Better roads don't cause most business failures. High taxes drive companies out of business.
Saving that many miles will also save the extra gasoline needed to travel those extra miles.
Every time a vehicle has to stop, its kinetic energy is lost. Eliminating stops saves this energy.
If they are so worried about man's welfare, why do they commit crimes to stop the highway?
Many of the reasons given for not building I-69 are red herrings created by obstructionists.

INTERSTATE 69:
THE DEBATE
Roads don't cause jobs to move overseas. Unions price their members out of the market.
The decision-making period has ended. Now they are waging a fools' war.

Many of the reasons given for not building I-69 are red herrings dug up by opponents, on the theory that quantity of reasons is more important than quality of reasons.

  1. Opponents claim improving US 41 will do just as good, but:
    • Their plan doesn't shorten travel time. It increases the time.
    • Their plan doesn't shorten the distance traveled. It increases the distance.
    • Their plan doesn't reduce gasoline use (other than eliminating stops). It increases consumption.
    • No economic development happens.
  2. Opponents say too much farmland and wetlands are used up, but:
    • A very tiny fraction of available land is used.
    • They lamented the 3000 acres to be used to build the highway. Then, a farmer said it would reduce the utility of his 3500-acre farm. One farm is larger than the total area used for the highway!
    • Farmers can't make money because too much farmland is producing crops.
    • All other routes, including US 41, use up more wetland.
  3. Opponents claim the road will cause more fuel to be used, but:
    • The more direct route saves gasoline, compared to current routes.
    • People don't drive just to use roads. Trips are made for specific purposes.
    • Most trips on the new road would be made anyway, on longer roads using more fuel.
    • Traffic lights, stop signs, sharp curves, city driving, and passing slow cars on two-lane roads waste the most fuel.
    • A four-lane divided highway without stop signs and traffic lights will save fuel.
  4. Opponents say the road will cause too much pollution, but:
    • Saving gasoline reduces pollution.
    • Most auto pollution happens during idle or acceleration.
    • Most auto pollution concentrates at busy signalized intersections.
    • Interstate highways don't have intersections or traffic signals.
  5. They say the Environmental Impact Statement doesn't show the whole impact, but:
    • New construction has different impacts than upgrades.
    • New construction is not mixed with upgrades. Different forms are used for each.
    • Segmented design and environmental impact is normal practice on large projects.
    • Conversion to interstate highway design reduces air pollution.
  6. Opponents say existing roads are adequate, but:
    • 20 or 30 mi/hr curves are not "adequate."
    • 25 or 30 mi/hr speed limits through towns every few miles are not "adequate."
    • 2-lane undivided roads are not "adequate."
    • Crawling behind farm tractors for miles is definitely not "adequate."
    • Existing routes are far from direct routes:
      1. Switz City and Bloomfield are too far west.
      2. Bedford is too far south.
      3. The road through Odon zig-zags back and forth.
      4. No diagonal routes in southern Indiana, other than Indiana 67, go from northeast to southwest.
  7. Opponents say higher speeds are deadly, but:
    • Speed is deadly only on undivided roads, and on roads with bad shoulders.
    • A recent study showed that raising the Interstate highway speed limit from 55 to 70 caused no extra casualties.
    • Following too close is the most dangerous factor on all highways.
    • Speed difference on the same road is more dangerous than high speeds.
    • Dividing the highway will prevent deaths.
    • Bad drivers have accidents anywhere, but better roads attract them.
  8. Opponents say the economic benefits do not justify the project, but:
    • Personal time saved by shorter trip is not included.
    • They don't count removing truck traffic from local roads as a benefit (but they do count it at meetings about truck routes).
    • Fuel savings for trips other than Indianapolis--Evansville were not counted.
  9. Opponents say foreign trade causes job loss, but:
    • They see mainly union labor jobs lost, because the unions make a nationwide stink.
    • They don't see jobs gained in new industries foreign trade creates. These appear very quietly. Nobody complains about new jobs, so they make only the local papers.
    • They don't see any gain in the lower prices caused by free trade.
    • They don't notice new goods that were not there before.
    • Most "lost" jobs aren't lost, they just transplant. If workers move with jobs, they still have them. Wage rates may be lower elsewhere, but so are tax rates. It's not the salary's amount, but what it buys that counts.
    • If unions and taxes didn't drive them up, wages would be the same everywhere.
    • Roads do not cause the loss of jobs. Unions price themselves out of the market when they lose their monopoly status (which they never should have had).
    • Multiple governments tax us out of jobs with a 75 percent total tax rate. And they keep wanting more.
  10. Opponents say the limestone industry will be hurt, but:
    • There is plenty of time to quarry the stone if they start now.
    • Quarry land must be restored by law. It can be done to fit the road at state expense.
    • The construction will require a lot of stone. That's business for the limestone industry.
  11. Opponents are against growth, but:
    • Growth is necessary to provide jobs for residents already here.
    • As the population grows, so must the job base.
    • People opposed to growth are also those most likely to have many children.
    • Those against growth should stop treating sex as a right, and as a recreational pursuit.
  12. Many of the reasons given by opponents are religious in nature.
    • Many environmentalist claims are religious, instead of scientific.
    • Claims of loss of "spiritual harmony" or of "desecrating the earth" are from the old earth-worship religions.
    • Science has not shown that global warming is caused by man. Global warming has also been observed on other planets. So reducing carbon dioxide emissions to stop global warming is a religious belief not supported by science.
  13. Many of the reasons given by opponents are specious in nature.
    • Opponents want the money spent on things that fuel taxes can't ever be spent on. Examples are schools, sports, and the arts.
    • They are still calling for more public hearings on whether to build the project after the decision to build has been made and the contracts have been let.
    • They are still calling for a change in the route of I-69 after a portion of the new route has been completed and opened to traffic.
    • They disrupt meetings with demands that are not germane to the discussions being held.
    • They filed frivolous lawsuits intended to delay the project.
    • They keep their political signs up in violation of the election laws.
    • Some of them deface or damage property to call attention to their hopeless cause.
  14. One group falsely purports itself to be a huge multitude against new highways.
    • They bring almost all of their members to each public hearing, but represent them as being residents local to the project.
    • They cheat when polling methods are used to determine the percentage of attendees favoring and opposing the project:
      • They stomp their feet in addition to clapping when applause meters are used.
      • They raise both hands when a show if hands is asked for.
      • They stuff the ballot and comment boxes.
      • In one case they stole the comments left by other people.
    • They also give the "spiritual harmony" and "desecrating the earth" arguments the earth-worshipers give.
    • Their leader "just happens" to own property on the planned route of I-69.

