Larry Groves - Comments

My comment relates to the Tier 2 Draft Purpose and Need Statement. I support the premise that the Mid-States Corridor would be beneficial for Southern Indiana. I recognize the pain of landowners who would be affected; I myself am a farm land owner. Offsetting the pain of those landowners is the inconvenience of travelers going north/south in southern Indiana - who number many more people than the affected property owners. My personal situation is that I often travel north frequently to Indianapolis where I have family and friends; to Bloomington where I have relatives; and occasionally to Lafayette to see friends. I seldom go to Jasper to shop because Owensboro, KY is closer and contains most of the same opportunities for shopping, dining, etc. One of the arguments against the Corridor highway is that it will detract from local economy of the towns currently on IN-231. For me, that is not the case: I seldom purchase anything when driving through Huntingburg or Jasper on my way through. The current state of Chrisney's main street is sometimes cited as evidence of economic affect of the re-routing IN-231, but as a resident of Chrisney, I saw that decline occur due to other factors before "new 231" was built. In fact, what often happens on my journey is this: after grinding through the towns and the two-lane roads with few passing opportunities, I am fatigued and impatient so that my driving attention is impaired. I confess to receiving tickets between Jasper and I-69 for speeding and improper passing due to impatience. In sum, while I do not negate the concerns of landowners against building the corridor, I believe that the number of people who would benefit from a express through-route is substantial enough to justify its construction. As to the local economic impact, I believe those fears are overstated. From personal experience, I believe that a through-route would also be a safer one. My recommendation is to build the Mid-States Corridor. Thank you for this opportunity to express my thoughts.