Bettina Puckett, Shelbyville News Staff Writer
Describing the Indiana Commerce Connector as "the opportunity of a generation," a coalition of business and economic development groups announced Tuesday they are joining forces to support the proposed tollway.
Representatives of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, the Morristown Chamber of Commerce and the Shelby County Development Corp. said they are following the lead of the Shelbyville Common Council to seek a state-sponsored feasibility study of the ICC.
"As a group of community leaders that represent an entire diverse portion of our population, all we want to see happen is a real fair debate of information - not an argument - but a debate of information," said Jeff Sponsel, a member of the Shelbyville Common Council, Main Street Shelbyville and a local business owner.
An estimated 500 people turned out Jan. 22 for a community listening session about the ICC at Indiana Downs that was sponsored by the Indiana Department of Transportation, but Sponsel said many of them were not Shelby County residents and did not represent everyone's views.
"We're not talking about pouring concrete in the next few days," Sponsel said. "We're talking about studying this so that we can make an informed decision."
Sponsel and several other members of the new coalition visited The Shelbyville News Tuesday morning to discuss the ICC.
"Our hats are off to the (Shelbyville) city council for having the initiative to come out first," said Brent Fuchs, president of the Morristown Chamber of Commerce.
The Morristown chamber has hired former state Rep. Luke Messer, R-Shelbyville, as a consultant to help build a coalition in support of the tollway. Messer is an attorney at the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller.
"I believe there is an emerging coalition that is in favor of the proposal," Messer said during a phone interview. "There are an awful lot of voices that have not been heard."
Messer said the new coalition is somewhat unprecedented. "I'm not aware of any other time when the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, the Morristown Chamber of Commerce and the Shelby County Development Corp. have all come together in support of a proposal," he said.
The coalition plans to reach out to farm-related organizations, civic clubs and other special interest groups. "We are very early in the process of a public debate," Messer said. "It's fair to say that right now we're at the beginning of an educational process. So far, there are few specifics and a lot to learn about this proposal."
Members of the coalition point to a number of economic development benefits they say the tollway would bring. "The top 15 Indiana business development projects in 2005 and 2006 totaled nearly $5.8 billion," said Larry Lux, SCDC president. "Communities within 20 miles of an interstate-quality highway will receive $5 billion of that new business investment."
Simply put, roads mean jobs, Messer said.
Messer said a good contrast can be made among counties that embraced the construction of Interstate 74 nearly 50 years ago versus those that did not, such as Rush County. "If you compare it, the counties that allowed the highway have been the winners of economic development over the last several decades," Messer said.
Dan Theobald, the SCDC's executive director, said he was 12 years old when the last highway was built in Shelby County. That was 47 years ago. "I think there is a lot more traffic in Shelby County in 2007 than there was in 1960," Theobald said.
"Everyone in Shelby County knows the important function Interstate 74 has played in bringing jobs to our community," Messer said, quoting a letter sent to the county's three state lawmakers - Sen. Bob Jackman and Reps. Bob Cherry and Sean Eberhart. "We believe the Indiana Commerce Connector could become a similar economic engine attracting new job opportunities to Shelby County for decades to come."
Messer said the coalition hopes to soon reach out to other counties to build support for the proposed road.
"A commerce connector is something that we need to look at seriously before we start screaming 'not in my back yard,'" Sponsel said. "I think anybody of position - in a governmental or community organization - owes it to its membership and to its constituency to do a full study before we make a decision."
Julie Metz, executive director of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, said supporting the ICC is not something her board did independently. "We have the support of our members - by (a ratio of) about 5-to-1," she said.
Sponsel said the ICC is about representing the "greater good" of the community.
In addition to creating jobs and economic development, the ICC is also about safety, the group said. "Interstate quality highways employ the highest engineering standards and achieve the lowest fatality rates," the letter to the lawmakers said. "Two-lane roads have fatality rates more than double those of interstates. Once built, the Commerce Connector will draw truck traffic off local roads and two-lane highways, making those roads safer for passenger vehicles."
The coalition supports Gov. Mitch Daniels' plan to seek a public-private partnership utilizing private funds to pay for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the ICC. No taxpayer money will be used to build the road if it is approved.
Messer said the question before the Indiana General Assembly is whether a feasibility study should be done to determine if the tollway will be built - not to authorize its construction or determine its location.
Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, has authored a bill that would transfer the tolling authority from the Evansville-to-Indianapolis segment of I-69 to the Commerce Connector and the Illiana Expressway.
Messer said the bill has passed out of committee and is scheduled for a second reading amendment. A vote could come today. "If the bill passes out of its second reading amendment, it would be eligible for first final passage in the Senate as early as Thursday," he said.
Typically, a bill must pass through both the House and Senate twice before it can become law.
"Legislative action will ensure this process doesn't die now," Messer said.