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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 7, 1999

Hoosiers Unite to Urge "Common Sense" on I-69

Taxpayers Challenge Governor O’Bannon To Pick I-70/US 41 Route

Elected officials, businesspeople, civic leaders, farmers, conservationists, taxpayers and citizens from across Indiana joined forces for the first time today in Indianapolis to urge Governor Frank O’Bannon to pick the “common sense” Interstate 70/US- 41 route for the new Indianapolis-to-Evansville Interstate 69 highway.  A national taxpayer watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, issued a “Taxpayer Challenge” to Governor O’Bannon, asking him to save $600 million by selecting the I-70/US 41 route for I-69.  The group says doing so will make O’Bannon a “taxpayer hero.”Numerous Hoosiers attended the “I-69 Common Sense Conference,” which advocates using upgraded existing roads -- Interstate 70 west from Indianapolis, a bypass around Terre Haute that is already on the drawing board, and an upgraded US 41 south to Evansville -- as the route for I-69, instead of spending more than $1 billion on a route that requires building a costly and destructive new highway.The gathering marks the first time the diverse groups and citizens supporting I-70/US 41 alternative to the new-terrain I-69 highway have come together in one place.  Conference sponsors said the gathering is the beginning of a new phase in the campaign for I-70/US 41, in which groups and citizens that have been working separately will now unite and work together. “Taxpayers, farmers, conservationists, businesspeople, elected officials and citizens from across Indiana are now united,” said Andy Knott, air and energy policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council.  “We’re fighting for our communities, our family farms, our environment and our pocketbooks.  We’re going to keep the pressure on Governor O’Bannon and our elected officials.  And we’re going to win, because we’re right.”The I-70/US 41 route for I-69 would be only 10 miles longer between Indianapolis and Evansville than a new highway, but would cost $600 million less.  “It’s ridiculous that our state government wants to spend more than half a billion dollars of our tax money to save 10 minutes time on a two-and-a-half-hour drive,” said Rod Henry, president of the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.  “It’s time for all Hoosiers to agree on the reasonable, common sense solution for I-69 -- using Interstate 70 and US 41.”Supporters say that, in addition to being far less expensive, I-70/US 41 makes common sense because:

• It preserves thousands of acres of Indiana’s remaining farmland and forests -- the new highway would destroy more farms and forests than any project in Indiana.It avoids draining Indiana’s limited road funds, which are critically needed for road maintenance and important projects all across the state.It preserves an Amish community, an Indianapolis neighborhood and the City of Bloomington -- all of which the new highway would split in two.
• It avoids devastating the economies of Terre Haute, Vincennes and other struggling communities along US 41, which would wither away if the new highway is built.

 The conference was sponsored by Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, Concord Coalition, Daviess County Farm Bureau, Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest, Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana Farmers Union, Knox County Chamber of Commerce, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

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Taxpayers for Common Sense is a non-partisan budget watchdog that serves as an independent voice for American taxpayers.  Now in its second decade of service to the nation, TCS works to ensure that our government spends taxpayer money efficiently and responsibly by working to eliminate wasteful and harmful federal spending.