Report from the first CAC meeting for I-69 SIU 4 
(Proposed I-69 from near the Daviess / Greene County Line coming from the direction of Elnora, past the west and north boarders of Crane to SR37 in Monroe County just north of Victor Pike.)

Date of Meeting: Thursday, December 2, 2004, 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Location: Eastern Greene High School

Date of Report: January 15, 2005

Reporter John L. Smith BBC, CAC member

As the recognized Bloomington Bicycle Club member of the CAC, I attended the CAC meeting for SIU #4.  Anyone was allowed to attended the meeting and several did.  Those not officially CAC members, are not allowed to speak.  The CAC will allow an alternate, but that single person must be announced now and added to the  list of CAC alternates.


Before the meeting:


I had a few conversations with Charles Ramsden regarding my participation in the CAC and my wish to propose a Greene County Ohio like network of Bicycle trails/ routes as a focus of this massive transportation project.  Charles is a Greene County unaffiliated recreational cyclists that many in the BBC would consider "less serious" as regards his style of cycling.  (He still rides on 27" wheels.)  Still, Charles quickly suggested that while Greene County does not have much at all in the way of abandoned rail infrastructure, it does have an expanse of gas pipe line clearings that cut across the county and include property easements held by the gas company.  Charles took the initiative to call  the Texas Gas Transmission LLC ,  (800) 626-1948,  and talked to Jeff McMaine.  Mr. McMaine mentioned  that this has been done very successfully on their properties in Illinois(?) including little mini parks along the way and according to Charles; they seemed responsive to working with us.   Charles was given the names of John Hein, x6956 and John Weaver, x2407 as a contacts for us to discuss this further.   I have not followed up on this lead yet.  Charles provided this local office mailing information: Texas Gas Transmission, LLC, 3800 Frederica Street, Owenburg, KY 24301.  Charles has also collected information on a Minnesota Trail system that he has experienced and wishes for me to review. 


Brief description of Monroe/ Greene County, CAC, SIU4  meeting:

The meeting was called introductory in nature.  The purpose of the meeting was to bring together members of the CAC to first meet and lay out the purpose and expected timetable and to assesses areas of interest of CAC members.  The process of the SIU-4 study by DLZ Consultants  is expected to take until 2007, 2-1/2 years, but the CAC process would go on as long as the Study of I-69 in the SIU #4 would take.  The CAC will meet every 6 months or so.  We were told that we would focus on the area within our SIU, but in some cases we would look beyond our section into the next.


 Members of the study companies BLA, &  DLZ nearly equaled  the approximately 20 members of the CAC.  BLA is the Evansville consulting firm paid to oversee the entire project and DLZ is the one contracted to study SIU 4.  INDOT seemed under or not represented.  Federal Highway had their Indiana representative there.  Also attending was Wendy Vachet from SIU 5  and Bill Ulik a consultant from Ohio who made a presentation.   


The CAC members represented Monroe and Greene County Elected Officials, the Business Community, Crane Base, Social Agencies, County Government including the school systems and emergency services.  As provided by NEPA federal law, bicyclist were represented by me, acting as the invited BBC (Bloomington Bicycle Club) member. 


The consultants presented a power point with a main message being; "Where we have been and where we are going."  The message,  Tier 1 and the ROD means that we will build I-69 in this corridor.  Tier 2 will narrow the corridor for another round of DEIS and FEIS with comment periods and a Tier 2 ROD that would then allow for design work to begin.


At the end of this presentation, I questioned if some problem might allow for the reopening of the Record of Decision that chose the 3C route that comes through our Karst region?  The FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) representative did report, yes it is possible for a "revised record of decision" to be issued at the federal level.

 

I have made clear to the BBC and the CAC and it is well established at http://www.i69tour.org/  why I think Indiana does not need I-69, especially on the route chosen.  Still as I represent the BBC, I am advocating  for bicycling infrastructure preservation and enhancement, if I-69 were built.   The Record of Decision focusing on 3C only means that this route is being further studied to build, but does not mean that I-69 will be built, that would require a Decision of a later Tier of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study) as a ROD (Record of Decision) to build and then for the State Legislature to find and appropriate the funds.    

 

All members of the CAC were requested to make their opinions known on any facet of the project, so I did bring up some questions personal interest as an informed citizen and as a taxpayer of Greene County.  I was respectful in my presentation of questions and also respectful of the shared time that required limited treatment of any subject.

