The Indiana Department of Transportation expects to complete the state’s final segment of a future I-69 from Canada to Mexico this year.
The I-69 Finish Line project is the sixth and final section of the new Interstate 69 connection between Evansville and Indianapolis, according to INDOT. It will begin in Martinsville and end at I-465 in Indianapolis.
The DOT says the project includes:
- More than 26 miles of new interstate highway.
- 8 miles of new lanes for a wider I-465.
- More than 35 lane-miles of new local access roads.
- Dozens of bridges built, rehabilitated or replaced.
The entire corridor between Martinsville and Indianapolis is scheduled to open to traffic by the end of 2024, the agency says.
The final two contracts, totaling more than $1 billion, were awarded in 2021 to complete the extension of I-69 as a southwest connection for the state. The state’s overall I-69 construction project began in 2008. When completed this year, it will provide 142 miles of multi-lane highway.
Contracts were awarded to a joint venture of Reith Riley and Crider and Crider for $345 million and to a joint venture of Walsh Construction and Milestone Contractors for $728 million.
State DOT officials say the project will “result in 1,300 fewer crashes annually in the region and generate $4.1 billion in economic impact over the next 20 years.”
But Indiana’s accomplishment is still far away for other states along the future interstate between Port Huron, Michigan, and Brownsville, Texas. The I-69 system will also extend through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky where sections remain unfinished or not yet started. Funding is also still an issue for the interstate, which has been planned for decades.
