Officials in southwestern Indiana are weighing the benefits of a proposed four-lane highway.
The Midstate Corridor would begin in Owensboro, Kentucky. It would then go around Huntingburg and Jasper, and eventually connect with I-69 between Evansville and Bloomington.
The Midstate Corridor development group is asking Dubois County and the cities of Jasper and Huntingburg to pitch in to fund an environmental impact study on the project. The remaining funding would come from the private sector. The total estimated cost of the study is $7 million.
Dubois County Council member Michael Kluesner says they’ve been trying to develop a safer alternative to U.S. 231 since 2011.
"I think everyone wants, you know, to have a better and safer connectivity of transportation to Indy and Nashville, and all the cities in between," Kluesner says.
But some communities are critical of the proposed highway.
Orange County residents showed up to a recent commissioner’s meeting to speak out against the route, which would cut through the county and skirt the edge of a national forest.
Orange County Commissioner Don Brewer says many local businesses support the proposed highway, which would bring increased traffic through the area.
"There’s no easy way to get here, and that’s been a complaint from the major players in the county all along," Brewer says.
But Brewer says many residents are concerned about the changes it would bring to their smaller, more rural communities.
"They don’t want the additional traffic through their county, they want to keep everything rural and country," Brewer says.
Brewer says the commissioners are planning to invite the Dubois group developing the plans to an upcoming meeting. After that, they’ll make a decision on whether they support the highway.
The project is still in its preliminary stages. The current proposal is requesting funding for the environmental study, but not for the construction or any further developments.
Kluesner the study alone will take three years, and he says it needs to start soon.
"If we don’t do the study now, this is going to be kind of a dropped subject here," Kluesner says. "So I think it’s an opportunity."
Kluesner says the development team is hoping to get state funding to help finance the project. Area officials met with Gov. Eric Holcomb and the state transportation commissioner earlier this year to discuss the corridor.
Kluesner says the Dubois County Council will vote on whether to fund the environmental study at its next meeting Oct. 10.
