Folks in Southwestern Indiana have long understood that any number of influential voices in Indianapolis don't give a whit what happens in this corner of the state. That attitude was best demonstrated in 2000 when the Indianapolis Star, the state's largest newspaper, called the then-proposed Interstate 69 highway between Evansville and Indianapolis the "highway to nowhere."
No surprise there. The attitude thing with Indianapolis has never been a secret, plus The Star has opposed the proposed highway for years, stating on occasion that the existing U.S. 41/Interstate-70 route would be preferable to them to a direct, new terrain route through Bloomington.
But ultimately, then Gov.Frank O'Bannon correctly chose the direct route after a comprehensive environmental study, current Gov. Mitch Daniels created the Major Moves highway initiative which provided funds for the Evansville-to-Crane section, and then he authorized an aggressive building pace, designed to speed construction, and take advantage of favorable economic conditions.
Construction is under way on three legs between Evansville and Crane; you can drive on a short bit of it right now, and if the schedule holds true, Daniels envisions people driving on the Crane-to-Bloomington leg in 2014.
Alas, as we discussed last Sunday, the Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning organization has moved on a technicality to block the highway from coming into their college town. They removed I-69 from their annual transportation plan, a document required by federal highway planners. In the meantime, the Indiana Department of Transportation is mulling over it options.
We would expect no less nonsense from the jokers in Bloomington, but not from The Star newspaper. And yet, this past week, an editorial in the newspaper suggested the Bloomington delaying tactics offer the Daniels administration an opportunity to save $400 million, the cost of the highway between Crane and Bloomington.
They point out that the new terrain route is opposed by city councils in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Martinsville and by thousands of petitioners concerned about property loss, environmental damage and sheer expense.
Do you suppose those same concerns were raised when Interstates 65, 70, 69 north, 74, and 465 were being planned through and around Indianapolis?
The editorial points out that direct route opponents still believe there is time to switch to U.S.41/I-70, that that route presents none of the concerns about direct I-69 going into Indianapolis, it believes that the economic case for the new terrain roadway over U.S. 41/I-70 never has been made, and that freeway construction has lost its favor over "the decades the I-69 extension has been hashed over."
If favor for freeways really had been lost, then why did they need to modernize I-465 in Indianapolis these past few years to the tune of $800 million, twice what the Crane to Bloomington leg would cost?
We would point out, as well, that I-69 could have been near finished by now, at lesser cost, had not opponents thrown up one delaying tactic after another.
Regardless, The Star Editorial concludes, "The Daniels administration needs to hear from the leadership in counties north of Monroe, as well as from the grass roots that much more than $400 million can be saved. With I-69 suspended, the governor can explain why his famous frugality is not."
With Major Moves, Daniels has given this state the opportunity for millions in infrastructure construction and modernization, at a time when many other states are paralyzed to do anything.
And he need not explain to the people of Southern Indiana the extraordinary steps he has taken to see that they are finally getting a modern highway to their state capital.
One final point: Do they actually support the idea of building I-69 only as far as Crane, there to dead end, and then, we presume, to shift the project over to U.S. 41-I-70?
How utterly ridiculous that would be.