![[Nameplate]](http://gcdailyworld.com/images/nameplate.png)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Read comments (18)
Share link
Facebook
Twitter
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Reddit
GoogleStarting last Monday, about 50 appraisers began meeting with landowners in this 68-mile stretch of the highway to negotiate land purchases.
To build the next two sections of the road, the Indiana Department of Transportation will need to secure more than 500 parcels in Sections 2 and 3 from total takes and relocation, to taking parts of property, according to Cher Goodwin, INDOT spokesperson at the Vincennes District office.
Last month, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced an accelerated construction schedule for the roadway and he wants this stretch of roadway built by 2012.
"We plan on letting a design build contract for the construction of a couple of county road overpasses on Feb. 10, 2010. We then anticipate letting a design build road contract for the southern most end of Section 3 -- which begins just north of U.S. 50 in Daviess County in April. Contracts would continue to roll out approximately every other month after that," Goodwin told the Greene County Daily World on Friday.
"This is a very aggressive goal, but we feel confident that its an achievable goal. We anticipate the Draft Environmental Impact Study for Section 4 in the Spring of 2010."
Section 4 runs north from the U.S. 231 interchange near Crane via cross country to the intersection of Victor Pike Road and State Road 37, south of Bloomington.
Bids for Section 3 -- which runs from U.S. 50 (near Washington) via the SR 57 corridor and cross country to U.S. 231 (near Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center), are expected to be opened near April 2010.
Section 2 runs from SR 64 (near Princeton/Oakland City) via the S.R. 57 corridor to U.S. 50 (near Washington).
INDOT officials hired two design firms last week to oversee this part project -- Parsons Brinckerhoff, based in New York City, and United Consulting Engineers of Indianapolis.
INDOT's new schedule will have the interstate built to NSA Crane three years sooner than expected and officials say they have a goal of finishing it within the original $700 million budget.
To meet budget, a couple of interchanges, estimated to cost about $20 million each, have been eliminated in southern Daviess and northern Pike counties.
INDOT is also going to make the highway's medians narrower and its pavement thinner than first planned.
Those changes were announced in the wake of an estimate that put the cost of building I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis at $3.1 billion -- exceeding the $1.7 billion cost forecast in 2003.
The Evansville Courier & Press reports that because of the recession, bids opened for construction projects during the last year have carried prices that were, on average, 20 percent below the state's estimates.
State officials are hopeful this project can come in under budget.
Before physical work can begin on the two sections that will take the highway from Oakland City to Crane, INDOT must receive the Federal Highway Administration's "record of decision." the Courier & Press reports.
Approval for the third section is expected to come first as early as Christmas. The second section, which will traverse more wetlands, coal mines and other places requiring measures to protect the environment, isn't likely to receive a record of decision until spring, the Courier & Press reported
INDOT officials expect the project to employ 2,266 construction workers in 2011, according to the Courier & Press.
The state could open the three sections of highway at the same time in 2012, INDOT officials have said.
Eventually, I-69 will connect Evansville with Indianapolis and run north to Canada. Construction of I-69, south of Indiana is still in the planning stages.
The proposed I-69 extension will connect three different border crossings in Texas (Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville) to I-465 in Indianapolis; from there, traffic will continue over the existing I-69 and other freeways to border crossings in Detroit, Port Huron or Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Approximately 1,600 miles of freeway will be added to existing I-69 when it is complete.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
Just imagine how much easier it will be to bring products here from Mexico when this is all finished, products that used to be manufactured in the USA.
And in the mean time we'll have dozens of parts of the project sitting partly built for months as the builders scramble to find enough workers who know how to build highways.
I 69 will stretch from the border with Mexico to Canada. The benefit for Indiana will be some truck stops along the way. And perhaps some warehouses to drop off the imports.
Remember the airport in Evansville that was supposed to bring first class air service to the area?
U.S. 41 could have been expanded and routed around Terre Haute for a hell'va lot less money.
Once again I think we are receiving what we voted for, of course on the other hand in a few years Indiana can sell this road perhaps to some Arabs.
