Government came through for JC

It’s easy to get cynical about government, particularly when dealing with the state or federal level.

But every once in awhile, the process is so responsive you want to let out a cheer.

That’s what happened last week.

On Monday, county engineer Dan Watson shared the news with county commissioners that Indiana Department of Transportation had decided to re-pave U.S. 27 north from Portland to Bryant with concrete rather than asphalt.

The change would have resulted in closing the stretch of highway for three months or more, creating incredible headaches for through truck traffic, folks heading to the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show and construction traffic related to the new wind farm being developed this year in the area around Bluff Point.

Watson and commissioners quickly reviewed why the change was simply a bad fit for practical reasons and agreed to do what they could to convince INDOT to change its mind.

They weren’t optimistic, but they set to work.

Commission president Doug Inman met with State Rep. Greg Beumer that afternoon and phoned State Sen. Travis Holdman to enlist their support for switching the project back to asphalt. The lawmakers then contacted their liaison at INDOT to make him aware of the situation.

Meanwhile, both Inman and Watson continued to contact INDOT directly.

And by Thursday morning — perhaps to the surprise of everyone involved — INDOT had agreed that asphalt makes better sense in the case of this section of U.S. 27.

In other words, the state bureaucratic machinery changed its mind, something that doesn’t happen all that often.

It probably helped that Jay County’s request for the change had nothing to do with politics. No one was asking for a favor or special treatment. It was simply a matter of practicality, and in this case practicality prevailed.

Will travel north and south on U.S. 27 be a challenge this summer during construction? Sure it will. Construction is always a complication. But it will be possible, and that’s the important thing.

Thanks to flexibility and responsiveness at INDOT, thanks to local officials doing their jobs and thanks to lawmakers adding their voices to the chorus, a nightmare has been avoided. — J.R.