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On November 7th in a 19 page comment to the DEIS the the EPA requested further consideration of US-41 and I-70 and announced unwillingness to issue permit for routes 3, 4, & 5 to pass through the Patoka Wildlife Preserve a forested wetland .   Calling this "routine", INDOT scrambled;  November 13th, 2002, six days after the end of the public comment period, INDOT reacted with the "hybrid" route.  It is their effort to save Bloomington alternatives #3B & #3C.

We are able to calculate a minimum increase in the hybrid alternative 3 alternatives:

• All alternative 2 and all alternative 4 are the same from the point of meeting north to I 465 at Indianapolis.
• All alternative 3 and all alternative 4 are the same from beginning point at I64 at US 57 to the point of division.
• The distance and character of the land from the point of division of alt.3 and alt 4 to alt 2 is very similar to the distance and cost of the not yet studied new hybrid terrain that will be studied in the required Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS). So:

From the table Titled Capital Costs in the DEIS Summary   Table S-5: Capital Costs by Alternative NEW TERRAIN NON PREFERRED ROUTES DROPPED FOR CLARITY EPA RECOMMENDED "LOOK AT ALT. 1 AGAIN" Capital Cost Alternative Low High Average 1 $ 810,000,000 $ 1,040,000,000 $ 930,000,000 . . . . 2A $ 1,090,000,000 $ 1,270,000,000 $ 1,180,000,000 -4A  $ 960,000,000 $ 1,040,000,000 $ 1,000,000,000 'A' Hybrid  Increase $130,000,000 $230,000,000 $180,000,000 . . . . 2B $ 1,170,000,000 $ 1,370,000,000 $ 1,270,000,000 - 4B  $ 1,040,000,000 $ 1,120,000,000 $ 1,080,000,000 'B' Hybrid  Increase $130,000,000 $250,000,000 $190,000,000 . . . . 2C $1,470,000,000 $1,740,000,000 $1,610,000,000 - 4C  $1,340,000,000 $1,500,000,000 $1,420,000,000 'C' Hybrid  Increase** $130,000,000 . $240,000,000 ? $190,000,000 ?         3B $ 1,650,000,000 $ 1,820,000,000 $ 1,740,000,000 'C' Hybrid  Increase** $130,000,000 $250,000,000 $190,000,000 Hybrid 3B Cost $1,780,000,000 $2,070,000,000 $1,930,000,000 . . . . 3C $1,640,000,000 $1810,000,000 $1730,000,000 'C' Hybrid  Increase** $130,000,000 $250,000,000 $190,000,000 Hybrid 3C Cost $1,770,000,000 $2,060,000,000 $1,920,000,000 SOURCE: Bernardin, Lochmueller & Associates, Inc. in Black Adapted by COUNT US! in red ** 3A AND 3B USE ROUTES 2C AT I-465 WHICH IS MANN ROAD OR US-37 ?Math errors seem to be errors in the DEIS

For the DEIS map of the alternatives click here. * Above: of all of the preferred Alternatives and Alternative #1.  See the color key for alternatives below. Alt 2C . 2b- not preferred, so not shown. 2c- North to I-465 at Mann Rd $1,610,000,000 Alt 4 B & C * . 4b-- North to I-70 to I-465 4c-- North to I-465 at Mann Rd Alt 3 B & C/ Mann Rd * Either 3b or 3c, not both. Alternatives differ only at  Bloomington. *Black dot in EPA denied use of Patoka Nat. Wildlife Preserve . Alt #1  (IN41 North  to I-70 East) $ 930,000,000 Hybrid Either b or 3c, not both B= $1,930,000,000 C= $1,920,000,000 Neither INDOT or the EPA claim the hybrid as their own,  but INDOT is said to be considering it. South to North: Beginning as Alt.#2  1/3rd way up using non proposed and unstudied new terrain to Alt.#3 on the north 1/2 to I-465. The Hybrid show  in key colors.

*The EPA 19 pages of official comments to the DEIS included strongly worded concerns for water quality protection issues concerning alternatives 3 in the Monroe County region because of the heavy karst. The EPA anticipates very high costs for mitigating these problems and suggested that these costs and methods should be further studied in the tier one phase. This concern was also strongly worded in the comments from COUNT US! director John Smith in his comments to the DEIS.
 

The "core value" weighting on environmental effects in this federally required DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Study) is particularly maddening.
Alternative #1  is rated the least expensive to build and maintain.  Alternative #1 is the least environmentally damaging of all the build alternatives. Alternative
#3B is the most expensive and the most environmentally damaging.  Yet, the least expensive and least damaging is the least preferred and the most expensive and most damaging is most preferred due to the "core values" in this DEIS.