FOR RELEASE 1 PM CST, February 16, 2000

 Contacts:

Andy Knot, Hoosier Environmental Council, 317-685-8800
John Moore, ELPC, 312-673-6500
Niles Rosenquist, Evansville resident, 812-479-7643
G. Roderick Henry, Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, 812-232-2391
Tom tokarski, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, 812-825-9555

New Poll Finds Evansville Prefers US 41/I-70 Over All-New I-69

 Supporters of “Common Sense” Route Say Poll Shows “Emperor Has No Clothes”

A new poll shows that even in Evansville, widely assumed to be the last bastion of support for the proposed all-new Interstate 69 highway, citizens prefer using an upgraded US 41 and existing Interstate 70 via Terre Haute rather than building a $1.1 billion new highway via Bloomington.

Asked which of these two leading possible I-69 routes they prefer, 35% of Evansville voters picked US 41/I-70.  Only 31% preferred the all-new highway.  The remaining 34% were undecided or did not respond.

  “When it comes to Evansville’s supposed support for the all-new I-69, this poll shows the emperor has no clothes,” said Andy Knott, air and energy policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, which supports US 41/I-70.  “Given these poll numbers in Evansville and the all-new I-69’s widespread unpopularity elsewhere in the state, Indiana elected officials have no reason to support this costly and environmentally destructive boondoggle.”

The question was worded as follows:  “Two different possible routes for the I-69 highway to Indianapolis are a new highway via Bloomington or upgrading Highway 41 and Interstate 70 via Terre Haute.  Which of these two routes do you prefer?”

The telephone poll of 300 registered voters in the City of Evansville was taken January 22 and 23.  The margin of error is 4.5%, which means one can say with 95% confidence that if every single registered voter in Evansville were surveyed the results would be within 4.5 percentage points of those found in this poll.  The poll was conducted for Friends of the Earth by Harvard Information Services, an Indianapolis polling and market research firm.

The poll also reveals a widespread lack of enthusiasm among Evansville residents for the I-69 project generally.  When asked the general question, “Do you support or oppose the proposed Interstate 69 highway to Indianapolis?” only 28% supported it.  Nearly as many, 24%, opposed it.  Fully 44% were undecided.  The remaining 4% did not respond.

 “We Evansville residents are no different from other Hoosiers,” said Niles Rosenquist, a member of the Hoosier Audubon Council who lives in Evansville.  “We don’t want our hard-earned tax money wasted.  We don’t want to see thousands of acres of Southwest Indiana farmland and forests destroyed.  Not when there’s a responsible, common-sense alternative like US 41/I-70.”

 The results of the new poll are consistent with a 1998 constituent survey by State Rep. Dennis Avery (D-Evansville).  Evansville residents responding to that survey favored US 41/I-70 over a new highway by 30% to 28%.  

 The Evansville poll results come against a backdrop of eroding support for the proposed all-new I-69 elsewhere in Southwest Indiana.  In December, the City Council of Bloomington, which is the biggest city along the route, voted to oppose putting I-69 through Bloomington.  Also in December, the Indiana Farm Bureau voted down a pro-I69 resolution by a 4-to-1 margin.  And an anti-new-highway advertising campaign now running in Daviess County -- where Washington, Indiana, is the second biggest city along the proposed route -- is uncovering widespread opposition there, said Knott of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

In response to another question in the new poll, Evansville voters by a 5-to-1 margin said “politicians” or “business interests seeking to make money,” rather than local citizens, are the ones pursuing the I-69 project.  The poll asked:   “In your opinion, who is responsible for pursuing the I-69 project:  politicians, business interests seeking to make money, local citizens, or someone else?”  41% answered politicians, 29% answered business interests seeking to make money, and only 14% answered local citizens.  15% were undecided, and 1% did not respond.

 The US 41/I-70 route for I-69 would upgrade US 41 to interstate standards with no stop lights or at-grade crossings between I-64 and Terre Haute, take advantage of a bypass around Terre Haute that is already on the drawing board, and use existing I-70 between Terre Haute and Indianapolis.

US 41/I-70 would be only 10 minutes longer than an all-new highway on the drive between Indianapolis and Evansville, but would save an estimated $600 million, according to opponents of the new highway.  US 41/I-70 would also preserve thousands of acres of Southwest Indiana farmland and forests that the all-new highway would destroy.  And while the new highway would divert traffic away from economically distressed communities along US 41 such as Terre Haute and Vincennes, US 41/I-70 would help preserve their local economies.

Additional information about I-69 is available online at www.commonsensei-69.org.

###