Remember Ross Perot? I think I hear more of the "giant sucking sound" of even more jobs heading south. The illegals will come pouring in at a faster rate (I live in Tucson and nothing seems to stop them and a new highway will only help them.)
What a waste of money to build the NAFTA highway. Only those who will benefit are those who bought up land in eastern Greene county and in other areas knowing this was a done deal!
As for the construction jobs? That's short term until a foreign company takes over the road when it is finished. Oh I forgot-maybe a foreign company is already on the project.
Bring on the truck stops and rest stops, that's the only progress that is coming.
All right you all are so smart then name me some products we are getting from Mexico. Now name some products we are getting from China. You need to know your threat, I'll give you a clue it's not the Mexicans.
Will this highway bring manufacturers to Greene county, well not likely since we do not have a trained workforce. Might it open up more jobs in Bloomington or around Crane that might be filled by people from Greene County, well probably.
Folks we are cut off here, that is why this area continues to die even while Indy and Evansville are growing. Don't cut off your noses to spite your face.
China? you get that stuff at Walmart. It seems to me that Whirlpool is leaving Evansville for Mexico.
The only area in Indiana growing is unemployment. Maybe your kid's future will be head cashier at the new I-69 truck stop..if he learns spanish. Otherwise he can apply at Walmart.
Responding to Uncle Pablo
China provides much more than what you buy at Wally World though that is a huge problem. Check to see where many of the parts for you car come from or even those parts for your washer or dryer. Whirlpool is leaving an antiquated building that is over 50 years old, crushing environmental regulations, increasing energy cost, the prospect of higher taxes from cap and trade and health care legislation and a hostile union workforce. Who could blame them?
The U.S. is doomed because we lost our ability to compete. We borrow from the Chinese to finance our socialist programs at home and provide military security for most of the free world. It's not Mexico that is sinking us, it's our own citizens.
Keninman,
I think we agree that our leadership is at fault, but I don't think we should just sit back and see the NAFTA highway as progress.
Have you been out west and traveled I-40? If you are as old as I am you will remember that I-40 replaced much of Route 66. Did jobs come to that area after the I-40 was completed? No- they did not. Much of Route 66 is in disrepair and the towns along its way are long forgotten. Were many jobs created because of I-40? I guess many if you count fast food and truck stops. This is what is going to happen to State Rd 37 and all of the other highways that will soon be left behind because there won't be any money to fix them.
It's not difficult to come up with products made in Mexico-appliances, many manufacturing parts, Hershey's-even some or most Crest toothpaste and that doesn't even scratch the surface.
Perhaps you should be reading product labels-specifically country of origin. And you might want to learn Spanish because Mexico is more of a threat to us than China.
I suggest a trip to the border states so you can see for yourself the impact of cheap labor along with illegal immigration. (About 1,000 apprehensions day-think of the ones who get through!)
The quote below came from CNN Money:
"Maquiladoras are an extension of U.S. production of automobiles, electronics, apparel and many other goods designed for the export market. Maquiladoras are often owned and operated by foreign companies, who, even though they bring their equipment from the United States, pay for assembly, operating and labor costs in pesos, which allows their dollars to go much further."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/03/news
I read all this posturing, the Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Democrats, but the bottom line is the United States of America is turning into a third world nation. The problem is our elected officials, both parties, have forgotten who they work for. All they can see is the big money from the large corporations and all the big corporations can see is the bottom line. What they are forgetting is that there has to be someone who can buy their products. I hear the powers that be talking about free markets, where are these free markets? All I see is the excuss to move American jobs to some third would nation for the purpose of cheap labor, then these products come flooding back into this country driving down what few industies that are left. We had better wake up clean up the mess in Washington and get our country back before it's too late. Throw the bums out and I'm talking about all the bums from both parties.
The point I am trying to make is we (us in the Evansville area) were sold on I 69 because we needed a direct route to Indianapolis. We could have reworked 41 (what used to be a limited access highway) and get the job done for a lot less money.
I lived for twenty years in Texas and know the problem created from border traffic.
