The Nine Levels Of Cross-Country Highway Hell

The I-69 NAFTA Highway, to run from Mexico to Canada through the mid-west, has faced extensive opposition in Indiana and elsewhere for its exorbitant costs.

1 minute read

March 20, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By David Gest


"When completed, the I-69 NAFTA Highway will connect the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas, with the Canadian border at Point Huron, Mich., as it passes through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The estimated cost for the highway project from Mexico to Canada is $10 billion. The cost to build the roughly 150 new miles of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville is approximately $2 billion -- less than 1 percent of the total pavement; more than 20 percent of the total cost."

"In the case of Indiana's long and winding road to Hell and back with the I-69 NAFTA Highway, Dante's nine levels of Hell aptly describe the various stages of history for the controversial I-69 interstate, particularly since Gov. Mitch Daniels announced his plans to expedite construction of the much-delayed highway by privatizing it and making it a toll road."

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 in Indianapolis Nuvo

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