INTERSTATE 69:
THE DEBATE

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.
   • They don't understand that the interstate highway can't follow US-41 through towns without dividing those towns. The highway would have to follow a new-terrain route around each town.
   • They don't understand the huge cost of eminent domain of adjacent property along the length of US-41. It would have taken every home, business, and shopping center along the entire length of US-41. The eminent domain would be needed for these reasons:
     • The federally required width of the right-of-way for an interstate highway is much wider than the existing US-41. Property must be acquired on one or both sides of the existing right-of-way.
     • Any property that would be landlocked when US-41 is changed from open access to controlled access must be either given alternate access or be taken through eminent domain.
     • Property must be taken to provide an access road to provide access to properties.
     Also note that most of the buildings along US-41 are within the width needed for the expanded right-of-way.

     A new-terrain route takes far less developed land, so the property taken for the project would cost a lot less.

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 zigzags 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 of hands is asked for.
      • They stuff the ballot and comment boxes.
      • One time they stole the box of comments left by other people and replaced it with a box they filled with their comments.
    • They also give the "spiritual harmony" and "desecrating the earth" arguments the earth-worshipers give.
    • Their leader "just happened" to have owned property on the planned route of I-69 southwest of Bloomington.
15. Opponents have disrupted meetings and continue to try to stop the project even when most if it is done.
    • They brought up issues that were not germane for the meeting they were at.
    • They tried to bring up the no-build option after the decision on what to build was already made.
    • They parked a truck across the entrance to the parking lot where the meeting was scheduled.
    • They pulled the fire alarm to try to end the meeting.
    • A protester stole the special cable for the computer-display projector for the presentations. At a different meeting, they stole the remote control for the school's ceiling-mounted projector.
    • They filed lawsuits to try to stop the project. Often they filed them in courts that had absolutely no jurisdiction (e.g. county courts) because the judges of those courts favored their position.
    • They got rowdy at a few meetings, and threw chairs at one meeting.
    • They filed frivolous lawsuits intended to use up the funding for the project with legal bills (but the legal costs came from an entirely different state budget).
16. Opponents have picketed construction companies and destroyed property to try to stop the construction.
    • They filed frivolous lawsuits against the companies who won the bids. Judges threw out the lawsuits.
    • Opponents blocked the entrances to construction companies so the workers could not get in to go to work. A few times they dumped garbage or stolen construction signs in the driveways.
    • They drove spikes into trees to be cut down so the lumber could not be sold and chainsaws would be damaged.
    • They damaged construction equipment: One time they filled the cabs of the equipment with concrete. Another time they hot-wired a bulldozer and smashed it into several other pieces of equipment. Several times they contaminated the engine oil in the equipment.
    • They stole or moved traffic barriers so traffic would drive into the construction area instead of following the safe routes.
    • They spray-painted graffiti on the Statehouse.
    • Some of them deface or damage property to call attention to their hopeless cause.

