By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
JASPER — While the official announcement is expected later this week, a legal notice in the Evansville Courier & Press Monday, April 11, shows a selection has been made for the preferred route of the Mid-States Corridor highway improvement project in southwest Indiana. According to the notice, the selection of Route P is being published in the newly completed Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project.
“Improvements for Alternative P extend 54 miles from I-64/US 231 to I-69 at the existing US 231 interchange,” the notice states. “It uses existing US 231 between SR 66 and I-64. Construction will begin at the I-64/US 231 interchange continuing east of Huntingburg and Jasper, avoiding developed areas near these cities. From Haysville to the north, Alternative P generally parallels the existing US 231 alignment with a bypass west of Loogootee. This alternative ends at the existing I-69 interchange at US 231. These highway improvements may include a 2-lane or 4-lane facility to be determined during Tier 2.”
While the notice uses the word “construction,” there will be many more meetings and study components to complete before any dirt has the possibility of being turned.
Plan copies and public hearings
Copies of the DEIS will be made available beginning Friday, April 15, at https://midstatescorridor.com/DEIS/; at the Mid-States Corridor project office in room 215 of the Vincennes University Jasper Campus administration building; at the central office of INDOT in Indianapolis and at the agency’s Vincennes office; and at 17 public libraries around the region: Bedford, Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County, Dubois, Ferdinand, Huntingburg, Jasper-Dubois County, Lincoln Heritage (Dale), Loogootee, Melton (French Lick), Mitchell, Monroe County, Orleans, Otwell, Pike County, Shoals, Spencer County and Washington Carnegie.
Two public hearings are also coming up this month. The first hearing will be held Tuesday, April 26, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EDT at WestGate Academy in Odon. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. A second hearing is set for Thursday, April 28, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EDT at the Jasper Arts Center at Vincennes University Jasper Campus.
Doors will open both nights at 5:30 p.m. EDT and will be followed at 6 p.m. EDT by a presentation from the project team and a formal public comment session. Spoken comments will be limited to 2 minutes per person. People needing special accommodations to make comments should contact David Goffinet with Lochmueller Group at 812-759-4120 as soon as possible. Team members will also be available to answer questions and hear comments before and after the presentations.
Comments can also be made using comment forms available at the hearings and on the project’s website. The information can then be sent back in via mail or email. In addition, the project’s office at Vincennes University Jasper Campus will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. EDT. The office can be reached at 812-482-3116 or [email protected]. Deadline to submit comments for consideration is May 31.
Opposition meeting April 21
Meanwhile, the Coalition Against the Mid-States Corridor has announced it will be holding a meeting on Thursday, April 21, from 6:30-8 p.m. in the gymnasium of Emerson Elementary School in Mitchell.
Next steps
As previously reported, the preferred corridor is still expected to be 2,000 feet wide. Narrowing down the road’s proposed path further will require more study, consideration of impacts, and review of public comments. The Tier 1 study is referred to in the legal notice as addressing “big picture” issues, such as whether or not to build at all and, if the project is to proceed, what corridor will be studied in more detail in the Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act studies. Included in Tier 2 will be further environmental reviews and consideration of possible impacts on cultural resources. The timing of these subsequent steps still isn’t clear.
The rejected routes
Reviewing the four rejected routes, beginning at I-64, just north of Dale:
- Route B would have proceeded north, pass to the west of Huntingburg and Jasper, then east of Otwell and Dogwood Lake, to link with I-69 south of Washington.
- Route C would have begun on the same route outlined above until breaking off near State Road 56 and swinging to the north of Jasper. It would have then turned westward, passing through the Alfordsville area and north of Dogwood Lake, to connect with I-69 east of Washington.
- Route M would have followed the same path described above until reaching Loogootee. At that point, the highway would have turned northeast, roughly following State Road 450 through northeast Martin County and western Lawrence County, to meet up with State Road 37 just northwest of Bedford.
- Finally, Route O would have followed the same paths outlined above until passing by Jasper. The road would then have turned east, roughly following U.S. 150/State Road 56 to a point just south of French Lick. It would then have turned north, passing the east side of French Lick and West Baden Springs, before continuing northeast to join S.R. 37 at Mitchell.
