MPO postpones vote on Section 4 of I-69 construction to Feb.

In a 7-4 vote with one member abstaining, the Bloomington/Monroe County Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) voted not to give the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) $25 million to construct a 1.7-mile section of Interstate 69.

Local MPO members expressed their concerns about INDOT’s alleged lack of cooperation throughout the planning process. Despite INDOT representative Jim Stark’s reassurances to local representatives that INDOT “wants to work cooperatively with this planning organization,” some members remained skeptical.

“Good faith on your part is great, but it’s the $25 million that keeps you coming back,” said Richard Martin, a member of the Monroe County Plan Commission. “The only lever we have is $25 million.”

I-69 has been a contested issue for more than two decades. The project is divided into five sections between Evansville and Indianapolis. MPO’s 1.7-mile stretch lies within section four.

If MPO voted to exclude I-69 from its transportation funding package, INDOT would not be allowed to use federal money to construct at least part of section four.

INDOT could also deny transportation funds to MPO for projects ranging from road repairs to Bloomington Transit operations.

When Monroe County Commissioner Mark Stoops asked Stark to guarantee BT wouldn’t be included in the threat to cut transportation funding, he received an indirect answer.

“Like I said before, it’s all in the discretionary funding,” Stark said, referring to the governor’s authority to allocate mass transit funding.

The organization voted to take three additional months to consider a memorandum of understanding with INDOT to ensure INDOT will meet local environmental regulations and address local traffic safety concerns in the I-69 construction process.

Martin said MPO has not been involved in INDOT’s planning to mitigate noise, steep road grade, safety incidents during construction or increased local traffic flow as a result of future I-69 construction.

“Up to this point, we have been treated no differently than the public,” Martin said regarding restricted access to INDOT’s planning process.

The committee is also exploring working with a participating agency, which would help INDOT and MPO work together to agree about issues such as communication and sharing INDOT’s environmental studies.

“None of that guarantees that our voice will be heard,” Monroe County Council member Julie Thomas said, despite reassurances from a Federal Highway Administration official that the Participating Agency has worked well with another highway construction project in northwest Indiana.

Another contested point included INDOT’s claim that I-69 would stimulate economic growth, saying business would sprout up along the I-69 corridor.

“There’s no study that found any economic benefit to I-69,” Stoops said. “Original studies even showed the impact was negative, and there was no justification to building I-69.”

Stark said the area would see job growth during the construction phase and an increase in local tax revenue, as well as increased revenue for local businesses serving construction workers.

The MPO’s I-69 subcommittee presented a report to the group, detailing local concerns with the project. If all of section four is constructed, there is no guarantee section five will be constructed, which would dump the estimated 10,000- to 25,000-car increase in traffic onto State Road 37.

The Bloomington/Monroe County Municipal Planning Organization will convene again in February 2012 to vote about whether to include I-69 funding in the Transportation Improvement Plan.