Opponents don't know the whole plan. Here it is:


A WAY TO GET SEVEN OR NINE INTERCHANGE ACCESS POINTS IN BLOOMINGTON INDIANA

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) says it can't be done. But here is a way to provide interchange access to all seven (or nine) major thorofares that cross Interstate 69. The thorofares are:

The Walnut Street Interchange is already provided for in the INDOT plans, either at Walnut Street or at Kinser Pike. The Indiana 46 interchange already exists. That leaves the other five (or seven) roads.

INDOT says that Vernal Pike can't have any interchange because it is too close to the Indiana 46 interchange. But INDOT also provided a method using collector-distributor (CD) roads for having interchanges at both Second Street and Tapp Road. Extending the CD roads allows direct access to Vernal Pike and Fullerton Pike too, without having to switch over to frontage roads. A form of the rebound interchange allows full access to all of these roads.

What is a Rebound Interchange?

Rebound interchange

Here is an example of a rebound interchange near Dallas TX. In this photo, the eastern (right) crossroad has a full diamond interchange. The western (left) crossroad is connected by the rebound interchange ramps to the ramps of the diamond interchange, as shown above. The crossroad on the west actually has full access to the freeway:

In the diagrams below, north is at the top. Each road has a caption next to it.

In the left diagram, Vernal Pike is connected to 17th street on the east end, to allow placement of the overpasses. This is an InDOT proposal. But it conflicts with the traffic calming Bloomington put on 17th Street.

In the left diagram, the CD roads exit and enter I-69 just south of Vernal Pike, and just north of Fullerton Pike. I-69 has one exit ramp and one entrance ramp in each direction to handle all traffic to and from all five roads. In addition, the CD roads can also transfer traffic between the crossroads.

