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COUNT US! Regarding
Indiana Chamber of Commerce support of New Terrain I-69
COUNT US! COMMENTS IN RED: One technique in improving Government
decision making is to
study how another county is making your same error. That is
what
one Danish country based their decision to send several grad students
to the USA to study why Government projects always come in over
budget. The results spurred several more papers at The
American Planning Association. To see just how studied this
topic is click
here. The Danish graduates year(s) long study
concluded:
Administrators (like our own INDOT Commissioner) want to build
projects. They shade the truth and sometimes outright lie to
"sell" projects, always understating the costs. In
understanding what is wrong with the I-69 decision in Indiana, it
doesn't hurt to realize that this project is totally driven by
Evansville, Indiana interests. Our INDOT Commissioner J. Brian
Nicol
is a lawyer who got his political science degree from Evansville's
University of Southern Indiana. Twelve million INDOT dollars have
paid
Bernardin, Lochmueller and associates (BLA) of Evansville, Indiana to
conduct the I-69 Environmental Impact Studies. Much of this was
granted to BLA with no competitive bids. For two views of Brian
Nicol: Pro
/ Con . In the Indianapolis Star published Opinions
considered here, Kevin Brinegar--president of
the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and John Myrland-- president of the
Greater
Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce have done us the service by repeating
several of INDOT's misleading "benefits" and understatements of "costs"
predicted in the $12 million dollar/ 3000 page I-69 Environmental
Impact Study. (BTW this study is only half done, Tier 1 of two
Tiers. More money will be spent to now do a "detailed" study.) We would
call it baffling that our State
Chamber of Commerce would care so little about taxation and wasteful
spending,
given the taxes that are collected at Indiana gas pumps are
harmful to Indiana businesses as well as every tax paying
motorist in
the
state. Increased gas taxes add to the cost of doing business in
Indiana, these increased taxes are also consumer dollars that will
never make it into our economy beyond our gas pumps. Still we
will use
their support of I-69 to demonstrate
"The Selling of I-69".
Our View: Kevin Brinegar and John Myrland A clear path ahead for economic progress
April 6, 2004 It's baffling that The
Star, which normally gives such great focus to the important issues of
jobs and
the economy of Indiana, including the well-thought "State of Decline"
series, could so miss the boat on the Interstate 69 extension. This
project is
the embodiment of creating more jobs, improving the business climate
and
stimulating the state's economy for many decades to come. Their introductory
paragraph sets up their
reason for falling in step with INDOT on this project. It is
aimed to make the Indianapolis Star look in error. Along the path of the
I-69 extension from Indianapolis to Bloomington to Evansville, job
opportunities will increase due to the simple fact most businesses want
to be
near an interstate highway system. During its first 20 years, the new
I-69 will
generate $3.2 billion in personal income growth for southwest Indiana,
including benefits for Marion, Johnson, Morgan and Hendricks counties,
according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. The rewards of
the
extension, however, are not just limited to areas directly on the new
corridor.
It will have a positive domino effect statewide, with Indiana being
seen as a
more viable hub for business due to its improved transportation
capabilities. "according to the Indiana Department of
Transportation" is the key phrase here. The source of their data is
enlightening: Table 5.5 of the EIS for I-69 called "Personal Income Growth"
has a row called Per Capita Personal
Income
Growth for each of the originally proposed routes of I-69.
