Published: May 27, 2009 10:54 pm         

Ellsworth tours TH project locations

Bennett trying to bring federal dollars to city

TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett is campaigning for federal support for several key local infrastructure projects.

On Wednesday, Bennett took Indiana’s 8th District Congressman Brad Ellsworth on a tour of the city, which included stops at several project sites, including Margaret Avenue and the planned rural health education district north of Indiana State University.

“I think it went very well,” Bennett said after Ellsworth’s visit.

The goal of the tour was to help Ellsworth visualize some of the city’s bigger infrastructure projects, Bennett said. “Over the past year, Ellsworth has been instrumental in securing much-needed funding” for a number of local projects, including railroad mitigation and improvements, wastewater treatment expansion and the Margaret Avenue project, according to a media release provided by Bennett Wednesday afternoon.

“The goal is to have him be able to see these projects,” Bennett said.

The mayor took Ellsworth down Margaret Avenue, which is being expanded and improved. He also took the congressman to a potential rail yard site on the north end of the city, to Hunt Road near the Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field and the site of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative, according to the media release. The RHIC is a plan for expanded medical education and other development between Indiana State University and Union Hospital.

Visiting the sites of these projects helps put them into perspective, Bennett noted in the media release. “It also allows you to see how several are actually tied together.”