Letter to the Editor; I-67 important to economic growth in Dubois County

Recently,  the subject of a new Interstate in Dubois County has arisen. While running for Jasper City Council I had heard about this while on the campaign trail, and did my own research into the subject. We need to understand, as a county, that if we truly want economic growth and to entice our kids to be able to stay and succeed locally, we need the I-67 concept to be a reality.

While it is widely known we had internal forces keeping new businesses away over the last 20 plus years, one of the other big growth obstacles was the lack of an easy route for trucks to travel north and south. Let me use an example to make my point.

I run Widget Company X and I want locate my business in a place with the best tax incentives, good workers, high quality schools, maybe an airport, and highway roads to easily move my widget around the country/state/county. Where does Dubois County rate on those few criteria? An honest review shows while the county is finally working on tax incentive packages, I notice a lack of a quality north-south transportation route. Currently, to transport goods north or south from Dubois County the best route is to travel over to Louisville/Corydon and then head north or south. I could head west to US41 or into Illinois to hit their Interstates too. That will require extra $$$ in fuel, repairs, and early retirement of vehicles due to extra miles out on trucks, vans, cars, etc.

So if I was Widget Company X, and I wanted to locate my business someplace, I see how much more attractive it is living next to a city with east-west AND north-south highway access ,or, go somewhere else to maximize my profits.

We need to realize the amount of road is small and, if required, there are ways to fund this without DC or Indy fully funding it. We will finally have I-69 finished, but with I-67, our county could have the potential of two Interstates. I challenge everyone who reads this to review a map and find a community where the convergence of two Interstates did not lead to greater economic developed area. We can have all this with just about 40 miles of new road and the area around Dale upgraded. So much upside, for so little investment. We must be the squeaky wheel and get the I-67 concept built. Stand up for the future and help push this idea with our local elected officials, leaders, and Congress at all levels.