different point of view

Yesterday I received a card in the mail from a person running for office in this election. The person highlighted a poll conducted on the Mid-States Corridor and stated that “65% of residents are against the current version of the Mid-States Corridor”. The person included a link to the poll, so I checked it out.

As expected, there were numerous questions about the need for the corridor, the impacts, costs, effectiveness of our current politicians, etc.

The most interesting fact to me was at the bottom of each page. It was there but could easily be missed. “Survey of 554 Indiana voters”. This means that 65% of the 554 respondents are against the Mid-States Corridor. That’s 360 people. 194 people are for it or unsure. In my opinion, 65% is not the overwhelming majority its being presented as.

Full disclosure, I believe the Mid-States Corridor is necessary for increased growth in Dubois County. It’s unfortunate but true that if you’re not growing, you’re dying. This is because other areas will grow and slowly cannibalize the areas which don’t. This is evident in some of the communities that surround Jasper and Huntingburg. I’m not talking about a new restaurant or store. I have nothing against farming, but that isn’t a growth business either.

We need new manufacturing that employs significant numbers of skilled workers and pays higher wages. Those businesses need easy access to their markets. 231 as-is, isn’t that. We all know what vehicles we can get stuck behind, going from Huntingburg to I-69. It’s interesting that there were similar grievances toward I-69 when it was proposed. We sure like it today, don’t we?

My point in this is we need to be careful when a small group of very vocal people are interpreted as being the voice of everyone.

The latest Indiana census shows a little over 44,000 people in Dubois County. The city of Jasper has over 17,000 people.

The card says 65% of residents are against the Mid-States Corridor. Are 360 people really speaking for 44,000???

Bob Brush
Dubois