For the state, this is the year of buying land through Johnson County for the construction of Interstate 69.
For the county, residents and leaders need to take action now to plan local road projects to prepare for the construction of the new interstate through the Center Grove area.
The final environmental impact study for the interstate from Evansville to Indianapolis was completed and approved last year, and the federal highway department has given the Indiana Department of Transportation permission to start work in Morgan and Johnson counties.
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About 200 Johnson County residents attended a 90-minute presentation and conversation at Center Grove High School this week to learn more about what is ahead. The event was organized by Aspire Johnson County, a special initiative of the Johnson County Development Corp. Several people involved in the project, including former Franklin Mayor Joe McGuinness who is now the commissioner of INDOT, members of his staff, community leaders, engineers and planners, spoke and answered questions during the event.
Residents want to know how construction is going to affect already-congested traffic in the area, and when the work will start.
In Johnson County, crews won’t begin building this road this year. Whether work starts next year is uncertain, said Andy Dietrick, INDOT’s public affairs manager.
“The road is coming. There may be some folks who don’t believe it’s coming, but the road is coming, and you have to be in a position to acknowledge this and embrace the opportunities it creates for you, and be as proactive as you possibly can,” said Chris Hamm, a senior planner with HWC Engineering.
“You won’t be able to build all of the roads in White River Township that need to be built. There’s not enough money available. So you’ll have to be strategic in the way you prioritize this project to achieve the best bang for your buck.”
State officials are encouraging local officials to start laying out those projects so they can work toward getting federal funding to help cover some of those costs.
INDOT and its engineers say those priorities should be Morgantown Road and the county’s major east-west corridors, which are County Road 144 and Smith Valley Road.
The local conversations should be focused on aesthetics, such as how the highway will look through the county, the kinds of signs and gateways local communities want to pay for, specific interchange information, whether roundabouts will be added and what road improvements are necessary right away or can be postponed.
“The focus is and probably should be when,” said Scott Manning, a spokesperson for INDOT.
“This blueprint has been known for at least two years. We work with them (local communities), but we don’t dictate what they’re going to do.”
In Johnson County, INDOT will spend 2019 buying 207 parcels that the highway will impact. The team’s deadline to complete that portion of the project is 2020. Crews will start construction on the Martinsville and Morgan County leg of the $1.5 billion highway project this year, and will likely be working in Johnson County by 2021, state workers said.
INDOT began purchasing portions of up to 170 properties in Johnson County last fall, which will include relocating about 60 homes and businesses.
The big question on the table now is how neighborhoods in Bargersville and the Center Grove area are going to develop around the new interstate. Those decisions, and most of the costs associated with it, are up to them.
Johnson County is growing, especially White River Township. It’s evident by the number of homes that are being built in that area year after year, and the need for more Center Grove schools as more and more students are added to its roster annually. Much of western Bargersville has yet to be developed. That growth has to be taken into consideration in planning for I-69. The key is figuring out how to effectively and efficiently move traffic through White River Township.
All the communities will need to collaborate, planners said.
“These roads don’t stop at the end of the unincorporated White River Township. The county and town can’t do this on their own,” Hamm said.
A major task for the cities, towns and county is going to be finding creative ways to fund needed road projects and development around the highway, Hamm said.
INDOT’s designers and engineers have made recommendations to the county highway department and communities impacted for how they should handle those road improvements, but whether local officials follow those recommendations, and how they pay for them, is up to the cities and towns and the county.
At the top of the priority list should be Morgantown Road, designers and engineers have said. It needs to be widened to handle the capacity that is expected. Once the highway is complete, and during construction of it, many of the drivers who currently use State Road 37 will use Morgantown Road, which runs north and south just east of the planned highway.
The same goes for Smith Valley Road, which runs east and west from the county line to the Greenwood city limits, and County Road 144, which also runs east and west through Bargersville and will be the site of one of the interchanges.
These are priority projects, but there’s no timeline for them yet.
“As you look at County Road 144 on the east side of (State Road) 37, that interchange provides tremendous opportunity for economic development. There’s a gateway component, developable ground, a real opportunity to create something very special,” Hamm said.
Local development will depend on local taxes.
At this point, the county’s focus should be on paying for these needed road improvements and further development, Dietrick said.
One resident asked which local officials they should contact if they have questions about the project or ideas for it.
Dietrick recommended the county highway department, as well as the county’s three-member Board of Commissioners and city and town council members who are being updated regularly about the project.
“Timing is of the essence. As the timeline of Section 6 is escalated, some of these issues need to be addressed sooner rather than later,” Dietrick said. “There comes a time in the design process (when) some ideas are no longer appropriate.”
Designers, engineers and planners are fine-tuning those plans now and expect only minor changes. The footprint of the roadway and the interchanges will not change, Dietrick said.
All home and business owners who will be impacted have been contacted. About 12 of the land purchases have resulted in court cases.
State workers began initial discussions with property owners last spring.
“We’re at a good point for significant conversations,” he said.
