Letter: Why the rush on the Mid-States Corridor?

Look at what’s happened in the past two weeks. Huntingburg has decided to join Jasper in the Interlocal Agreement to study the INDOT relinquishment of US 231. The cost? More than $100,000. That’s a lot of road repairs or other needed services that won’t be done. Why the study? To find out what we already know, that US 231 needs repairs and upgrades and is going to cost us the taxpayers more money.

Then just the other day, Dubois County and Jasper announced they are updating their comprehensive plans, a long-term strategy that will guide the county’s and city’s growth, development, and investments over the next 8 to 10 years. They say they are looking for the public’s input. Both the Free Press and the Herald have links to the surveys.

The same day these surveys were announced INDOT announced “…the advancement of the Mid-States Corridor project and details for the next public information meeting to share the Screening of Alternatives Report in October. This milestone, alongside a recently released Request for Information (RFI) to the construction industry, marks significant progress toward the project’s 2027 construction start timeline.” Meaning INDOT and the governor want the project to proceed at full speed as soon as possible.

Why all this activity all of a sudden? Could it be that those opposed are getting stronger? Just recently the Property Rights Alliance (PRA) turned in to INDOT another 1,450 signatures opposed to the Corridor from such events as the Dubois County 4-H Fair, the Martin County 4-H Fair, the Shoals Catfish Festival and the Whitfield Hog Roast. This indicates the opposition is not just a few folks in Dubois County but is regional. Upcoming events where the PRA will be in attendance and gathering signatures are the Huntingburg Herbfest and Patoka Lake Clean-Up.

Or, could it be all the Stop-The-Mid-States Corridor signs all along US 231 from Huntingburg to Crane? Or the signs showing where local roads will be dead-ended? Or, was it the signs in Hank Menke’s and Gov. Braun’s neighborhoods? Even to a casual observer, the opposition to the Mid-States Corridor is not confined to a “couple of people” as Mayor Vonderheide has stated in the past. It was apparent to everyone who attended, over 150 people, the recent Special Jasper City Council meeting, that the residents of Jasper and Dubois County are overwhelmingly opposed to the Corridor Project.

Now, in late September, we the people are getting the bum’s rush regarding the Mid-States Corridor. There’s a rumor that Gov. Braun is personally contacting the mayors and city and county officials and pressuring them to get the Corridor done. If this is true it might explain all the surveys and INDOT announcements.

Here’s what we now must demand. We must demand the results of the surveys to be made public, as soon as they are tabulated. We must demand the Tier 2 FEIS be published before there are any more “public” meetings. We must demand transparency from all our elected officials. We must demand that our state Senators and Representatives hold meetings, or attend the PRA’s meetings to public state their positions. We must continue our opposition. We must continue putting up signs. We must continue gathering signatures. We must demand that our voices be acknowledged. We must demand that when the surveys come in opposed to the Mid-States Corridor that our local and state elected officials do our bidding and cancel the Mid-States Corridor.

We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We are not governed by a King or a despot. We are self-governed and we demand to be listened to.

Jim Arvin
Rutherford Township
Martin County

To clarify, this is not Mr. Jim Arvin of Jasper, the former CEO of Jasper Desk