In the left diagram, the interchanges at Indiana 48, Indiana 45, and Tapp Road are all of the Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) type. This kind of interchange has one signalized intersection in the middle of the bridge that handles all left turns. The SPUI is more efficient than any of the interchanges now used in that area. An example of a SPUI can be found at Indiana 46 and Interstate 65 in Columbus Indiana.

In the right diagram, the interchanges at Indiana 48 and Indiana 45 are Diverging Diamond Interchanges (DDI). These are even more efficient than the SPUI when turning traffic is heavy. They also cost much less than the SPUI, because they can usually use an existing bridge.

In the left diagram, the interchanges at Vernal Pike and at Fullerton Pike are rebound interchanges. They provide full access to these cross streets through ramps away from the cross streets.

In the right diagram, the interchange at Vernal Pike is a rebound interchange. It provides full access through ramps away from Vernal. The interchanges at Tapp Road and Rockport Road are rebound DDI interchanges. And the interchanges at Whitehall Crossing Blvd and Fullerton Pike are half rebound interchanges with ramps serving only one direction of travel on the freeway.

DDI crossovers were used for the rebound interchanges to facilitate the turnbacks.

The SPUI Plan

 The Indiana 46 and Indiana 45 interchange is just out of sight above the top edge of the picture. It is too close for any connections at Vernal Pike that handle traffic to and from the north

The DDI Plan

Bloomington I-69 proposal

Uses expensive single point urban interchanges

 The Vernal Pike interchange in both diagrams is a rebound interchange. It has full access.

Bloomington I-69 proposal

Uses cheaper diverging diamond interchanges
The Whitehall Crossing Blvd interchange on the right is a half rebound interchange. But it has full access.
Note the collector-distributor (CD) roads in both diagrams.
The Indiana 48 interchange on the left is a rebound compatible SPUI. The one on the right is a DDI.

Note the railroad overpass.

The left diagram shows CD roads in this stretch. The right diagram just needs an extra lane between the interchanges, similar to the lanes used in the present configuration.
The Indiana 45 interchange on the left is a SPUI. The one on the right is a DDI.
The left diagram shows CD roads in this stretch. The right diagram just needs an extra lane between the interchanges.
The Tapp Road interchange on the left is a rebound compatible SPUI. The one on the right is a rebound DDI.
Note the CD roads in both diagrams.
The Fullerton Pike interchange on the left is a rebound interchange. The one on the right is a half rebound interchange.
There is no Rockport Road interchange on the left. The Rockport Road interchange on the right is a rebound DDI.
Right click on either picture and choose View Image to see it full size. The I-69 and Indiana 37 interchange will be built just out of sight below the bottom edge of the picture. It will be too close for any direct connections at Rockport Road or Fullerton Pike that handle traffic to and from the south.

Thus, all of these streets have full access to I-69.

Note that the connection to the east end of Vernal Pike in the left diagram can be two-way from Vernal Pike to 17th Street. This allows traffic to flow on Vernal Pike as it does now. And if it becomes an issue, the connection to 17th street is not necessary, even though the bridge is placed there.

The last interchange on the south can be either Rockport Road or Fullerton Pike. Both designs will work either way.

What's a SPUI

SPUI

A Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) has the basic function of the diamond interchange, but all of the left turns are brought together at a special intersection, usually under the bridge or on it. This allows left turns from opposite directions to move simultaneously without crossing each other's paths. The traffic signal cycle for the SPUI is simpler and much more efficient than with traffic signals found on a diamond.

A rebound compatible SPUI is a SPUI with turnbacks for use by rebound interchanges.

What's a CD Road?

CD Road

Collector-distributor (CD) roads are one-way roads paralleling the freeway. As seen in this photo, the ramps of a full cloverleaf can be connected to them, with less weaving trouble with close exits and entrances. CD roads are connected to the freeway away from the interchange, protecting high-speed lanes from the weaving maneuvers of entering and exiting traffic. This allows more access points to be provided in a given area.

What's a DDI

DDI

A Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) is built with the main roadways of the cross street braided. They cross each other at the two signalized intersections in the interchange. Traffic on the cross-street bridge drives to the left of the center divider. The bridge is not nearly as expensive to build as the one on the SPUI. All of the signals are two-phase.

A rebound DDI is a half DDI functioning as a rebound interchange.

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