Daniels hopeful Sherman Minton can open early

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Indiana's governor believes you might be driving the Sherman Minton bridge before the end of the month.

Mitch Daniels' prediction is ahead of the target re-opening.

It comes as Daniels continues to defend his signing of the right to work bill.

He addressed several issues in a town hall meeting at Jeffersonville Township PUblic Library Wednesday afternoon.

Daniels will see first hand the Minton-caused congestion along I-65 on Thursday morning, as he travels in rush hour to an appointment in Louisville.

He says the contractor's incentives and Mother Nature should help the Sherman Minton bridge re-open early.

"I've been checking on it every so often and was very pleased at the most recent report, which was that, work's proceeded well, weather's not interfered much and there's a chance of beating the March 1 target," Daniels said.

Yes, there's "wiggle room" in that answer.

So Daniels says he's "cautiously optimistic" about the Minton bridge construction.

And one Clark Countian summed up bridge frustrations succinctly.

"It's a terrible drain on our efficiencies, productivities and so forth," said Harry Davis, an attendee of the town hall meeting.

Daniels says Indiana is ready to start construction on the east end bridge, half of the long-proposed and still-slowly moving Ohio River Bridges Project.

"It's still our intention, from the Indiana side, to be out in the marketplace, seeing how good a deal we can get, how soon we can get started, by the end of the year."

But Daniels says the entire bridges project still awaits some Kentucky decisions and another federal approval on the environmental impact statement, in early April.

At the town hall meeting, several union members showed Daniels they're not happy at his signing the right to work bill last week.

Some shouted from outside the windows and a library manager shut the automatic blinds with the loud "thunk" of a switch.

"That's pretty slick," Daniels said.

Library personnel appeared upset at the union protesters, who at first gathered outside the library's main entrance. One worker asked them to leave, but retreated when reminded the protesters had a right to stand on the public-owned property. Daniels arrived by a secure, rear entrance. He did not avoid them altogether; they asked him questions in the meeting.

Rick Stevens, a 16-year Jeffboat worker and Teamster member, was upset the governor would not support a public vote or referendum on the right to work issue, "...thereby depriving the people of Indiana in having a vote and a chance to speak on the matter."

Daniels replied that he believed any referendum to be against the state constitution. He told reporters later that he didn't believe the right to work law would hurt unions, and that they would discover that in coming months.

"As the sky doesn't fall, folks may relax a little bit more about it. They will see, I'm very certain, new jobs coming here, which is something we ought to feel good about," Daniels said.

Also on the jobs front, Daniels said it's "a good chance" Amazon will build a new distribution center in southern Indiana, but he could not say if it would locate at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Clark County.

Daniels defended the state's plan not to require Amazon to collect Indiana sales tax on purchases for two years. The center would be the company's fourth in Indiana. A far southern Indiana location would put it within 100 miles of similar centers in Lexington and Campbellsville, Ky., and within easy reach of the UPS air shipping hub in Louisville.

Speculation among lawmakers last week led some to deduce the center would locate in Clark County. No one is confirming that, which is standard silence in industrial plant negotiations.

Daniels also praised Toyota's announcement Wednesday of 400 new jobs at its plant near Princeton, Ind., in Gibson County. Toyota will expand production of its Highlander model SUV.