Update on I-69 Extension in Indiana

[thefro]

The judge ruled against Monroe County so the noise ordinance is stayed for this project and the crews can work at night without being worried about being fined for having backup alarms on their equipment.

[Brandon]

The judge ruled against Monroe County so the noise ordinance is stayed for this project and the crews can work at night without being worried about being fined for having backup alarms on their equipment.

This deserves a Nelson...

[thefro]

Financial close reached on Section 5
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=66272

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Indiana Finance Authority and I-69 Development Partners have completed the sale of tax-exempt, private-activity bonds and reached financial close on I-69 Section 5 from Bloomington to Martinsville.

Earlier this month, the IFA sold nearly $244 million in private-activity bonds on behalf of the private developer, which will then repay the bond holders directly. I-69 Development Partners is investing more than $40 million of its own funds and is responsible for all construction costs and the risks associated longer term with the operations and maintenance of I-69 Section 5.

"We encouraged the proposers to approach the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance of I-69 Section 5 in a way that maximizes the value to the taxpayers while still delivering a quality product," said Indiana Public Finance Director Kendra York. "Competition resulted in a proposal from I-69 Development Partners that met all project objectives while providing the state and the taxpayers with an extremely competitive bid."

The state's payment structure requires the developer to meet performance standards for quality, maintenance and on-schedule completion of safety improvements in Bloomington, such as interchanges at Fullerton Pike and Tapp Road, and overpasses at Vernal Pike and Rockport Road.

About Interstate 69

The new I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis is a key component to the future economic vitality of southwestern Indiana, and will connect an entire region with improved access to jobs, education and healthcare.

The 142-mile I-69 corridor is divided into six sections. The first three sections opened for business in November 2012, saving motorists more than 30 minutes of travel time between Evansville and Crane. Construction is underway on all 27 miles of I-69 Section 4 between Crane and Bloomington.

I-69 Section 5 involves rehabbing and upgrading 21 miles of the existing, four-lane State Road 37 to interstate standards. I-69 Development Partners expects to begin construction in the Bloomington area this fall and open the 21 new miles of interstate by the end of 2016.

[RoadWarrior56]

Is there any recent news on Section 6, the final missing link of I-69 between Martinsville and I-465?  What is its current status beyond the fact that its environmental document is not yet approved (to my knowledge)?

[thefro]

http://wishtv.com/2014/07/27/leg-of-i-69-project-now-due-to-open-by-end-of-2015/

Section 4 projected opening delayed to the end of 2015 due to bad weather interfering with construction.

The Indiana Department of Transportation now plans for Interstate 69 to reach Bloomington by the end of 2015, a year later than originally planned, a spokesman said.

Construction crews have been delayed by wet summers this year and in 2013 and by cold, inclement winters, INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield told the Evansville Courier & Press for a story Sunday.

The state factors inclement weather into construction contracts, but on average, contracts for the 27-mile fourth section segment from Crane to Bloomington experienced 50 more bad weather days in 2013 and 20 more days so far this year, Wingfield said.

"The time-consuming activity for I-69 Section 4 is moving and compacting about 20 million cubic yards of dirt and rock, excavating hills and building up embankments in the undulating terrain to support the gentle grade of an interstate,"  Wingfield said in a statement. "After one day of rain, it may be several days before it dries out such that crews can return to moving and hauling dirt."

[bmeiser]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

[theline]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Thanks for sharing. It's a terrific view of the project. It appears that it was uploaded to YouTube by one of the contractors.

[US 41]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Thanks for sharing. It's a terrific view of the project. It appears that it was uploaded to YouTube by one of the contractors.

White Construction is located in Clinton, IN, just about 20 minutes north of Terre Haute (my hometown).

[Henry]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Thanks for sharing. It's a terrific view of the project. It appears that it was uploaded to YouTube by one of the contractors.

White Construction is located in Clinton, IN, just about 20 minutes north of Terre Haute (my hometown).

Kudos to them on contributing to the I-69 extension!

[US 41]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Thanks for sharing. It's a terrific view of the project. It appears that it was uploaded to YouTube by one of the contractors.

White Construction is located in Clinton, IN, just about 20 minutes north of Terre Haute (my hometown).

Kudos to them on contributing to the I-69 extension!

I believe that they tried to win the contract on the first few sections of I-69, but I don't think they won.

[MikeSantNY78]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Nice - did this start closer to the Crane end or the Bloomington (IN 37) end? Notes didn't say...

