I-70 and US 41
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Underused U.S. 41 north of Evansville |
Can Indiana afford to spend $800 million more to save 12 minutes of driving time? $800 million is a lot of money. It's approximately INDOT's entire annual budget for road construction , maintenance and repair for the entire state. We can extend I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville for about half of the cost of INDOT's new-terrain highway by using I-70/US 41 as the route.
INDOT also has promoted the new I-69 as necessary to help people drive more quickly from Evansville to Indianapolis. But according to even INDOT's own projections, very few people travel between the two towns each day, and a new highway would only increase travel from Evansville by about 90 trips per day. That's less than one-tenth of one percent (0.01%) of INDOT's total projected vehicular traffic for the highway:
Projected Number of DailyVehicle Trips
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|||
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If I-69 is not extended
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I-70/US 41
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New-Terrain Route
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TOTAL
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250
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267
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355
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For all of its enormous cost, the new-terrain I-69 does very little to create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, or reduce traffic accidents. But it IS very good at destroying farmland and forests. And INDOT ignores the wishes of the citizens of Terre Haute, who want I-69, and those in Bloomington, who largely don't.
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I-70/US 41
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New-Terrain Route
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| Increase in jobs in SW Indiana |
Less than 1%
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Less than 1%
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| Reduction in traffic congestion |
Less than 1%
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Less than 1%
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| Reduction in traffic accidents |
Less than 1%
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Less than 1%
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| Acres of farmland destroyed |
1,980
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5,100
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| Acres of forest destroyed |
245
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245
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| Supported by Terre Haute |
Yes
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No
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| Supported by Bloomington |
Yes
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No
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All figures derived from INDOT's Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for I-69.
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Please visit our friends working for commonsense on I-69:
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