I-69 Truth Squad Alert

True: "When (population change) is taken into account, we find that the real disposable income per capita for the build alternatives does not differ significantly from the 2025 forecast for the no build alternative." INDOT Draft EIS for I-69, technical report 5.3.2, page 37.

False: "It is anticipated that the I-69 extension will generate $3.5 billion in additional personal income growth..." Press release, Office of the Governor, 29 March 2004. This statement has been repeated by many I-69 supporters and appears in many newspaper articles.

Explanation: Boosters for an all-new I-69 like to claim that the expensive new highway would put more money in our pockets. That's simply not true, as INDOT's detailed technical reports show. Total personal income for the area will increase ONLY because the population increases; individually, we gain nothing. And the population will increase with or without I-69. For the I-69 supporters to claim that I-69 will boost income is deceptive advertising.