I-69 opponents concerned about safety of motorists

Longtime opponents of the Interstate 69 project contend a rush to get the highway under way is leading to a rash of accidents, with three people dead and four more injured during October.

Now, they're calling for construction to close down until improved safety measures can be put in place.

However, state officials say the situation's being misconstrued.

"It is really distressing what we see going on. ... Basically, they're in a big rush, and risks are being taken which shouldn't be," said Sandra Tokarski, a member of Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, Inc. (CARR), which has long opposed I-69.

Citing a pair of serious accidents that occurred in Daviess and Greene counties during October, CARR members suggest inadequate safety precautions are being taken on existing roads near the I-69 construction site.

As an example, they point to a photograph taken at the junction of U.S. 231 and County Road 710S where a heavily congested area lacks proper warning signs, and a speed limit sign has been covered up.

"No new speed limits are posted," the group contends.

However, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) officials say they've investigated the group's contentions, and believe no safety problems exist.

"Any time there is a concern which is raised over safety, INDOT investigates it fully," said Cher Goodwin, INDOT spokeswoman for I-69 and the Vincennes District. "There have been no problems found."

Goodwin said INDOT holds weekly safety briefings and requires all its contractors and subcontractors to do likewise on projects, including I-69. She emphasized no safety problems have been identified along the construction zone.

While CARR and its supporters issued a call last Wednesday for Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Indiana Department of Transportation to cease construction and implement new safety measures, Tokarski said no contact had been made with either office.

"You know, that's a good point," she said Wednesday evening. "We have not contacted the governor's office yet. Maybe I will do that this evening."

CARR subsequently contacted Daniels' office, organizers said. State officials via INDOT subsequently emphasized safety needs are being addressed and that progress on I-69 is proceeding, as it should.

Goodwin also suggested CARR's activists are misrepresenting the facts about incidents allegedly connected to the construction zone.

CARR members suggest two serious accidents were linked to I-69 construction and associated traffic congestion.

"These are terrible tragedies, terrible accidents, and they shouldn't have happened," said Tokarski.

However, "neither of the accidents they're referring to occurred in the construction zone, not at all," said Goodwin.

CARR members suggest congested roads and inadequate safety measures, coupled with trucks moving at high speeds through narrow roads, have already led to a three-person fatality and a four-person accident with serious injuries.

On Oct. 10, three people died in Daviess County when a 2005 dump truck driven by Jeffery W. Wolford collided with vehicles stopped on State Road 58 near the County Road 700E intersection.

A van driven by Odon's Jerri J. Davis, 39, had stalled, and her mother Paula Young, 56, and Lester Blair, 74, died attempting to assist her.

The truck Wolford drove contained gravel intended for construction work on I-69, CARR members contend. However, Goodwin denies that talk, noting the gravel was instead intended for construction on the Edwardsport power plant. Police reports confirmed the truck's payload was not intended for the highway.

"That truck had nothing to do with I-69 construction," Goodwin said.

A second two-vehicle accident resulted in four seriously injured people being airlifted to Indianapolis hospitals. That wreck occurred just south of I-69 construction, about 2,500 north of County Road 800N, northwest of Crane Naval Activity (NSA) center. A head-on collision between a northbound 1996 Ford F-150 driven by Alan D. Willis, 50, apparently veered left of center and struck a southbound Chevrolet S-10 truck driven by Lorita Taylor, 46, of Loogootee.

Truck driver Darrell Breeden of Odon, another member of Carr, isn't optimistic Daniels or INDOT will voluntarily shut down construction.

"My honest opinion is that no, they won't, but we have to ask," he said. "This whole project has been pumped up to a ridiculous speed ... I've talked to some people from the state and they say they've never built a road like this, doing it so quickly just to make sure it gets done. It's not safe."

Breeden drives a truck, and understands truckers often feel a need for speed in a business where time is often money.

However, he adds he's witnessed too many near-misses along the roads around the construction.

"I just nearly saw (an accident) again today. A dump truck was tailgating a car, and had to go off the road to avoid hitting it, tires smoking and everything," he said.

Breeden reiterated a longtime contention of CARR and other I-69 opponents, suggesting the money spent on the road could be better utilized elsewhere on fixing existing state roads.

"How long have we been driving across these bridges which are unsafe, because we don't have the money for inspections on them?" Breeden asked. "We can't fix the damn bridges we have so they're safe to cross, and yet we're spending $700 million on this new highway."

Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads' annual meeting will be Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Jackson Township Fire Station in Owensburg. The public is welcome. For more information call (812) 825-9555 or 1-800-515-6936 or email carr@bluemarble.net .