Mid-States Corridor study about to begin

A couple of questions come to mind when there is talk about the Mid-States Corridor; the main one being where is it going to go if it is built.

There still isn’t an answer to where it is going to go through the county.

Thursday, in broad swaths of red west and east of U.S. 231, the potential areas for the corridor were on display for the 400 attendees to Dubois Strong’s annual meeting. The local economic development group is a proponent for the completion of the highway through the county due to the economic impact it is projected to have.

Most of Dubois County appeared in those red areas. In reality, this is probably the closest representation of where the road could end up that is available at this point.

Additionally, the map displayed five potential access point from the Dubois County section to I-69.

German American Bank CEO and president Mark Schroeder, who serves as the president of the Mid-States Corridor Regional Development Authority (RDA), told the crowd that the upcoming Tier 1 study being conducted by Lochmueller Group of Evansville will help to determine that route and the access point.

To hopefully disarm some questions from the crowd and public, Schroeder added that the Federal Highway Administration has strict guidelines that have to be followed by Lochmueller during the study.

He said that the RDA cannot try to influence or steer the consultant on a particular route or specific kind of road.

“It has to be well documented, it has to be factually supported and it has to be independent,” Schroeder said. “We don’t want to do or say anything to cause the project to be tainted in the eyes of the Federal Highway Administration.”

Schroeder said the RDA has an equal voice in the process with INDOT but accented that in regards to where the highway will go, the public and local government officials will need to provide input into the process.

“Each of these stakeholders has an important role to play,” Schroeder said.

He said it is the public’s role to actively and assertively advocate with the consultants, INDOT and local and federal officials on what type of highway is built and where it is built.

“We anticipate public input meetings will be occurring in the third and fourth quarter this year,” Schroeder said.

The Tier 1 study is the first big move to get a four-lane, limited-access highway that would run north from Owensboro through the county and connect to the Interstate 69 in one of potentially five locations.

When asked if the Tier 1 study would provide the location for the highway, Schroeder stated that it would basically determine in broad swaths where the highway could go. “From a Tier 1 perspective, they’ll know whether it is in someone’s neighborhood. As to whether it crosses someone’s property, that will be in the Tier 2 studies,” he said.

The Tier 1 study was approved after the group was able to bring private and public dollars from Jasper, Huntingburg and the county together to raise $7.8 million to pay for it.

Schroeder pointed out that US 231 will no longer be considered a feasible highway for commercial use by the year 2030.

The Tier 1 study will likely be completed by the third quarter of 2021; just in time to get the next phase included in INDOT’s 2022 statewide transportation plan.

“In my opinion, it’s way past the time that we get a return on the tax dollars we’ve sent to Indianapolis for years and years. This Mid-States Corridor is that opportunity to have a north-south roadway that will drive economic growth in Dubois County for generations to come,” Schroeder said.