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A COUNT US! Report titled "Hurt, Damaged and Angered by H-T Opinion" sent to our membership on August 15th, 2005. For those not used to reading COUNT US! reports, the Director who composes these reports often refers to himself in this role as "us", "we" or "US!" He owns a Bloomington Business. Wondering, were we libeled? Finally the Bloomington Paper shows readers the Cross Sections for I-69...well not exactly! It has taken a year to get the Bloomington Herald Times to print the facts of the FEIS approved by Federal Highway administration regarding the cross sections of the planned I-69 at Bloomington and Martinsville. Now we have succeeded in a letter -Aug. 9,'05 and in Sundays Aug 14th Opinion. We posted the Bloomington and Martinsville I-69 cross sections on our website before the July 2004 Monroe County Fair. Our 54 week intention was to force the Bloomington Herald Times to show the Bloomington and Martinsville public this "official plan". http://www.i69tour.org/3cmonroe.html Seemingly now someone at the H-T is angered by our success in getting this published in their paper. With their Opinion, we wonder if we were legally "identified, unfairly accused and thus libeled". Surely what follows should call into question what is "reasonable discourse" and "responsible journalism" in a democracy. ************************ Sunday August 13th, the Bloomington Herald Times makes some overly strong statements: http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/htoservices/hto-contact.php Misconceptions mark Ind. 37-to-I-69 remark Opinion August 14, 2005 Tools:
In the wake of the public hearing on the Section 5 section on Interstate 69 from Victor Pike north through Bloomington to Martinsville, some misconceptions seem to be spreading. In some cases, we think it's honest misinformation. In other cases, we have to wonder whether it may rise to the level of disinformation intended to mislead and frighten people. We've heard it expressed both in a claim in a letter to the editor and in callers on WGCL's "Afternoon Edition" call-in talk show. It goes like this: I-69 through Bloomington is going to be an elevated highway with 12 traffic lanes. Or its variant: I-69 through Bloomington is going to be 12 lanes wide, with eight travel lanes bordered by two lanes for local traffic on each side. This did not sound right to us. So we consulted Wendy Vachet, the manager of the planning process for the Section 5 I-69 project office in Bloomington's One City Center. Vachet has heard the same thing, repeatedly. And to get swiftly to the point, she said it is false. But she thinks she knows what's causing it. When I-69 was in the "Tier 1" planning stage to select the
initial 2,000-foot-wide corridor, the report for that includes an
appendix with all sorts of stuff in it. For the stretch through
Bloomington classified as "urban," she said, the appendix included a
description for a potential 12-traffic-lane elevated highway. But she
stressed that is not required and would be overbuilding on a massive
scale. Now, the Indiana Department of Transportation, she said, does not want to "underbuild" the highway, and if anything, prefers to "overbuild" it for the sake of the future. In terms of what that means, she said what definitely is planned is that rural portions will have three 12-foot-wide travel lanes in each direction. There also will be 12-foot shoulders on both the highway edge and the median edge, with a median down the center. That means the pavement width on each side would be 60 feet, or 120 feet total. In terms of the urban area through Bloomington, she said her office is leaning toward two options. • Have two 12-foot through-traffic lanes and two local-traffic lanes in each direction. Both the travel lanes and the local lanes would have a 12-foot shoulder on each side, with a barrier dividing the local and travel lanes. • Have four travel lanes in each direction with a 12-foot shoulder on each side, or 12 lanes of pavement, eight for traffic and four for pull-offs. In either case, she said the existing overpasses for West Third St. (Ind. 48) and West Second Street (Ind. 45) will have to be rebuilt. So will the Indiana Rail Road overpass between them. And the current channel through which Ind. 37 now runs will need at least some widening. But no, there will not be an elevated eyesore of a highway with 12 traffic-moving lanes, she said. There. Now you have it. Herald-Times*********************** Here is our defense. At the time of our letter to the editor (seen below) the only cross-section plan for I-69 Bloomington was the one contained in the FEIS approved by The US Federal Highway Administration with a Record of Decision. Our letter was written before the public meeting for Bloomington held in Martinsville where the consultant revealed a number of plans which were described by the H-T as: Quote: "In terms of the urban area through Bloomington, she said her office is leaning toward two options." Those " leanings" will only become official after they pass through head consultants, Bernardin Lochmueller and Associates, then INDOT and more rounds of DEIS and FEIS Tier 2 comments and are then given another Record of Decision by federal Highway. We have made every effort to present accurately the official INDOT documents! ****************** In order to claim libel, we must have been identified and the Herald Times would have had to try to damage us economically. While we were not named by name, Here is part of the Hoosier Times identification. "In the wake of the public hearing on the Section 5 section on Interstate 69" We were the only one to comment at the Martinsville meeting for section 5 regarding the change of the Record of Decision as we identified a reduction in the capacity of the proposed I-69 past Bloomington from the 12 