<strong>F</strong>or years, Interstate 69 being built through Johnson County was a distant idea<strong>.</strong>
On Tuesday, the state awarded more than $1 billion in construction contracts for the last leg of I-69 construction, marking the start of the final two phases of the project between Martinsville and Indianapolis.
Now, the entire 27-mile corridor from State Road 39 in Martinsville to Interstate 465 in Indianapolis is under contract, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
INDOT awarded a $345 million contract for I-69, from Morgan Street in Morgan County to Fairview Road in Johnson County, to Reith-Riley Construction Co. of Goshen, and Crider and Crider, Inc. of Bloomington. The section of the project includes two local interchanges, at State Road 144 in Bargersville, and Smith Valley Road in White River Township.
Walsh Construction of Chicago and Milestone Contractors of Indianapolis will complete the final stretch of I-69, from Fairview Road in Johnson County to Interstate 465 in Indianapolis. The $728 million section includes adding lanes and making improvements on I-465, between Interstate 65 and Interstate 70 on Indianapolis’ southwest side, and building new I-69 interchanges at County Line Road, Southport Road, Epler Avenue and I-465.
<strong>History of highway</strong>
The I-69 project was first imagined in the 1970s. But it took until the early 2000s for the state to start laying the groundwork, said Joe McGuiness, INDOT commissioner. The last leg, which is expected to wrap up in 2024, will end the more than decade-long journey of I-69 construction from Evansville to Indianapolis, which began in 2008.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, McGuinness and local officials from Evansville to Indianapolis said during a virtual groundbreaking this week they are overjoyed completion of the interstate is in sight.
“Completing I-69 in Indiana has been decades in the making with a number of historic milestones achieved in the last 15 years, and today’s announcement of the entire final section moving to construction ranks as one of the most rewarding,” Holcomb said Tuesday. “Building this final I-69 section will fully deliver on a vision to better connect our state and further strengthen Indiana’s position as the Crossroads of America.”
The first sections of I-69, through southern Indiana, were newly built highway, whereas the route from Bloomington to Indianapolis follows the path of State Road 37, which runs through Johnson County’s far westside.
The first 87 miles of I-69 from Evansville to Crane opened in 2012, after four years of construction.
Three years later, in 2015, the 27-mile section from Crane to Bloomington opened.
The section from Bloomington to Martinsville opened in 2018, the same year Holcomb allocated an additional $600 million in funding for the I-69 project to shorten the construction timeline by three years.
Locally, work began in 2019 to prepare roads for the final section of the highway from Martinsville to Indianapolis.
In 2020, new local access roads and overpasses were built in Martinsville, with work on the mainline set to begin soon.
<img class="size-medium wp-image-1571543" src="http://www.dailyjournal.net/wp-content/files/sites/9/2021/02/601b51a26a2d7.image_-300×200.jpg" alt="Interstate 69 construction continues Wednesday through Martinsville. Photos by Scott Roberson | Daily Journal" width="300" height="200" /> Interstate 69 construction continues Wednesday through Martinsville. Photos by Scott Roberson | Daily JournalCurrently, INDOT is tearing up State Road 37 to make way for instate-grade highway between Martinsville and a future interchange at State Road 144 in Bargersville, INDOT spokesperson Natalie Garrett said.
Pre-construction projects, such as utility relocations, are beginning in Johnson County, with work around Huggin Hollow Road, Travis Road and Stones Crossing Road to prepare for future access road construction. Mainline construction in Johnson County is expected to begin in 2022, Garrett said.
<strong>Capacity and efficiency</strong>
Building I-69 is a big project with work that extends far beyond the future highway’s borders.
The final 27 miles of the 142-mile I-69 corridor requires upgrading State Road 37 to interstate quality, creating 35 lane miles of local access roads and 39 new bridges, according to INDOT. Thirty-five existing bridges will be rehabilitated along the way, and 14 traffic signals removed as part of the project, INDOT says.
State and local officials are looking forward to the end of the project because of the benefits it will bring, they said. I-69 is expected to reduce annual crashes in the region by 1,300, and generate $4.1 billion in revenue for municipalities in its path over the next 20 years, according to INDOT estimates.
“Once complete, I-69 will make travel between southwest Indiana and Indianapolis safer and more efficient,” McGuinness said. “By better connecting people and commerce within our state and beyond our borders, I-69 is enhancing Indiana’s economic competitiveness and positioning the Hoosier State for continued growth and job creation in the decades ahead.”
For two of Indiana’s largest cities, the roadway will bring convenience and relief, Evansville and Indianapolis mayors said.
“For Indianapolis residents and commuters the completion of I-69 promises a variety of long-needed improvements,” Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett said. “It will add capacity and efficiency, taking strain off of our local roads.”
<strong>Give and take</strong>
Bargersville and White River Township will reap the benefits of an expected economic boom.
Bargersville and county officials started preparing for the highway in recent years — for the economic and traffic impacts of I-69.
For years, I-69 seemed distant. Now, as interstate construction looms, steps taken last year to prepare for the growth that’s now at the county’s doorsteps are being built upon this year.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners last month approved a road impact fee that would raise money for road projects in the I-69 corridor by charging developers a fee to build new homes and businesses. The Bargersville Town Council will consider approving the fee at its upcoming meeting.
The newly formed Johnson County Redevelopment Commission started work last year to create the first tax increment financing (TIF) districts in unincorporated areas of the county, in both the I-69 and I-65 corridors. The commission may approve the first TIF districts at its February meeting.
Bargersville and the county are working separately on utility solutions. County commissioners began discussions last year with the Morgan County Board of Commissioners about a jointly funded wastewater plant to be located in Waverly. The plant could cover future growth, as well the existing needs of Waverly schools and White River Township neighborhoods that rely on septic systems, commissioner Ron West said.
Growth is already coming to fruition in Bargersville, where a 166-acre Duke Homes commercial development that includes a shopping center, hotels, medical offices and apartments is in the works at the future State Road 144 interchange.
Bargersville also established a riverfront district to attract more restaurants that wish to serve alcohol. The district allows the town 10 additional liquor licenses. A lack of available permits was already hampering growth, even without I-69, town manager Julie Young said.
While I-69 is expected to bring new investments in the community, construction of the interstate will also impact 81 businesses and two nonprofits between Martinsville and Indianapolis.
Among those were long-time businesses the Knuckle Sandwich, a 1950s diner which was forced to close on Aug. 3. Owners Brent and Linda Plunkett still struggle to understand how the convenience of the interstate was worth the upheaval it caused for so many.
“When this is all said and done, (driving) from Martinsville to I-465, you will save 11 minutes,” Brent Plunkett said in September. “At what cost? How many homes, how many businesses, how much property has it taken? And how much inconvenience has it put on people?”
