"Two visions of the future collided on the doorstep of my Indiana town, Bloomington, this past week. Imagine one as a bicycle rider on a rails-to-trails bikeway, the other a semi-trailer truck hurtling down an interstate. Imagine which one came out the winner."
Nestled into rolling land an hour south of Indianapolis, Bloomington -- home of Indiana University -- has declared itself a Transition Town, on the road to a sustainable future. We have a Peak Oil Task Force, a Commission on Sustainability, an Environmental Commission, and a Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Commission. We have a volunteer-run Center for Sustainable Living with green transportation, garden, building and energy projects. We have three co-op grocery stores, a Local Growers Guild, and a thriving farmers' market in summer and winter. We have bike and pedestrian paths, one of them right through the center of town.
What we do not have is an interstate highway.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) would like to give us one -- the Interstate 69 extension that would carry semis hurtling right past our town on their way to Mexico and Canada and points in between. A lot of us don't like that prospect.
Read the full story from the Bloomington Alternative at...
Bloomington Bulldozer: MPO caves to INDOT | The Bloomington Alternative
Bloomington Bulldozer: MPO caves to INDOT | The Bloomington Alternative
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