by:  Diane Benjamin

I attended for an hour and half the joint meeting between the McLean County Board and the Bloomington and Normal Town Councils.  It was excruciating listening to the same presentation for the third time, with a couple minor tweaks.  It appears the ONLY people pushing this plan are big government guys who think Bloomington-Normal will continue to grow at the pace it has for decades.  The reality of living in a State on a death spiral hasn’t hit them yet.

It looks to me like there are two ways to stop the project – at least $10,000,000 has ready been wasted.

1)  At some point the McLean County Board and both Councils will be asked to vote on “perfecting the corridor”.  They want an official proclamation saying this is where the freeway is going to be built, but only if we decide to build it.  Land owners will immediately take a big hit in their property values.  All those recent subdivisions built within a mile of the preserved freeway corridor would have decreased property values as sellers would be forced to declare to potential buyers that someday semis might be roaring past their houses.  Farmers who have owned affected property for generations would lose the rights to control their own property.  Need a new shed?  Are you going to invest in one when the road might someday destroy it?  The worst part of this request is this:  The declaration has no end date.  They aren’t declaring that if the road isn’t built in 20 years it goes away.  The corridor would be forever declared as a possible site.  This is a direct assault by government on personal property rights.

2)  Funding for further studies runs out in 2014.  The McLean County Board and both Councils need to vote NO on applying for more “grant” money, yes it is our tax money even if it does come from the federal government.  If the citizens are serious about stopping this project, here is where to do it.

I’ve heard at 2 meetings now from participants in the Community Working Groups.  They supposedly met so citizens felt like they had a voice.  These meetings were called shams by many participants.  Just like previously reported with Julie Hile and the Town of Normal, (http://blnnews.com/2012/07/17/youve-been-duped-bloomington-local-main-street-task-facilitator-julie-hile-tells-all/) the result is pre-planned, then facilitators steer the discussion to that end.  At least 2 participants called them outright fraud on the citizens.

A route to access I-55 from Towanda-Barnes Road without going through Towanda is needed.  Local government should concentrate on solving that problem and drop the assault on farmland, property rights, and common sense.

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