Hostettler mounting campaign to change the name of Interstate 69
By August
Wayne, THG News
John Hostettler, the
Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been
convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that
would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding
number.
There are plans to extend
the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way
through Texas into Mexico in the coming years. While most believe this highway
will be good for the state’s economy, religious conservatives believe “I-69”
sounds too risqué and want to change the interstate’s number.
Hostettler, a proponent of
the interstate extension, agrees. “Every time I have been out in the public
with an ‘I-69’ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have
had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the
name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do.”
As a matter of fact,
naming the highway’s extension I-69 is a violation of the Interstate Highway
System’s rules for
numbering roads. Interstates numbers are to increase from west to east. If the
extension through southern Indiana is named I-69, then 69 will be west of I-65,
a direct violation.
“Naming the road I-63 not
only follows numbering guidelines, it doesn’t have the sexual undertones that
I-69 has,” says Hostettler, “It is a win-win situation.”
The change will more than
likely be introduced in committee when Congress convenes after the first of the
year.
