Mayor Winnecke's Letter To Bloomington Is A Disappointing Setback For Progress In Southern Indiana



Any hope that Southern Indiana, most notably Evansville, would be joining the rest of the Midwest, the U.S, and the world in general took a huge hit today with Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's decision to write a letter to the Bloomington MPO requesting they include I-69 in their budget.

Our town is in debt up to its eyeballs. It's now getting to the point where we have no funds for even our basic services. Just a few weeks ago, our Evansville City Council bowed down to Casino Aztar and gave them an exemption to our smoking ban simply because we couldn't afford to stand up to them...

http://evansvillemovingforward.blogspot.com/2012/02/as-evansville-goes-up-in-cigarette.html

You would think that these basic truths would grab the attention of our city leaders to actually do something about it. You would think that our city would finally commit itself to fighting urban sprawl which stretches our government services, our infrastructure, and our environmental impact. You would think that our city would quit building roads and interstates until they fixed the ones they have. Unfortunately, you would be wrong across the board. Let's dive into some of the quotes from the letter...

http://city-countyobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Interstate-69-Letter.pdf

"I share the opinion of numerous local, state, and federal officials that Interstate 69 is vitally important to the continued growth and development of southwest Indiana."

My question is very simple: Why? There is zero evidence backing this notion up. Back in 1999, before INDOT admitted that the cost of the interstate from Evansville to Indianapolis would be $3.31 billion (add in the bridge and repairs needed to inferior materials and it's over $5 billion) not $750 million, an independent firm pegged each job created by I-69 to cost $1.56 million...

http://www.commonsensei69.org/documents/I69UICRpt01-00-99.pdf

These past few months, it has been US 41, not I-69, that has created the jobs...

http://evansvillerail.blogspot.com/2011/09/another-day-another-company-chooses-us.html

"In 2007, the U.S Department of Transportation designated Interstate 69 as a national "Corridor of the Future" stating that the highway is a project of regional and national significance. As you know, the Interstate 69 route extends from Michigan to Texas, placingthe state of Indiana in a strategic location along this international trade route."

I-69 is 84 miles longer than existing interstates...

http://www.i69tour.org/nationalmap.pdf

Truck drivers are known to take the shortest routes possible and will even drive for miles on back roads to avoid toll roads. Why would they drive 84 miles out of the way? And why couldn't US 41 and I-70 be an "international trade route?"
"Our state has made tremendous progress on Interstate 69 and it is projected this summer to be the largest transportation project in the entire country. Evansville, Washington, Petersburg, Loogootee, and numerous other communities in southwest Indiana have waited decades to be fully linked to the state's economy job creation and build a safer connection to our rural areas."

We have not made "progress" with I-69. We have failed to build a stronger connection to any city directly north of us such as Vincenness and Terre Haute. We have failed to connect those cities to Bloomington which would have been possible under the 2nd alternative in the I-69 analysis. Also, we have wasted billions, not millions, on this project while having to scramble for money for projects like the Sherman Minton Bridge because no funds were left over from Major Moves.

I-69 is safer? It may be safER but it definitely isn't safe. We've seen two fatal accidents on I-164, which will become I-69, just this past year...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/dec/20/fourth-person-dies-result-i-164-crash/

Why does anyone look at this road as safe?

"With the project under construction and finally becoming a reality, attempts to temporarily halt or delay the project through procedural actions, or the court system, is a waste of taxpayer money and a complete disregard to the majority of citizens who support this project."

This project will cost well over $5 billion when it's done. It is this road itself that is the waste of taxpayer dollars. And since when did the majority of citizens support this project? Bloomington doesn't support it, Martinsville doesn't support it, and Indianapolis thinks it needs to take a different route. Not to mention Terre Haute doesn't support the new terrain route. It's Evansville and that's it that supports this boondoggle.

Unfortunately, there were some things we didn't hear today such as the following...

1. This road is coming up short on the amount of jobs per billion spent on it. Only 4,000-5,000 jobs are expected to be created which does count the jobs that will simply move over from US 41. In contrast, high speed rail creates 20,000 jobs for every billion spent on it. This doesn't include the manufacturing companies that follow it such as Alstom who wanted to create 5,000 jobs in Wisconsin before their governor turned down their high speed rail line.

2. We didn't hear about the environmental damage this project will cause. Something tells me that if this road were going through Wesselman Woods like it is going through the Patoka Wild Life Refuge we'd be hearing a different story.

3. We didn't hear about the costs of this road which will certainly hamper its completion along State Road 37 and the Ohio River.

4. We didn't hear about the cities being left out of the project such as Vincennes, Terre Haute, and Sullivan. We also don't hear about how close cities like Petersberg, Washington, and Evansville are to US 41.

5. We didn't hear anything about US 41 which will certainly need to be upgraded or scaled down from its present state. We didn't hear why it is US 41 that is creating more jobs than I-69 because of its close proximity to a CSX rail line running from Nashville to Chicago and even has a spur to Indianapolis.

6. We still heard nothing about high speed rail.

#6 is the most disappointing part about today. During his campaign, Mayor Winnecke released a plan called "Moving Evansville Forward" that consisted of 5 components...

http://media.courierpress.com/media/static/Moving_Evansville_Forward.pdf

1. Improving Our City Roads and Highways
2. Investing in Public Transportation
3. Finish I-69
4. Strengthen Our Airport
5. Utilize Railways

Yet as of today, 4 out of the 5 have receieved attention...

1. The mayor held a roads town hall meeting(s).
2. The mayor extended the METS bus route on the north side.
3. The mayor lobbied Bloomington to include I-69 today.
4. Our airport is getting new connectors for passengers to walk between the airport and their airplane.
5. ????????

Of the 5 ideas, only #5 really makes any sense. #1 is easily the biggest drain on our city budget, #2 is just a duct-tape version of a transportation plan that's an alternative to the automobile, #3 is a complete boondoggle, and #4 makes no economic sense at all when we can build a bullet train to Louisville, St. Louis, and Chicago who have bigger and cheaper airports.

So as we sit here and ignore high speed rail in favor of an interstate boondoggle, the rest of the Midwest is planning...



The question now becomes: When? When will Evansville wake up and join the rest of the Midwest, the U.S, and the world in building 21st century transportation? When will we invest in high speed rail which is profitable instead of roads which are expensive and never pay for themselves? Lastly, when will we commit to a transportation mode like high speed rail which is cheaper, safer, faster, quieter, greener, healthier, and more productive?

Although Bloomington ended up giving in to those at INDOT and Evansville who want to build this road at all costs, I am still proud of the Bloomington MPO for taking a stand. They are much better off for it. We certainly know that Bloomington is in much better shape than Evansville.