Daniels says opposition won’t stop Interstate 69 extension

Gov. Mitch Daniels believes the state will be able to build a hotly debated section of the Interstate 69 extension in southern Indiana despite continuing opposition in the Bloomington area.

Construction work is under way on much of a nearly 70-mile stretch of the highway's route from near Evansville to just outside the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center southwest of Bloomington. But the Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization has refused to include I-69 in its area transportation plan, a step needed for federal money to be used on a 1.75-mile stretch near the city.

"The road is going to be built," Daniels told reporters Tuesday, according to The Herald-Times. "We have different options for doing it. Certainly the least attractive option would be one in which we were forced to shift funds. … I hope we won't be doing that."

The Monroe County panel last month delayed until February a vote on adding to its plan the interstate's intended link with Indiana 37 near Bloomington.

Opponents have cited concerns about I-69 traffic being "dumped" onto local roads because state officials have no timeline for completing the highway between Bloomington and Indianapolis. They've also said they are worried about the highway's environmental impact and the location of interchanges.

The federal funding share of the segment being blocked near Bloomington is about $25 million.

The state transportation department has threatened to withhold millions of dollars in funding for Bloomington's bus systems and other area road projects unless the I-69 dispute is resolved.

Daniels said he hoped his administration wouldn't have to take that step.

"I still hope that those in Bloomington … who have been obstructing this project will think a little more about low-income people in southwest Indiana, about communities that are not so fortunate as Bloomington and agree to cooperate in this project as opposed to obstructing," Daniels said.