By JENNIFER WHITSON

Evansville Courier & Press Indianapolis bureau

Nearly 1,000 people attended a decidedly calmer public hearing on the proposed Interstate 69 routes in Evansville on Wednesday.

Within 15 minutes of opening, the lobby at Harrison High School was packed with people browsing 22 charts and seven maps. Two local businesses, Old National Bank and Industrial Contractors, donated money to have pro-I-69 signs made -signs that were left in the lobby once the hearing started.

And Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads and the Hoosier Environmental Council staffed a table with information about their favored route, the U.S.41/I-70 corridor through Terre Haute.

"It's a completely different place with a completely different atmosphere," said Sandra Tokarski of Bloomington with the Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads.

"Obviously the highway proponents have gotten a lot of people out, but we expected that. Our job is to educate people about the true impact of a new-terrain highway."

David Griffith, an engineer with an Evansville pharmacy planning company, stood in the entryway holding up a pro-I-69 sign and said he favored the most direct route.

"I think the U.S.41 upgrade is a Band-Aid solution," he said.

And while the signs and crowd made for a lively scene in the lobby, inside the hearing the atmosphere was definitely calmer than the other two hearings.

J. Bryan Nicol, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation, called for good behavior at Evansville's meeting, the only hearing at which Bernardin, Lochmueller & Associates project manager Michael Grovak got through his opening presentation without interruption.

"Many citizens have very strong feelings about this project," Nicol said. "I ask you to show respect for each other."

One speaker condemned the behavior of other Hoosiers at the Terre Haute and Bloomington meetings, where there was heckling and interruptions.

"Shame on you who would use shock tactics and heckling," said Dan Record of Evansville. "This behavior doesn't reflect well on the state of Indiana."

Thirteen elected officials spoke, only two in favor of a U.S.41/I-70 route for the interstate. The rest favored more direct routes.

"To get from Indianapolis to Mount Vernon, you definitely have to wander Indiana," said Mount Vernon Mayor Jackson Higgins.

He then said he had made the same joke at an I-69 hearing in 1988. "Let's start digging a direct route."

Vanderburgh County Clerk Marcia Abell agreed.

"Vanderburgh County has sent literally millions of dollars to the state," she said.

"It's our turn to get some back."

Rep. Johnathan Weinzapfel said a direct I-69 would be important to "bridge the social and political divide that exists between Evansville and Indianapolis."

"We have felt like an isolated island and community in Southwestern Indiana for too long," he added.

And though there were more citizen speakers that favored a direct route for I-69, the comments were mixed.

Some speakers said they favored a U.S.41/I-70 upgrade to preserve their rural way of life. Another farm owner said her land might be affected, but that was the sacrifice farmers had to make.

At the Bloomington hearing Tuesday, the department of transportation was criticized because the study weighed its three core goals - travel time saved, economic development and connecting well with the national I-69 route - more heavily than other factors such as farm loss and environmental impact.

But Evansville Mayor Russ Lloyd Jr. defended the study. "When you talk about the core goals in the study, these are the core goals for the people of Evansville," he said. "We've studied long enough. We are ready to see pavement laid."

The department of transportation will be accepting comments on the study through Nov. 7 and will select a single route by the end of the year.

© 2001 The E.W. Scripps Co.