One of the few things we lead the world in is war. We seem willing to go blow the hell out of a third world country that trying to solve the problems here at home. The only reason we invaded Iraq was because of oil plain an simple. If we were looking for injustice we would be helping out in Africa. But then again they do not have any oil.
I truly appreciate our military forces having had a set of boots on myself, however I think we should have let old Rush, Bush, and Cheney gear up and lead the way. Then there would never have been a shot fired.
Bush makes me sad to admit I'm from Texas. We have to start electing officials that think long range instead of asking what pork are they bringing home to us; what are you doing for us in terms of long term survival.
I'm for the road & as far as I'm concerned we've needed it for a long time. The route isn't what I would have picked, but it's better than what we have now which is nothing.
If you whiner's had been around in the early 50's you would have tried to stop the roads we have right now & we'd all still be driving the Scotland blacktop to Crane & the Mineral Highway to Bedford.
Butch Bovenschen
So we're going to complete the construction of I-69 from Houston to Port Huron Michigan? Anyone ever draw a straight line between those two points? Why then does the "new" I-69 go through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana? Miles and miles of wasted tax money, OUR tax money.
The first priority of the I-69 extension (NAFTA highway) is about bringing a faster way for (cheap) goods and labor to get in to the united States. There is preliminary work being done on the border for a Nogales Trucking port. This will make it faster for the trucks to pass through in to the US.
While President Bush was in office there was a pilot program to let foreign trucks have unlimited use of our highways. Those trucks don't have to abide by our rules and regulations. Multiply that by thousands once the NAFTA highway is finished. That equals loss of jobs for US truckdrivers.
If you think it will benefit Greene County in a big way you are in for a disappointment. BTW-the beautiful scenery you remember from you youth will be gone.
In this case, progress isn't everything. I don't think you can link the highways we have now which aren't interstates, to the one that is coming.
Maybe you should get out and travel a little and see the inpact of interstates on a community.
If taxpayers money was going to be spent, why aren't residents of Greene County complaining about the St. Rd 54-45 to Bloomington?
Any body notice the apraisers are coming out while property values are dropping,looks like Mitch is winning again.Oh and don't forget all the road side porn shops it will bring to our area.
greenecounty21.. Mexican trucks DO have to abide by the laws of the FMCSA. This is the major hurdle faced by Mexican trucks crossing into the US and the reason the Mexican government and trucking companies have filed suit against the US for NOT allowing their trucks free reign within our borders.
If I drive a truck in Canada, I must abide by Canadian laws for trucks. The same is true with Mexican trucks traveling in the US.
The pilot program was to be implemented fully only if the Mexican trucks (and drivers) passed safety inspections at the border crossings. Very few did and the program was suspended until such time their companies can meet US / NAFTA compliance.
It is really funny a comment was made about Ross Perot, one of his ex-staff members (high ranking one) is a consultant on this I69 project..
He had been INDOT Director for a few years, now a Consultant for INDOT- nothing strange there, would you guess?
Why are there so many know-it-alls in Greene County? Forrest wrote "Just imagine how much easier it will be to bring products here from Mexico when this is all finished, products that used to be manufactured in the USA." I hate to tell him none of those jobs were located in Indiana to begin with. I want a road in southwest Indiana where I can travel to major metropolitan areas, or a decent paying job, in less than 1 hour (by the way Marco and Beehunter are not major metropolitan areas). Stop and look at a map of Indiana. Have you noticed that Interstate highways extend out of Indianapolis like the spokes of a wheel. Except southwest Indiana...why is there no Interstate through running through the southwest portion of the state. Maybe we have never had a strong voice in the Congress or Senate and we still do not. Wake up Greene County!!!!
People complained when the Navy was buying ground for Crane base. Many families were bought out and relocated. Of course that did not help the area economically it just provided jobs for thousands of people over the years. No economic impact there right? It also allowed some parents (with better paying jobs) to send their children onto higher education and to return to the area to work. The glass is half full.
It will bring entrepreneurs to area-Lot Lizards and dealers will have new territory to cover. That will create good paying jobs!