Work on local section of I-69 to begin in April

The Federal Highway Administration has issued a Tier 2 Record of Decision (ROD) for Section 3 of the I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis project.

Section 3 begins just north of U.S. 50 east of Washington and runs through Daviess County into Greene County to U.S. 231 near the NSA Crane Center.

Construction is set to begin in April, according to INDOT officials.

"We began construction of portions of Section 1 in 2008 and now, issuance of the ROD in Section 3 means we'll advance 26 additional miles in the near future," said INDOT Commissioner Michael W. Reed. "Gov. Daniels pledged to make I-69 a reality; with every day that passes and every additional milestone that is reached, Indiana is another step closer to seeing this vital transportation asset built."

The ROD was handed down January 28.

"Refined Preferred Alternative 1 was chosen because it best addresses the project purposes while balancing important environmental, community, and economic values. The ROD authorizes the use of federal funds in the design and construction of Section 3 of I-69," INDOT spokesperson Cher Goodwin said.

"We will have all of sections 1, 2 and 3 open to traffic by the end of 2012," Goodwin told the Greene County Daily World on Wednesday night.

The corridor for the entire I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis project was approved by FHWA in March 2004, based on the Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Study released in December 2003. With the issuance of a Tier 2 Section 3 ROD, Section 3 becomes the second of the six Tier 2 sections to complete its studies under the National Environmental Policy Act.

"The cooperation of local officials and the communities has been a major factor in the success of the projects going to construction on schedule" added Samuel Sarvis, Deputy Commissioner of Major Programs.

INDOT's new schedule -- announced last November -- 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.

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.

Daily office hours are available in the Washington field office, located at 60 N. Commercial Park Drive, or by phone (812-254-2831) for questions or comments.

The Tier 2 Section 3 ROD may be viewed on the I-69 project Web site and at INDOT and FHWA offices.

Questions or comments pertaining to Section 3 or other parts of the project may also be directed to the I-69 Project Web site at www.i69indyevn.org.