Mid-States Corridor adjusted for Loogootee options
Residents have until the end of March to provide additional public input into the Mid-States Corridor Project due to variations added to the preferred route in the Loogootee area.
The changes were made in response to community feedback following the announcement of Alternative P as the preferred alternative in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released last April for the improved highway connection. That preferred alternative followed a path west of Loogootee. The three additional variations include one that uses the path of 231 through Loogootee, and two variations east of Loogootee.
INDOT was asked to consider these variations to minimize the potential for negative impacts to Loogootee’s local economy. These variations have the potential to support enhanced economic activity in Martin County and were also proposed to reduce potential impacts on the Amish community’s travel patterns.
Alternative P remains the preferred alternative. End-to-end, impact ranges differ little for the new variations from those shown in the DEIS. These refinements in the Loogootee area provide flexibility to further address key input as the project develops. They do, however, require further and more detailed study to select a final alignment in that area.
Selection of a single variation at Loogootee requires detailed, localized economic studies, traffic studies and public outreach surveys in Loogootee and Martin County. These activities will be conducted during the Tier 2 Studies.
A combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) is expected from the Federal Highway Administration in mid-2023. That Record of Decision will signify the end of the Tier 1 Study.
A timetable for Tier 2 Studies is still being determined, but each Tier 2 Study is expected to take two to three years to complete.
According to Nicole Minton, Public Outreach Manager, these studies will cover the entire preferred route but be broken up into “sections of independent utility”. The route is broken up into five of these sections and each will be studied independently. Minton noted the study progression is largely dependent on the funding for the Tier 2 Study but that each study will take two to three years to complete.
According to Project Manager Jason DuPont, the four sections to be studied are segmented as follows: Dubois County’s southern border/I-64 to State Road 56/Haysville; State Road 56/Haysville to Loogootee; the Loogootee alternatives; and then Loogootee to I-69. The improved portion of U.S. 231 in Spencer County is included as a section of independent utility but is not anticipated to be included in the Tier 2 Studies.
Each section will take two to three years to study but funding will determine how those move forward, whether those studies are done concurrently or consecutively.
In the Tier 2 Studies, final alignments are identified within the corridor. This includes narrowing down the preferred route in the maps provided from 2,000 to 3,000 feet wide to the actual right-of-way, which is anticipated to be 200 to 500 feet wide.
Comments on the variations can be made through a comment form at the Project Office, by mail, by email (info@midstatescorridor.com) or directly through the project website. To be included in the project record, please have your response returned by March 31, 2023.
A video illustrating the changes is posted on the project website at https://midstatescorridor.com/rpap/ Updated materials showing the additional variations are also available for review at several area locations including the Mid-States Project Office, INDOT offices in Vincennes and Indianapolis and libraries in Dale, Ferdinand, Huntingburg, Jasper, Dubois, Otwell, Shoals, Loogootee and Bloomfield.
