Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke has been appointed to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Transportation Panel. He will join a group of community leaders from around the state directed by Governor Mike Pence to recommend a plan for the next generation of transportation infrastructure needs. The panel will address freight and passenger transportation across all four modes of transportation – water, air, road and rail. The goal is to create a 10-year transportation plan and a 30-year look at transportation innovation.

The panel is an extension of the Governor’s “Road Map for Indiana,” which contains six major objectives for attracting new investments to Indiana. Improving Indiana’s infrastructure, including long-range transportation planning and prioritizing projects, was chief among the action items identified.

“I welcome the opportunity to serve on the Blue Ribbon Transportation Panel to ensure the infrastructure needs of Southwestern Indiana are included in Indiana’s immediate and long-range transportation plans,” Mayor Winnecke said. “This region of the state is already starting to benefit from construction that is continuing on Interstate-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis. We need to continue that momentum by building an I-69 Bridge linking Southwest Indiana to Northwest Kentucky and exploring other transportation options, including high-speed rail.”

The panel co-chairs are Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and Cathy Langham, President of Langham Logistics. The panel held its first meeting today in Indianapolis. A meeting will be held in Southwest Indiana on April 2, 2014, at a location to be determined.

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