Meeting outlines ways of opposing Mid-States Corridor progress

Martin County resident Jason McCoy recently hosted a public meeting at Loogootee High School, advocating for residents to stand against the Mid-States Corridor.

In a 55-minute talk with slides displayed on a large screen in the high school auditorium, McCoy provided some background on the project to the crowd of about 250 to 300 Martin and Dubois County residents.

McCoy’s presentation culminated in three directives for residents opposing the four-lane highway that is set to cut through Dubois County.

He told the audience to stop doing business with companies that he alleged support the corridor.

He additionally pointed to other individuals who have been proponents of the corridor, including OFS CEO Hank Menke, Senator Mike Braun, and the members of the RDA, Mark Schroeder, Sue Ellspermann, Scott Blazey, David Drake, and Ken Mulzer Jr., with statements that they each have a lot to gain through the road’s construction and completion.

Second, McCoy implored people to attack the planned highway with their vote. He displayed current gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun’s connection to creating the law that established the regional development authority that helped move the project forward and his service on the I-67 Coalition in support of the project from its beginning.

He told the crowd there are plenty of options for governor that would support abandoning the project–even other Republicans currently running in the primary against Braun.

“We know how Mike Braun feels about this road. It’s his road,” McCoy said. “I think it would be a mistake to put Mike Braun in the governor’s seat for four years. But I’m only one vote. If Braun does get elected governor, then it falls on us people sitting in this room. And the reason that falls on us people sitting in this room is because we’re the landowners.”

He also singled out State Representative Shane Lindauer for his support of the project. While serving on the Dubois County Council in 2012, Lindauer voted to fund an initial traffic study with $25,000. He was overruled, but in a subsequent meeting, the motion was approved with a four-person majority vote.

In 2018, the county council approved funding the Tier 1 study with a $1.75 million commitment that passed unanimously among the council at the time. That council included the following members: Jerry R. Hunefeld, Craig M. Greulich, Charmian R. Klem, Sonya Haas, Doug Uebelhor, Michael Kluesner, and Mary E. Beckman.

The project is now under the control of the Indiana Department of Transportation, which is paying for the Tier 2 study.

Referencing the current elected leaders, McCoy told the crowd they were wasting their time talking to the politicians and the Indiana Department of Transportation at this point as he explained his third directive–landowners should simply not agree to sell their properties for the project.

“I’m here because I think we need each other to be on the same page,” he explained to the crowd. “They want to take part of my farm. They want to take my cousin’s farm. And they want to take a lot of your farms.”

He stated that his entire point in explaining the highway’s history and connection to local politicians, business and industry was to show that the opposition’s only option is not to sell their land to facilitate the project.

He explained that if enough landowners refuse to sell, it could stop the process in a quagmire of legal battles over eminent domain claims.

While those offers from the state won’t come until after the completion of the Tier 2 study, McCoy’s goal of the meeting was to begin to rally more residents to stand against the process with the tools at their disposal.

“These places are priceless to us. They can’t be bought,” McCoy said. “They can only be stolen.”

The Mid-States Corridor is an improved four-lane highway that extends 54 miles from I-64/US 231 to I-69 at the existing US 231 interchange. The preferred path travels east of Huntingburg and Jasper, avoiding developed areas in those cities. It generally runs parallel to and west of US 231 in Martin and Daviess counties. It includes a western bypass of Loogootee and ends at the existing I-69 interchange at US 231. A total of nine local improvements along existing U.S. 231 are included with the alternative.

The Tier I corridor is generally 2,000 feet wide along its length. The right of way has not been determined, and final alignments are anticipated to be 200 to 500 feet wide. These will not be determined until Tier 2 studies are completed.

Regarding the process, INDOT’s Mid-States Corridor Project Manager, Kyanna Wheeler, stated that the Tier 2 studies have not commenced yet. She anticipates that they will take three years to complete once they do begin. She also stated that this is the only portion of the project currently funded, and the Tier 2 studies will determine the next steps for the project and further funding.

“At this point, no timeline or next steps have been established by INDOT,” Wheeler said.

Due to the editorialized nature of some of Mr. McCoy’s comments against businesses that were originally reported in this piece, it has been edited to remove those unsubstantiated statements.