By a 27-2 margin, the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council demonstrated its support of the people and neighborhoods of Perry Township by voting for Proposal 647 — ‘A Council Resolution opposing the proposed I-69 route through Perry Township’. Sponsored by the Perry Councilors Borst, Cockrum, Day and Speedy, the proposal gained the key committee support of Boyd, Bradford, and Talley. At the February 7, 2005, Council meeting, the only ones to vote against were Councilors Gray and Bowes.

This formal Council position is a huge step forward for the individuals and organizations who have been making slow but steady progress outlining why INDOT has backed a route that quite simply is a waste of money and misdirects hoped-for economic development away from the poorest counties of Indiana. Then there is the unwise and unneccessary destruction of forests, farms, wetlands and communities.

The effects of building I-69 through Perry Township proves to be a microcosm of the overall impacts of the currently favored ‘new terrain’ route.

Ecology and the Environment: This route puts Central Indiana’s drinking water supply at risk of irrevocable contamination from road salts. The estimated 4-fold increase in traffic will increase air pollution and potentially extend the time that the metropolitan region remains out of compliance with EPA standards.

Economic Impact: Kathy Price, Township Assessor, estimates that the State would need to acquire a minimum of $62 million in assessed value that contributes $1.3 million per year currently. Such a loss of tax base would necessitate an increase in the Perry property tax rate of about $1.30 to cover the shortfall.

Community Interruptions: If Perry gets bisected with this wall of concrete with a drastic reduction in cross-over points, fire and ambulance trip times increase. Those who provide these services will need to build new facilities in the section cut off in order to keep the firehouse to emergency response time the same. But the emergency to hospital time can only increase. Likewise, the travel time of children who attend the Rosa Parks Elementary School increases.

During his campaign, Mitch Daniels said he supported moving the terminus of I-69 from Perry Township/I-465 westward to SR 39/I-70, less than 15 miles west of I-465. This certainly would accommodate the I-69 crisis in Perry Township. But, substantial arguments regarding the remainder of the proposed route also exist. While this article will not go into those arguments, they have persuaded many a person that, if I-69 needs to be built at all, it needs to be moved all the way over to US 41.

But, getting back to the action taken by the City-County Council… I would like to express my personal gratitude, as well as that of McANA, to each and every Councilor who stood by and stood up for our Perry neighborhoods.