Below
every studied route be it US-41 & I-70, or the chosen 3-C,
the benefit is "$0". The conclusion of
the EIS: The new I-69 route will
also better the quality of life for many Hoosiers, as travel will be
made much
easier and safer. Many communities to be served by the extension do not
currently have access to an interstate. Nearly 15 minutes of travel
time will
be shaved off the commute between Bloomington and Indianapolis, as well
as
providing much-needed relief of travel congestion on State Road 37. These benefits are within the narrow
bounds of the fences on each side of a built I-69. More traffic
is expected and longer distances for travel to shopping and employment
centers will increase miles and traffic. One Billion dollars saved, by
building I-69 on existing US-41 and I-70 could fund Three Hundred
Thirty Three, $3 million dollar road improvement projects in the
state of Indiana, starting today with no Environmental Impact Statement
Delays. Recent studies show that fixing our existing
transportation infrastructure creates 10% to 20% more benefit in
dollars and jobs than new terrain constructions. Smaller projects
are less disruptive, more easily built by local contractors, promote
local vs regional development. Travel time will also be
significantly reduced -- by nearly a half-hour -- between Indianapolis
and
Evansville. Additionally, an estimated $1.38 billion in drive time and
vehicle
operating costs between these cities will be saved over 20 years. Most
important, more than 40,000 serious accidents will be prevented, which
equates
to the population sizes of Martinsville, Vincennes and Washington
combined. These saving in accidents as mentioned
above are only based on longer and more travel. I-69 is an
inducement highway. It is meant to create a traffic situation,
where none exists. The serious accidents avoided are only if
these
40,000 imagined trips decided to drive through the county roads between
Kentucky and Fort Wayne. The saving of time considers only car
traveling on a completed I-69. The DEIS appendix A. shows that
60% of the existing roads crossed will not even get grade
separations. They will be closed to crossing. This will
cost Hoosiers on each side minutes per day, hours per year and weeks or
months over a life time in increased local travel time. The next
time you are stopped in a traffic jam, calculate how far you are from
an interstate highway. The next time you are somewhere where you
could not imagine a traffic jam, do the same thing. There is no
slower transportation system than one that reduces speed to zero! Access to higher education
also will become more convenient, with 360,000 more Hoosiers within an
hour's
drive of a major college or university. This
argument of 'asphalt for education' would be laughable in better
economic times. The U.S. Department of Commerce -
Economic Development
Administration surveyed manufacturing companies in distressed areas of
Indiana (those below the national average in employment levels or
average wage rates). The resounding response of Indiana
Manufacturers was a need for, job
training and education. This prompted INDOT and our state Chamber
of Commerce leaders to take down the banner, "I-69- The NAFTA Free
Trade Corridor Highway" and replace it with "I-69- The Education
Highway." Meanwhile, INDOT
forwarded 4 bills to increase gas taxes in the last year as every other
branch of our government is returning money saved and cutting their
budgets whenever possible. Times are tuff and this year our
state's legislature killed all of INDOT's requests for increased gas
taxes. A later proposed INDOT bonding bill failed
too. This INDOT funding scheme, designed to borrow $800 million
dollars in future federal transportation allocations today, was hoped
to make I-69 look affordable. If passed, it would have cost us $1
billion dollars in interest payments, in effect adding another $1
billion to the cost of I-69. These INDOT bills included wording that would
not allowed any portion of their budget to go to the State's debt
relief even if not spent for years. Unlike other
branches of our state government, their funds are their funds! 'Asphalt for education', is their
mantra while our
education system is squeeze and our teacher's retirement fund has been
robbed of over $6 billion dollars, of $7 billion total, to keep
our State's budget out of bankruptcy. The benefits are also
staggering for businesses that regularly ship freight by truck
throughout the
state. The savings in operating costs will be $155,000 per day, $51
million per
year and $1.2 billion over 20 years. Staggering
is a good word. Even if this were true, in 20 years, we would not
recover the initial cost for even the section of I-69 from I-64 to
I-465. But this benefit must be refuted. The lie
behind it is buried deep in the I-69 Environmental Impact Study
(EIS). The truth is the freight sighted in the EIS for I-69
is now actually coal on rail to Chicago:
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce will work with the necessary government officials and organizations to ensure the I-69 interstate extension stays a top priority. Brinegar is president of
the Indiana Chamber of Commerce; Myrland is president of the Greater
Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. Here our Chamber of commerce leaders conclude; It's too difficult to understand, just accept that we are going to need to pay higher and higher gas taxes. travel longer distances and waste more time in our cars in the future. Those of us opposed to new terrain I-69 or I-69 in general, say, "Stick a fork in it, it's done." We were moved to respond to a Chamber of
Commerce opinion piece in the Indianapolis star, had we know that
Indy Star reporter Dan
Carpenter was going to publish his response, we might not have made
this web page. We find his words hard hitting, inspired, funny and
educational. Build it, and they'll keep going http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/135737-2753-026.html
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© COUNT US! 2002 -'03,'04 |
