New Dubois County highway considered a “good” project

The Midstate Corridor — a 37-mile extension from the improved U.S. 231 to I-69 near Washington formerly known as I-67 — has received tier two consideration by the Blue Ribbon Panel making recommendations on the future of transportation infrastructure in Indiana.

The designation is right were local constituent Hank Menke, OFS Brands president and CEO and Blue Ribbon Committee member, expected the project to be placed.

The 22-member panel was charged with determining the essential transportation infrastructure projects for the state over the next ten years. According to the report, the projects were scored on five key metrics and arranged in the order of those scores.

The tier one projects are those projects that are critical to Indiana’s transportation system — the report indicates the state must find a way to do these projects. The tier two projects are those that would be good for Indiana, though not critical. The tier three are desirable and should be pursued if funds become available.

According to the report, the tiers are not intended to suggest a chronological priority although Menke has reported tier two projects could be expected to be started within 10 years.

Accented in the report was the fact that the state would first finish the projects that were already started. Those projects were not included in the recommendations because they are already considered priority projects for completion. They included the Ohio River Bridge work, the completion of I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis; the Illiana Expressway and US 31 from Indianapolis to South Bend.

The committee estimated about $10 billion would be needed for the projects to upgrade the state’s aging roads and bridges, but its members concede there’s no money to pay for it all.

The panel’s report notes about $600 million of the $1 billion annual highway fund is spent just to maintain the current road system.

And those funds are expected to become tighter.

According to the panel, taking care of what the state has is becoming increasingly difficult due to declining revenues and those forecasts indicate the revenue is not sustainable over the long term.

Road revenues, taken from the gas tax, are dropping for two reasons — less travel by motorists and better fuel mileage for vehicles.

To compensate for the lost revenue, the committee recommended the state explore user fees added to the cost of vehicle licenses, the addition of a “vehicle miles traveled tax”, and requesting legislators stop diverting gas-tax revenues to the general fund.

The report also made recommendations in regards to changes in types and modes of transportation over the state. Those include new standards for trailers like increasing the allowable length to 57 feet from 53 feet and adding a third axle to reduce road wear by further distributing weight. Also, in regards to commercial travel the commission recommended designating special truck-only lanes.

On the passenger side of things, the committee recommended a revision of state statute to allow driverless vehicles. Driverless vehicles are allowed in Nevada currently with special license plates. They are being tested by Google using software and navigation equipment the company has created.

The panel also recommended the state embrace technology to create safer and more efficient highways. Interesting concepts forwarded for consideration included a lane that would recharge electric cars as they traveled on it; new technology that would transmit information regarding weather and traffic to the vehicle for display on the windshield; and creating roadbeds that will resist freezing and snow accumulation.

The inclusion of the Midstate Corridor is a plus for Dubois County as the state moves forward with its transportation initiatives.

The local initiative was started by local business owners and government officials to create a better north-south connection through the state.

The panel and local constituents have stated the project would likely need to be a public-private partnership (P3) project to be completed. This thought was reiterated by the panel in the report as well.