lanes approved in the Federal Highway Record of Decision to 8 lanes. "We've heard it expressed both in a claim in a letter to the editor..." We wrote the Letter to the Editor: *****************Herald Times Here is one other component of the identification: "...and in callers on WGCL's "Afternoon Edition" call-in talk show." We have called in to the local Radio call in show with this information that we have tried to get the Bloomington Herald Times to cover from the Record of Decision Tier 1, since mid July 2004. *********************** Surely the Bloomington Herald-Times is far more guilty of "misinformation" and "disinformation intended to mislead and frighten people." People will be freighted of trusting US! We have composed this letter to a member of the Bloomington Herald Times Editorial Board: Kurt VanderDussen, Sunday's Bloomington Herald Times Editorial Opinion was unbelievable. I hope you had nothing to do with it. I am hurt and angered by claims of "misinformation" that I am presenting: http://www.i69tour.org/3cmonroe.html Regarding the statement "...all sorts of stuff in it. For the stretch through Bloomington classified as "urban," she said, the appendix included a description..." The direct linked connection to INDOT/ FHWA approved graphs and highway cross sections (pdf) that I share with the community regarding the US Federal Highway Record of Decision for I-69 3C (Corridor 18, section 3, 3C, section 5) is more than "a description" and to call it that is misinformation! Regarding: "disinformation intended to mislead and frighten people" I believe it is far more true that this H-T Opinion "is disinformation intended to mislead and frighten people" of me. As one who regarding this topic has written letters to the editor (see Aug, 9,'05), was the only speaker regarding this topic at the Section 5 meeting and who has called WGCL more than once, I feel my reputation has been damaged in the Community by this branding. This seems particularly true in the Bicycle community where I have tried to share this information more than once with persons only mildly interested. I am very afraid that those who accept what they read in your paper as truthful will no longer feel good doing business with me. Was this intended? If the level of public discussion I have engaged in, providing direct access to Federally approved plans for our county is disallowed and named "misinformation", and "disinformation intended to mislead and frighten people", certainly free speech, public opinion and free access to public information and process are of no use. Why is the Bloomington H-T so happy to have lost the 4 frontage lanes that were approved in the Record of Decision. Can anyone over there possibly imagine the difficulty of accessing sections of Bloomington near 37 that would lose exits. Think of the lack of continuous North/ South streets near 37 on either side. What would be the cost to Bloomington and Monroe Taxpayers for this loss of Federally subsidized infrastructure shown needed in the Record of Decision. What traffic congestion never before experienced would necessitate major local expense and inconveniences? If persons are frightened by official INDOT and FHWA documents, can I be blamed? In what way are the "leanings" of the Section 5 consultants more valid? The Consultants of Section 5 claimed in an August 2nd, 2005 meeting with the Bloomington Bicycle Club that removing the frontage roads (4 of the 12 lanes approved) was allowed by new numbers that show that we don't need that much capacity, yet I'll bet you a buck that you will never get them to admit that was said and certainly they won't provide access to these lowered expectations for I-69 use if they in fact exist. Their "leanings" are not official and must go through BLA, INDOT, Draft EIS tier 2, comments, BLA, INDOT Final EIS tier 2 , more comments BLA/ INDOT again and then Federal Highway Administration Tier 2 Record of Decision before they reach the level of validity of what I have presented. And this assumes that Mitch Daniels will not make major changes in the funding with a toll road proposal. Could it not be said that the consultants are "bean counters" trying to short change our community leaving us with a local road congestion problem worse than we currently have? Frankly, I am not sure which is worse, a raised road or no frontage roads, but I am certain that losing those frontage roads is not something that should be seen as good news if SR37 becomes a limited access interstate. Some very small thinking is going on over there in your work place. I would like to meet my accusers face to face. Like the H-T ("This did not sound right to us." ), it took me a long time to understand why I-69 here was designed/approved as an Elevated Urban Freeway Typical Section I, but there is a reasonable explanation if The Bloomington H-T would give me a chance to defend my sharing of public documents, I can explain. You might ask yourself why all the other sections of I-69 look the way you would expect and only Bloomington and Martinsville don't "sound right". Thank you for the read of my justly angered reaction, I look forward to your comments and hope you are not offended that by cc, I have informed others in the media community of what I consider to be unfair treatment in this instance. John Smith Bikesmiths/ COUNT US! A 30 year Bloomington merchant concerned about my community, acting in the most responsible way I can imagine. ************ Did the H-T try to damage us economically? We are not sure, but we know we are today very worried about our standing within our community with our Customers, who must trust us. _____________ Note: in the original e-mail distribution of this COUNT US! report to the membership, "Slander" rather than the here corrected term "Libel" was used. |
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