I-70 and US 41
The Common Sense Route for I-69
Between Evansville and Indianapolis

• Nearly $900 million less expensive than INDOT's favored route
• Saves thousands of acres of farmland, forest and wetland
• Only 13 minutes longer

OPPOSITION TO A NEW INTERSTATE

An unusually broad coalition of taxpayers, farmers, conservationists, businesspeople, and urban groups oppose the proposed new highway and support the I-70/US 41 alternative. Many members of this coalition -- such as farmers and environmentalists -- have disagreed about numerous issues in the past. They have come together in this campaign because they all agree the new highway would be wrong for Indiana.

Along the I-70/US 41 route, there is virtually unanimous support for this common sense alternative.  By contrast, the proposed new highway faces widespread local opposition.  Even the biggest city along the route, Bloomington, opposes it.  The Bloomington City Council twice in recent years has declared opposition to routing I-69 through Bloomington: First in 1999 and again in 2002.

Other opponents of the new highway include:

• Taxpayer and fiscal responsibility groups, such as Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Concord Coalition;

• Farm groups, such as the Indiana Farmers Union and the Farm Bureaus in Gibson, Daviess and Knox Counties;

• Business groups such as Chambers of Commerce and economic development organizations in Clay, Knox, Parke, Putnam, Vermillion and Vigo Counties;

• Conservation groups, such as the Hoosier Environmental Council, Save the Dunes Council, and the Indiana Division of the Izaak Walton League;

• Communities that would be economically harmed by the new highway, such as Terre Haute and Vincennes;

• Citizens' groups, such as Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana and Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, based in Stanford, Indiana.

Elected officials who support I-70/US 41 and oppose the new highway include U.S. Rep. Ed Pease, 14 numerous Indiana state legislators and the county officials in thirteen counties, Commissioners in Clay, Fountain, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan and Vigo Counties.

Support for I-70/US 41 and opposition to the new terrain highway has been growing by leaps and bounds:

Over 138,000 Hoosiers have signed petitions against the new highway, over four times more than have signed petitions supporting it.

15 newspapers across Indiana have editorialized in favor of the I-70/US 41 alternative to a new highway, including major papers in four of Indiana's five largest cities -- Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Gary.

Last year INDOT requested public comment on its costly and destructive new-terrain highway, and an overwhelming 94% of those commenting spoke out against a new highway. INDOT received over 20,000 comments opposing an all-new route, and received less than 1,000 comments supporting INDOT's proposal. Click here for more information on the outpouring of opposition to INDOT's misguided plans.

In Evansville, widely assumed to be the last bastion of support for the new highway, a poll shows citizens actually prefer I-70/ US 41.

The Indiana Farm Bureau voted overwhelmingly against the new highway at its annual meeting in December 1999.  Delegates from across Indiana defeated a pro-highway resolution by a four-to-one margin.  In February 2000, the Indiana Farmers Union joined the fray, passing its own resolution against the new-terrain highway.

Click here for a full listing of groups in favor of the common sense I-70/US 41 route for I-69.