[andy]

View of section 4 from a drone: http://youtu.be/rHFBt1yT3HE

Nice - did this start closer to the Crane end or the Bloomington (IN 37) end? Notes didn't say...

This was flown west to east on contract 3 (of 8) which begins a few miles east of U231 and ends just before the exchange to SR 45.

See contract 3 on this PDF for the general location.

http://www.i69indyevn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Section-4_07_16_14.pdf

Edit: By the way, the project has also posted new pictures;

http://www.i69indyevn.org/pa/section4

[thefro]

They've moved on to paving part of Section 4 - Segment 1 now

The Indiana Department of Transportation got paving operations underway earlier this week on the newest section of the I-69 project in Eastern Greene County.
According to INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield, a stretch of the new highway between US 231, where the highway currently ends, and the bridge on County Road 215 E was the objective.

"They will pave northeast for about 4,000 feet to the CR 215 bridge, then pave back in the opposite direction toward U.S. 231," Wingfield explained. "All but two of the I-69 contracts are using concrete travel lanes for the mainline."

[ARMOURERERIC]

With segment 4 running late, is there any useable partial segment they can open by winter that would still be beneficial to motorists?

[tdindy88]

That was the original plan, open up the stretch from US 231 to SR 45 or something like that, but now they are saying that THAT isn't even likely, so you might as well do it all at once.

[mukade]

That was the original plan, open up the stretch from US 231 to SR 45 or something like that, but now they are saying that THAT isn't even likely, so you might as well do it all at once.

The picture I posted from July 4 show it is more than unlikely - it is impossible. I think the video from White Construction also shows this section so those high bridges are very far from being complete. The completion statuses in link that was posted by andy show the two sections at and west of SR 45 at 48% and 51% - on contracts that were let in 2012.

[Grzrd]

This June 26 Warrick County Chamber of Commerce press release, primarily making the case for the I-69 Ohio River bridge, states that the I-164-to-I-69 conversion will be complete by the end of the year:

If you drive on I-164 you will soon see the signs changing to I-69. The transition from I-164 to I-69 will be complete by the end of this year.

Does anyone have a field report regarding a sighting of the installation of I-69 shields on I-164?

[RoadWarrior56]

I was in Evansville 2 weeks ago, as of then it was still I-164 the whole length.

[thefro]

There is an I-69 regional summit going on in Bloomington, IN today.  Believe there's DOT people from Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and maybe a couple others but it's mainly Indiana folks

So here's the early update on I-69 construction... Section 4 delayed to Dec 2015 due to weather... Section 5 construction starting in November, 2-3 years of environmental study before Section 6 starts construction (and hopefully they have funding in place by then).

http://www.14news.com/story/26840821/state-leaders-in-bloomington-for-i-69-update

The Indiana Department of Transportation says the section of I-69 from Crane to Bloomington will be open by December 2015.  It will connect Evansville and Bloomington.

Construction on the next section of the interstate, which will connect Bloomington and Martinsville, will start in November.  It should open by the end of 2016.

Funding is in place for construction of I-69 to Martinsville but not to 465 in Indianapolis.

INDOT says they have time with 2 to 3 years of environmental studies and planning ahead of them for that section of the interstate.

[Bobby5280]

I-69 in SW Indiana follows a very curvy, crooked path. It's not much better in Kentucky either.

[silverback1065]

Likely due to many factors: environmental issues property acquisition and money
Haven't driven it yet but it doesn't look so bad to me looking at the map.

[adventurernumber1]

I-69 in SW Indiana follows a very curvy, crooked path. It's not much better in Kentucky either.

I've seen I-69's routing in southwest Indiana on Google Maps, and I have to agree with ya. It's curviness is a little overkill.

[codyg1985]

Indiana's routing of I-69 between Indy and Evansville seems more direct than Kentucky's use of the existing Parkway system.

[trafficsignal]

I-69 in SW Indiana follows a very curvy, crooked path. It's not much better in Kentucky either.

I've seen I-69's routing in southwest Indiana on Google Maps, and I have to agree with ya. It's curviness is a little overkill.

A direct shot between Washington & Bloomington would run through a gigantic Naval base and a large Amish area, hence the big turn north & east rather than diagonal.

[mgk920]

And for in Kentucky, they used the existing parkways instead of a direct diagonal along US 60 and US 641 due to the cost of the new-ROW routing.  I would suspect that US 60 does carry a decent amount of traffic, but not enough (yet) to justify the cost of going that way.

Mike