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

• The general route:
  1. Upgrade IN-37 from I-465 to south of Martinsville IN
  2. Upgrade IN-37 from south of Martinsville IN to Bloomington IN (under construction).
  3. New highway from Bloomington IN to Scotland IN (Open)
  4. New highway from Scotland IN to Elberfeld IN (Open)
  5. Rename I-164 through Evansville IN (Open)
  6. New Bridge and interchanges to Henderson KY (5 miles).
  7. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway from Henderson KY to Nortonville KY (Open)
  8. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway from Nortonville KY to Eddyville KY (Open)
  9. Follow I-24 from Eddyville KY to Calvert City KY (Open)
  10. Carroll Purchase Parkway from Calvert City KY to Fulton KY (Needs minor changes and two interchange upgrades)
  11. Upgrade US-51 TN-3 from Fulton KY to Troy TN (under construction)
  12. I-155 US-51 from Troy TN to Dyersburg TN (Open)
  13. Upgrade US-51 from Dyersburg TN to I-40 at Memphis TN
  14. Completed section of I-269 Memphis outer ring from US-51 Millington TN to Collierville TN
      (remainder under construction to Nesbit MS)
  15. Follow I-40 and I-55 through Memphis TN (Open)
  16. MS-713 from Nesbit MS to Banks MS (Open)
  17. MS-713 from Banks MS to Robinsonville MS (Open)
  18. Upgrade US-61 from Robinsonville MS to Clarksdale MS
  19. US-61 Clarksdale MS bypass (Open)
  20. Upgrade US-61 and US-278 from Clarksdale MS to Cleveland MS
  21. New construction from Cleveland MS to Benoit MS
  22. New Charles W Dean Bridge over the Mississippi River from Benoit MS to McGehee AR
  23. New construction from McGehee AR to El Dorado AR
  24. Upgrade US-82 from El-Dorado AR to near Magnolia AR
  25. New construction from near Magnolia AR to Haughton LA, passing near Haynesville LA and Shangaloo LA
  26. New construction from Haughton LA (east of Shreveport LA) to south of Carthage TX
  27. Upgrade US-59 from south of Carthage TX to Splendora TX
  28. US-59 from Splendora TX to Rosenberg TX, passing through Houston TX (Open)
  29. Upgrade US-59 from Rosenberg TX to Victoria TX
  30. US-59 through Victoria TX (Open)
  31. Upgrade US-59 from Victoria TX to George West TX as I-69W
  32. Upgrade US-59 from George West TX to Laredo TX as I-69W
  33. Upgrade US-59 through Laredo TX to I-35 as I-69W (under construction)
  34. US-59 from I-35 to the US border in Laredo TX is I-69W (Open)
  35. Upgrade US-281 from George West TX to Edinburg TX as I-69C
  36. US-281 from Edinburg TX to I-2 in Pharr TX is I-69C (Open)
  37. Upgrade US-77 from Victoria TX to Calallen TX as I-69E
  38. 10 miles of US-77 from Calallen TX to Robstown TX is I-69E (Open)
  39. Upgrade US-77 from Robstown TX to Raymondville TX as I-69E
  40. US-77 & US-83 from Raymondville TX to Brownsville TX is I-69E (Open)
• Specific interchange locations for Indiana:
  1. I-465 Indianapolis bypass Just west of Harding Street)
  2. IN-37 Epler Ave & Harding Street, Indianapolis
  3. Southport Road, Indianapolis
  4. County Line Road, Indianapolis
  5. Smith Valley Road, Indianapolis
  6. IN-144, Waverly
  7. Henderson Ford Road
  8. IN-44 and IN-252, Martinsville
  9. Ohio Street, Martinsville
  10. IN-39 Martinsville (existing)
  11. Liberty Church Road & Godsey Road, Morgan County
  12. Sample Road, Wayport
  13. Walnut Street Bloomington (existing)
  14. IN-45 IN-46 Bypass, Bloomington and Ellettsville (existing)
  15. IN-48 Third Street, Bloomington (existing - slight rebuild)
  16. IN-45 Second Street, Bloomington (existing)
  17. Tapp Road, Bloomington
  18. Fullerton Pike, Bloomington
  19. IN-37 south, Bloomington (north of Victor Pike)
  20. IN-45 & IN-445, Cincinnati IN
  21. IN-45, Owensburg IN
  22. US-231, Scotland
  23. IN-58, Elnora
  24. US-50, Washington (east)
  25. IN-56 and IN-61 Petersburg
  26. IN-64, Oakland City
  27. IN-168, Mackey
  28. IN-68 and IN-57, Elberfeld
  29. I-64 and I-164, Elberfeld (existing)
  30. IN-57, Daylight
  31. New Harmony Road
  32. Lynch Road, Evansville
  33. IN-62 Morgan Avenue, Evansville
  34. IN-66 Lloyd Expressway, Evansville
  35. IN-662 Covert Avenue, Evansville
  36. Green River Road, Evansville
  37. I-164, US-41, & Kentucky Avenue, Evansville
  38. I-69 Ohio River Bridge (unknown location)