 

I am concerned that in this "section 4",  major errors were made in the Tier 1 process particularly as regards Karst (a water quality issue).  I requested and was given information regarding the process of revisiting the ROD (Record of Decision) on the Tier 1 of the EIS for I-69 from Western Green County to SR 37, aka SIU 4 (informally called section 4) by the study consultants.  A point of contention to me is the dropping of this more proper term SIU, it stands for Segment of Independent Utility; that is every section of I-69 should stand up on it's own as being worth building even if the next section is not or the ones on either side are not. I mentioned but did not dwell on this point in the meeting.

 

Early in the presentation Bruce Hudson of the SIU 4 contracted study company DLZ mentioned that Enhancement money might be sought as part of the project, as suggestion, he said we might want to have an expert come in to make a presentation on that.  Because "Enhancements" is the section of Federal highway law that includes Bicycles and Pedestrians, I questioned him on this.  Recently some of this money that was originally a set aside for "traffic enhancements".  "Traffic enhancements" were activities that would reduce the need for more roads as in the case of a bicyclist or pedestrian using those forms of transportation rather than a car.  Recently "Enhancement" has been broadened to include beautification of roadways.  This it turned out was how Bruce was using the term, but my question did open a discussion of how to apply for bicycle specific enhancement project money.  I would like to see any such application be from within the I-69 project, because of the change that I-69 would bring to Greene County and the influence that the project would have on the likelihood that this funding would be granted.  That is as part of the bigger I-69 project, the need for a wide network of bicycle trails as infrastructure and economic development would be more easily understood than a few persons in Greene County trying to justify bicycle trails and routes based on what Greene and western Monroe County are now.



Meeting Wrap-up:


The CAC was allowed to express their concerns and a master list of concerns was recorded on a sheet of paper at the end of the meeting.  There has been a mailed presentation of this document sent out for our review and revision.

 

My comments as we where given time to state our concerns:

"Because I'm from the bike club I'll focus on that.  This route parallels a bike path that Bicycling Magazine said is one of the 50 best rides in the country.  And you know about the movie Breaking Away.  As a Greene County resident I don't see that our county is getting anything positive out of this.  I'm going to look to Greene County Ohio.  If I-69 is built, there is no question that Greene County, Indiana will be more of a commuter village.  It's well established that you get more of that kind of infrastructure with a highway. 


It may sound strange to the people of Greene County today to go after Federal Money for a Bicycle Trail system, but I don't think Greene County is getting anything out of this.  There are only two exits likely in the County.   We have heard about Crane being threatened and needing zoning to prevent encroachment and sprawl.   I didn't move to Greene County for higher taxes.  We're getting anti-development zoning because of Crane and I-69.  I want to see what positive comes of this."

 

Later Paul Tedesco of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce said:

 

I would like to add support to the comments of John Smith as regards the idea of supporting Bicycle trails as part of this project.  As someone who used to bike 200 miles a week now I'm lucky to get in 20 I'd like bike paths along the whole stretch, or even have connections at intervals.  From a personal standpoint.

 

The consultant from Ohio did follow up with  an e-mail regarding the Greene County, Ohio  bike  Infrastructure and the  FHWA official has sent me in the direction of going it on our own it seems.


Directly after the meeting:

 

Frankly, I was surprised that no one in the meeting seemed to be skeptical of moving for bicycle infrastructure.   In fact as soon as the after the meeting broke up, the consultant from Ohio, Bill Ulik came over and offered look into finding and forwarding details  regarding the infrastructure in Greene County Ohio that has lead to a robust development of supporting businesses.  He did send me a follow up e-mail that I have posted here.   

 


Message to the BBC


So, there it is, my report on the first CAC meeting for I-69.  I am sorry for the delay, I learned procrastination as a student at IU.


Surely there are many examples of Bicycle & Pedestrian enhancements in many communities that we might look to for examples.  As regards my mentioning of Greene County, Ohio, I have read and have very limited conversations about the success of a Federal Highway Enhancement money that has built what is considered a successful tourist attraction with B&B, restaurants and similar supporting businesses.  I like using "Greene County, Ohio", because of the shared county name, but also because it is a rural midwestern community easily seen as "like us."    I mentioned in my presentation that the return on investment for bicycle infrastructure is as a matter of history a much better investment than Interstate highways which are acknowledged even by Federal Highway as having a negative return per dollar invested since the early 1970s. 


