Tier 2 study of Mid-States Corridor section set to begin

Tuesday, the Lochmueller Group announced the Tier 2 study of the Mid-States Corridor was set to begin in Dubois County.

The Tier 2 study of the recommended corridor route is divided into five components, called Sections of Independent Utilities (SIUs), stretching from the Ohio River to Interstate 69 as identified in the Tier 1 study.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has given the Mid-States Corridor Project Team at the Lochmueller Group notice to proceed with the study of the Dubois County portion (identified as Section of Independent Utility 2) of the Tier 2 study. This section’s study is expected to take up to three years.

According to Lochmueller Group’s Project Spokesperson, Nicole Minton, the study will take that long due to its intense nature.

The Tier 2 study will narrow down the 2,000-foot-wide section to 200 to 500 feet along its 24-mile path through Dubois County. To accomplish this, the firm will meet with property owners and residents to determine how the land and nearby roads are used. As the study proceeds, they will consider the road’s environmental, archeological and social impact to choose the best route within the identified pathway.

Minton said the corridor would not likely move out of the identified path from the Tier 1 study since it was the federally approved path.

“We look very closely at the existing environment. We’ll look at usages,” Minton said. “We’ll be talking to the community about how they travel to the places that are important to them.”

Before the survey work begins, affected property owners will receive letters from the Lochmueller Group. These letters will notify property owners of the areas of their property that could be included in the survey and give residents ways to contact the firm directly with questions during the Tier 2 process.

Minton said those letters are set to go out soon, and she expects the survey work to begin in early fall.

“This early work that we’ll be doing as the survey work, so you’ll see people out who are flagging and identifying different plants and different terrain,” she explained. “We want to know the topography and get a feel for what the current environment is.”

They also plan to examine the existing county roads to determine how they are used and how the corridor could impact them.

Minton said they will seek public input throughout the process to help determine the best alignment and access plan for the new highway.

“It’ll be later this fall before we go to the public and have a meeting to reintroduce the project and explain some of the feedback we would like to hear from the public and get a better feel for how they see the project working within their community,” Minton said.

The study will also determine what type of road the Mid-States Corridor could be.

“It’s a study. We are looking at the costs, the benefits, the impacts,” Minton said. “Then we take all of that information, and put it into a large document that then is evaluated for what is the best alignment for this roadway.”

Minton said the Tier 1 study identified a path that impacted 600 to 700 parcels in Dubois County. Therefore, many property owners will receive letters about the Tier 2 study. “That is 300-plus property owners,” she said.

“One of the things that I really want to stress is that a lot of people are gonna get letters, not a lot of people are going to be impacted,” she added, noting that the survey work is not typically very invasive. “We generally don’t have a hard time with people allowing us onto their property but there’s a course of action to take if people say no [to allowing access].”

The Tier 2 study will take a while to complete as the group works with property owners to learn about the land impacted by the corridor.

INDOT has only funded the completion of the 24-mile Dubois County (SIU 2) section Tier 2 study. It has not funded or approved the Tier 2 studies of the other sections. Minton was unsure when INDOT would give the go-ahead to proceed with those studies.

She explained that depending on when the approval to conduct the studies in the remaining sections occurred, the Lochmueller Group could work on Tier 2 studies in the different sections concurrently.

Regarding land acquisition for the corridor construction, Minton stated property owners would not receive any notice of the state’s intention to purchase their property until after the Tier 2 study was completed for a given section.

“It’s gonna take a little while before we get to right-of-way acquisition,” Minton said.

Those notices will come from the Indiana Department of Transportation, she explained.

In addition to announcing the Tier 2 study is set to begin, Lochmueuller Group will reopen its office at Vincennes University. Office hours will resume beginning Thursday, July 25th. The office is located on the Jasper campus of Vincennes University at 850 College Ave., Jasper. Office hours are every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and they are also available by appointment.

Maps and other information regarding the project study area can be found at Mid-States Corridor – Improving Regional Transportation (midstatescorridor.com)