Monroe residents question bypass plan

MARTINSVILLE -- A group of concerned citizens met Thursday in the auditorium at Martinsville High School to discuss the privatization of Indiana's highways and the Indianapolis Bypass Toll Road as proposed by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. \nThe bypass would be 75 miles of new road that would go around Indianapolis, trailing from Interstate 69 in Pendleton to Interstate 70 in Morgan County.\nMorgan County resident Brenda Buster talked about the negative effects of the proposal, such as the possible emergence of urban sprawl, congestion of local roads and increased response time for emergency vehicles.\nAnother Morgan County resident, Sandra Tokarski, said there are potential problems with the privatization of Indiana's highways.\n"Our highways should remain a public service," she said.\nIf a private toll road is approved, Tokarski said, the corporation contracted to build it would design the highway, collect tolls and be responsible for the road's upkeep for up to 100 years. The road could also be sold to another corporation for the duration of the contract. \nThe citizens were worried that any corporation that is building and running a highway would have total freedom over the cost of tolls and could charge drivers unfair amounts of money to use the road.