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After 16 years of construction, the full stretch of Interstate 69 between Evansville and Indianapolis is set to open to traffic this week.
On Tuesday, the last part of the project—an interchange linking I-69 and I-465—is scheduled to open following a celebratory on-site event to mark the occasion. Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office announced Monday that Holcomb and his two predecessors, former governors Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels, will be at Tuesday’s event.
The interchange is also scheduled to open to traffic Tuesday—although the Indiana Department of Transportation says that construction at and near the interchange will continue through the end of this year.
I-69 spans 142 miles between Evansville and Indianapolis, with another eight miles of roadway specifically for the I-465 interchange, for a total project length of 150 miles.
The presence of Holcomb, Pence and Daniels at Tuesday’s event is a recognition of how long the $4 billion project has taken to complete.
Daniels was governor when construction on I-69 began in Evansville in July 2008. By the time the first three sections of the project were complete, from Evansville to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, in November 2012, Daniels was in his final months of office.
When the fourth section of I-69 opened between Crane and Bloomington, in November 2015, Pence had taken office. To mark the opening of that section—a major milestone that created the first-ever direct highway link between Evansville and Bloomington—Pence led a ceremonial caravan down that 27-mile stretch of interstate.
The sixth and final stretch of the project, between Martinsville and Indianapolis, began in early 2019. Work on the I-465 interchange began in 2022.
The stretch between Evansville and Bloomington was brand-new construction. Between Bloomington and Indianapolis, road crews upgraded what had been Indiana 37, transforming that stretch into I-69.
To build the new I-465 interchange, road crews built a new section of I-69 that diverges from Indiana 37’s current path just north of Edgewood Avenue. The new section of I-69 connects with I-465 via two flyover ramps west of the existing Indiana 37/Harding Street interchange.
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Meanwhile, the Southport Road exit sits as it has for a year, continually unfinished, fouling the only way across the White River in Perry Township.
I-69 south of Bloomington carries less than 8,000 cars per day in many cases. Drive down there – nearly empty. A major misallocation of capital by the state, even if there are some benefits to the Martinsville to Indy segment – the only one that had a positive return in the initial study of the project.
Indiana’s highway network, with the completion of the southwest leg of I-69, is now fully built-out. Any additional highway lane mileage will likely have a negative ROI from this point forward. I’m sure it sounds like this is a broken record, but I think it’s time for INDOT to shift directions and focus on other modes of transportation now. Put the highway system in maintenance mode and implement safety upgrades, but Hoosiers without cars or who struggle to drive (kids, lower income adults, persons with disabilities, the elderly) are largely locked out of economic and social opportunities and we need to ensure that they have the ability to participate in the economy.
Take a look at the Mid-States Corridor proposal. Or the guy who wants to turn US 30 into a freeway. The demand for these projects will never end.
Can you assess the value of a 1000 mile federal highway designed to run from Detroit to Houston based on a 22 mile segment in Indiana?
The largest problem I can tell with I-69 is that we aren’t properly funding it at the federal level.
Interstate highways get a 90% match from the Federal Highway Administration, compared to transit projects which typically only get a 50% match from a much smaller pot of money. The idea that FHWA isn’t adequately funding highway projects is laughable.
The Mid-States Corridor is a terrible proposal. Half a billion dollars to shave 8 minutes off of end-to-end travel time. That project is simply designed to keep the contracting lobbyists happy.
Right now it’s a highway from Union City TN to Port Huron MI.
And it still needs a new bridge over the Mississippi River at Arkansas City plus 600 miles of planned and unbuilt road between Memphis and Houston.
Yeah, I was surprised until I looked into it too. It’s going nowhere in other states because that 90% match hasn’t been appropriated.
By the way, I-69 won’t be done with this project. We still have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend building a new bridge across the Ohio at Evanville.
Perhaps the State can now widen and upgrade I-65 between Columbus and Franklin. Currently an embarrassment to the State.
Not just there. It should be at least 6 lanes all the way from the Ohio River to Merrillville. Likewise I-70 from Terre Haute to Richmond.
I’m absolutely thrilled that the interstate has been completed. Trying to get home to Evansville from Indy, after living here for 30 yrs is so much easier than it used to be.
Boondoggle. Too much time, money, and manpower for something that’ll have very little benefit.
FYI to all these negative comments, folks said the same thing about the Indy to Michigan I69 contruction in the 1970’s. Once opened and done it’s a major traffic route!
And commerce. Economic gains take time.
Yeah, Marcia. It will take a while for those gas stations to get built.
I’m glad to have this done. I was hoping to live long enough to see it completed. Just one more day to go!
Around 2005 or so I had someone show up at my door to sign a petition to stop the I-69 project. At that time I was driving to Evansville and back several times a month. Told the young man, who probably still lives in his parent’s basement, you’ve knocked on the wrong door and I wouldn’t be signing his petition.
Who knows, maybe they only needed one more signature to stop it. It’s much like voting, never discount “one” vote!
The State would’ve been better off just spending $4B on infrastructure within Indianapolis, Bloomington, & Evansville.
Federal funding for interstates cannot be allocated to local infrastructure projects.