By Peter Ciancone

Tribune-Star

The column of empty circles stood out strikingly.

On an Indiana Department of Transportation chart of different routes for a proposed Indianapolis-to-Evansville superhighway, measured against project goals, U.S. 41/Interstate 70 scored the lowest in every category -- the only one of the 12 routes to hit rock bottom.

"We rank that way because they want to bury us under as much earth as they can," said Bert Williams, a Terre Haute real estate agent who has been involved in the study as part of a group organized by INDOT to bring forward ideas about the project.

Williams was among several local and state leaders criticizing the findings of the report announced Wednesday by INDOT Commissioner J. Bryan Nicol at a trio of news conferences in Indiana. Nicol presented five preferred alternatives from a list of 12 presented last October. The route through Terre Haute did not make INDOT's list of five preferred routes. It and other routes were listed as non-preferred for environmental reasons or for failure to measure up to the project goals.

"A lot of those [goals] are invented needs," said John Moore, an attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center. "We've complained about that before and we'll complain about it again."

Moore said there was only one reason to build a highway, and that was to improve the connection between two points. The other goals he described as "legal insulation."

Nicol called the study "a uniform comparison of all the alternatives under review," and added that none of the alternatives had been eliminated. That will happen, however, before the end of this year.

"They're trying to throw the best route out of the picture," said Andy Knott of the Hoosier Environmental Council. The study showed that U.S. 41/I-70 was the cheapest and least damaging to the environment.

"That is what the public is interested in: cost and impact to farms and forest land," Knott said.

Rod Henry, executive director of the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, said eliminating the route through Terre Haute didn't make common sense. The routes that measured highest among the project goals as INDOT defined them were among the most expensive. The one route that made the top marks in all the goals was the second most expensive on the list. The only one that cost more was listed as non-preferred for environmental reasons.

Nicol said no single factor was key to the study, and that some alternatives rated higher than others in some areas. INDOT's goal was to provide an in-depth study of the alternatives, and to make the best decision for the state's transportation needs.

Williams said the key to the study was Gov. Frank O'Bannon's preference for a more direct route between Indianapolis and Evansville, something he has stated in spite of the cost of the project. Moore agreed.

"It comes as no surprise that the study would justify that opinion," Moore said.

Mary Dieter, spokeswoman for Gov. O'Bannon, said the governor did not have a stated preference for the route, and would continue to weigh all the possible factors involved in the study.

"This is not a done deal," she said.

Still, that row of empty circles stood out. Terre Haute Mayor Judy Anderson seemed shocked by the findings. She said the city would continue to battle for the highway.

Vigo County Commissioner Judy Anderson said she couldn't believe that cost and environmental concerns still didn't seem to factor into the decision.

"Where's the money going to come from?" she asked.

Nicol told the group that projects such as I-69 were funded 80 percent by federal funds and 20 percent by state funds.

Wherever it comes from, that cost still is paid by taxpayers, Williams said, and every one of the local leaders encouraged residents to make comments to INDOT about the project.

"The public just has to weigh in on the cost issues," Williams said. Building one of the routes other than U.S. 41/I-70, he added, would be taking money away from every other project in the state.

"It just seems like spending an extra $800 million to save 15 miles is just foolish," he said.

"It's not a popularity contest. We're not going to take a vote," Nicol said. INDOT would accept public input, consider cost, environmental and quality-of-life issues, but would make a transportation decision.

Copyright 2002 Tribune Star