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Major Indiana highway work should lower shipping times

 

By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANPOLIS, Ind. — A section of the Interstate 69 extension that will eventually connect Evansville to Indianapolis via a multi-lane highway is expected to open by the end of 2015. In addition, the final portion of a three-phase project on U.S. Highway 31 between Indianapolis and South Bend should be complete by year’s end.
The first three of six sections of the I-69 extension were finished by 2012. The fourth part, 27 miles from near Crane to Bloomington, will open to traffic by the end of December, said Will Wingfield, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Section Five of the extension, from Bloomington north to Martinsville, should be ready for traffic by the end of 2016. Funding for the sixth and final section, connecting Martinsville to I-465 on the south side of Indianapolis, hasn’t been identified, Wingfield said.
“For many years, (the extended I-69) has been desired,” he noted. “There’s a lot of excitement about the opening of Section Four. When it’s completed, there will be a four-lane direct highway linking Indianapolis and Evansville using Indiana 37 and the I-69 extension. People are enthusiastic about it.”
Construction began on the approximately 142-mile extension project in 2008. The extension begins north of Evansville where I-64 intersects with the former I-164, which was renamed I-69.
Funding for the first four sections was provided by Major Moves, introduced by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels after he took office in 2005. The program used money from the lease of the state’s toll road to finance construction and repairs on Indiana roadways. The lease, which went into effect in June 2006, provides nearly $4 billion in proceeds and runs for 75 years.
The fifth section of the I-69 extension is funded through a public-private partnership with I-69 Development Partners. Much of the work in Section Five will involve upgrading the existing Indiana 37, Wingfield said.
Environmental studies are underway for Section Six, he stated. The process of determining a specific route should be complete by 2018, though Wingfield said part of the roadway is expected to follow the existing Indiana 37.
Once the I-69 extension is finished, travelers will use I-465 around Indianapolis as a link between the new section and the older portion of I-69 north of the city.
The U.S. 31 project will shave about 30 minutes off the drive time between Indianapolis and South Bend, Wingfield said. A section near Kokomo opened in 2013, and an area near South Bend in 2014. The final section is north of Indianapolis in Hamilton County. The new roadway will have controlled access.
The projects on I-69 and U.S. 31, along with others that have been completed or are still to be finished, were designed to improve traffic flow in the state, he said.
“When you’re moving product, for trucking logistics companies, time is money,” Wingfield explained. “In looking at all the projects, they all impact freight’s ability to get raw materials to the plant where they’re turned into a finished product.”
Parts of I-65 and the existing I-69 will be widened with funds from Major Moves 2020. The program is funded with $400 million approved by the state legislature in 2014.
The three areas on I-65 are near Sellersburg, Franklin and Lafayette, and I-69 will be widened north of Indianapolis to near Pendleton. The projects are expected to be completed in 2017.
In the future, state officials will turn their attention to preserving current roads and bridges, Wingfield said. In October, Gov. Mike Pence announced the state will spend $3.2 billion over the next five years on road and bridge repairs.
11/25/2015