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The Indiana Daily Student

Martinsville hosts public forum about I-69

More than 200 attendees tasked the Indiana Department of Transportation with some difficult issues Wednesday, from annexed land to financial concerns.

“I can you ask you guys the same questions and get three or four different answers,” a man said to INDOT representatives at the public forum in the Martinsville High School ?auditorium.

This particular Interstate 69 project, Section 6, will stretch from Indianapolis to Martinsville and is only one part of a state initiative to connect Indianapolis and Evansville.

Indiana’s project is only one part of a federal highway infrastructure program to extend I-69 from Mexico to Canada.

The construction of Section 6 is being administered by INDOT, the Federal Highway Association and a private consultant group.

The goals of the project include improving the transportation between southwest Indiana and Indianapolis, to alleviate some traffic congestion and support economic growth throughout Indiana.

Currently, an Environmental Impact Statement is being drafted that will investigate a number of environmental considerations including wetland identification, stream assessments, endangered species surveys, historic and archaeological resources evaluation and noise analysis. The EIS is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2017.

INDOT recognizes these concerns and plans to address them, said William Wingfield, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of ?Transportation.

“How can we address traffic?” Wingfield said. “How can we? minimize cost? How can we deal with the environment and historical archaeological resources and minimize impacts to all those? It’s a lot to take in.”

Following a brief presentation about the EIS, members of the public were encouraged to ask questions or deliver personal comments to the audience.

A big concern that was consistently brought up was the likelihood of the state seizing private property on which to build Section 6.

Cathy Jackson had a portion of her and her husband’s land taken by the state to build Section 4 and expressed her distrust for highway infrastructure projects such as these.

She had some advice for residents living in the Section 6 area.

“These meetings are just for show,” Jackson said to the audience. “The state cares nothing about your thoughts, your feelings or your property.”

Most of the people to stand up and deliver comments were apprehensive about the effects building a large highway would have on local communities.

“All we’re asking is that you’re honest with us,” a woman said without disclosing her name.

Wingfield was hoping to gain insight into the public’s opinion and ideas on the project from the comment session.

“So really at this point we’re primarily here to listen,” Wingfield said. “We don’t have recommendations, we don’t have numbers. We’re trying to figure out, first, is if we’re asking the right questions.”

Funding specifically for Section 6 has not yet been specifically allocated, but funding for the previously constructed sections utilized funding from similar sources.

One of the major sources of funding for I-69 construction and the development of highways in Indiana in general is Major Moves, a program that was launched by former Gov. Mitch Daniels that allocates $2.6 billion over a 10-year period for the construction and maintenance of highways in Indiana.

Sections 1 through 4 were constructed using a combination of funding from Major Moves and traditional funding from both the state and federal governments.

Section 5, which is currently under construction, is being designed, financed and built by a private developer. The private developer will be reimbursed in a fixed-payment system over the course of about 35 years.

While the project is still in its planning stages and the Environmental Impact Statement has not yet been conducted, a spokesperson from INDOT estimated that construction on Section 6 will begin in early 2018.

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