I made the point that if we are to represent Greene County, a large bicycle enhancement project would support the sleep community that Greene County would become, for those who would be traveling to work in regional centers (ie. Bloomington, Evansville).  Otherwise, in Greene County, I-69 would not pass close to any city or town of any size and Greene County would have only two exits, both not near any of Greene County towns.  The exits would be 1.2 and 4 miles from Crane, which could be seen as a "city", but currently the State Legislature is passing a bill (HB1022) that would limit development within 3 miles of Crane, because "encroachment" is a major reason to close bases.  This is the source of my comments concerning anti-development zoning.  Greene County residents for the most part will only benefit by driving to other communities for work.  I do this currently and I-69 would push this further out into Greene County because of the increased speed and ease of travel to the two exit points.


I hope soon Kathy Smith and I can sponsor a joint meeting for both the SIU 4  through Greene and Western Monroe County and the SIU 5  from that point that is on existing SR 37 from a point between Dillman Road and Tapp Road to the south to a point closer to Martinsville than Bloomington.

 

I would ask for any and all BBC members to provide me as much supporting information regarding bicycling enhancement and the desirable effects as well as your suggestions especially specific routes that are most important and worthy of protection of our activity.  The NEPA law (National Environmental Protection Act) gives our bicycling (and pedestrians) a very high level of importance in the Environmental Impact Statement for I-69.  Our comments are a necessary part of the study.  Our comments can make a difference and this does give up a stronger voice than we would have at other times.  Please if we say nothing, we will get less than we would wish for. 

 

Be aware that the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) estimate that sixty-two percent of all the roads crossed by I-69 would receive no grade separations or intersections.  Stated clearly, this means that it is expected that six of ten roads crossed by I-69 would be closed.  Those closing would greatly affect the enjoyment of our rides I would expect.  We must act to preserve and enhance as much as we can.

 

I believe BBC members could better understand the importance of I-69 to our community if take 5 minutes to follow the few links on this page: http://www.i69tour.org/blopic.html  Documented there is what the Record of Decision has passed already.  The plan for Bloomington is not what you might expect, if your knowledge of I-69 is only coming from news reports.

 

Looking forward to the next CAC meeting and beyond I would hope we could:

 

Have a BBC open meeting where we share information and ideas.  Take an inventory of what exists that should be preserved.


Go ride in the Greene County Ohio area and see the positives that I might report to Greene County Indiana.  Currently I have my first ailment (knee problems) that is preventing me from riding a bike at all.  Perhaps some from the BBC might go their investigate and prepare a report.  If you do, let me know so we are sure to learn the economics as well as the fun side of that FHWA funded bicycle system.

 

Contact the Texas Gas Transmission personnel mentioned above.  Following up with and developing more contacts to move forward an enhancement proposal for a bicycle transportation network for Greene and Western Monroe County as part of this project.  Become more familiar with how this might be moved along as part of the I-69 CAC process.


Work with the Indiana Bicycle Coalition and National groups to build strong arguments for support of Bicycling "enhancements" as part of the planning for this project.  Collecting and building a strong supporting documentation of the positive history of FHWA TEA enhancement projects and provide examples that can support the validity of directing Federal Enhancement dollars to bicycle infrastructure in our region as a part of this project.

 
A few follow-ups since the CAC meeting:


I met with  Connie Schmucker of the Indiana Bicycle Coalition at the BBC grant event presentation.  We had a brief conversation about the CAC and the the IBC's involvement.   We will stay in touch on this issue and work to be sure bicyclist's interests are represented.


I consider the Karst issue an important issue of health to our community.  In the CAC meeting I expressed concern that the Record of Decision was based on a faulty assessment of the density of Karst in this SIU.  Because our human bodies are mostly water, and cycling requires healthy bodies, I believe that this issue is of importance to us.  Even if we are not on well water, I-69 in the Monroe County area is in the watershed of Monroe Lake that is Bloomington's water supply.  The drainage issues regarding the planned 12 lanes of virtually un interrupted pavement west of Bloomington should also be a concern to the SIU 5 on what we would now call Bloomington's SR37 bypass.

 

In an effort to learn more about this issue, I wrote to the EPA.  I have posted my letter and the EPA responses at: http://www.bikesmiths.net/CAC4epa01.html


Dave Tanner mentioned Renee' __________ and her husband who live in Bloomfield.  Renee is a serious Triathlete who trains in the area around Crane.  I finally ran in to him on February Third.   They have agreed to provide me a map of routes in the area that are important to their training.  Please if you or someone you know rides in the Monroe to Daviess County area, get maps to me for presentation to the CAC for our routes preservation.  We know that Dave Emily and Joe Anderson used to ride in this area and expect they would have mush valuable information.