Update on I-69 Extension in Indiana

[tdindy88]

Well, INDOT wanted to change it, but the I-69 Development Partners group decided not to and just leave it alone with an auxiliary lane between SR 45 and Tapp Road. It's one less interchange they have to deal with.

[silverback1065]

well there was nothing wrong with it, so why change it?

[thefro]

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/04/15/indot-tells--69-contractor-pay-bills/83093784/

The lead contractor on the fifth leg of the I-69 project has been as much as nine months late paying subcontractors dating to last summer and has been threatened with legal action by the Indiana Department of Transportation, state transportation officials said Friday.

INDOT hand-delivered a notice of "failure to cause prompt payment"  to contractor Isolux Corsan, which snagged the $329 million contract to design, build and maintain the 21-mile stretch of I-69 from Bloomington to Martinsville.

"We understand that contract invoices have not been paid more than nine month after submittal,"  read the letter, dated March 31, which demands that payment be made by May 2. If Isolux doesn't make the payments, INDOT can sue the company for breach of contract or require that it increase its insurance payments to ensure that the subcontractors get paid.

"Not making prompt payment is concerning to us,"  said INDOT Chief of Staff Chris Kiefer.

The alleged late payments come on the heels of an announcement of an eight-month delay in completion of the project caused by problems obtaining utility and environmental permits in a timely manner. The project was supposed to be finished near the end of this year but has been pushed back to the end of July 2017.

INDOT officials said the delay will not push back the building of Section 6, from Martinsville to Indianapolis, which would open in 2022 at the earliest. Officials also said the delay in the opening of Section 5 had nothing to do with the late payments by Isolux.

Indiana Public Finance Director Dan Huge said some of the approximately 35 subcontractors told INDOT that they were not getting paid on time, which can slow progress of construction because companies need cash flow to keep buying materials and paying their workers for the next task.  INDOT officials said six to 10 companies were paid late.

Although Kiefer said he knew of no subcontractors that had stopped working or walked off the job because of slow payments, one subcontractor said he knew of several that had ceased working.

"Some have chosen to stop work,"  said Harold Force, president of Force Construction, Columbus. "You can drive along the highway and see the equipment."

Force said his company has been paid late but has not slowed down or stopped. Force is building or rebuilding 30 bridges along the route.

"There have been problems with payments, and we and other firms have been part of that,"  Force said. IndyStar was unable to reach any firms that Force said had stopped working.

[thefro]

CARR not giving up on stopping I-69... new fluff piece
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/One-couple-tells-story-of-figh_1460592839

After more than a decade of fighting Interstate 69 and then watching it plow through their land anyway, a southside couple thought they were done.

Then Bill and Jan Boyd got notice that their home off Stop 11 Road, near Bluff Road, was within the 2,000-foot study area for the final leg of I-69 planned to run along State Road 37 through Johnson and Marion counties. They already had to give up nearly 14 acres of their family farm in Greene County to Section 4 of I-69.

The Boyds won't lose their home or any of their property to the interstate this time.

But they already know what I-69 brings to an area: traffic, noise, light and air pollution and a change to the feel of a neighborhood, they said.

"Those are the kind of things people don't realize. It is going to happen,"  Bill Boyd said.

The couple's battle with I-69 began more than 10 years ago, when they learned their 47.5-acre family farm near Bloomfield was in the path of the interstate. The farm has been in their family for nearly 100 years. Bill and Jan Boyd bought the property from Jan Boyd's grandmother and then another 12 acres to add to it.

They were already opposed to the state's plan to build a new interstate. They questioned the need for I-69 and the route the state had chosen. They attended meeting after meeting, speaking emphatically against the state's plans.

And now that the road is built, their fight continues. Their property is getting sediment and runoff it has never before had problems with. The state has been on their property a few times to clean up or try to fix the damage, but the problem continues.

Access to their property and others nearby has also changed because certain roads were cut off when the interstate was built. For one of their neighbors, a few minute drive to get to another nearby road has now turned into a 15-minute trip, they said.

They also have the noise, sound and sight of a massive interstate a few hundred feet from their doorstep. It's a sickening sight and has caused them to avoid going to the property that used to be their retreat, they said.

And they are dreading being so close to the interstate again in their southside home. Bluff Road has always been an easy route into downtown but won't be anymore. And other roads will constantly be congested with traffic, they said.

"People in Johnson and Marion counties, this is what you can expect unless we stop this project,"  Bill Boyd said.

[silverback1065]

CARR not giving up on stopping I-69... new fluff piece
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/One-couple-tells-story-of-figh_1460592839

After more than a decade of fighting Interstate 69 and then watching it plow through their land anyway, a southside couple thought they were done.

Then Bill and Jan Boyd got notice that their home off Stop 11 Road, near Bluff Road, was within the 2,000-foot study area for the final leg of I-69 planned to run along State Road 37 through Johnson and Marion counties. They already had to give up nearly 14 acres of their family farm in Greene County to Section 4 of I-69.

The Boyds won't lose their home or any of their property to the interstate this time.

But they already know what I-69 brings to an area: traffic, noise, light and air pollution and a change to the feel of a neighborhood, they said.

"Those are the kind of things people don't realize. It is going to happen,"  Bill Boyd said.

The couple's battle with I-69 began more than 10 years ago, when they learned their 47.5-acre family farm near Bloomfield was in the path of the interstate. The farm has been in their family for nearly 100 years. Bill and Jan Boyd bought the property from Jan Boyd's grandmother and then another 12 acres to add to it.

They were already opposed to the state's plan to build a new interstate. They questioned the need for I-69 and the route the state had chosen. They attended meeting after meeting, speaking emphatically against the state's plans.

And now that the road is built, their fight continues. Their property is getting sediment and runoff it has never before had problems with. The state has been on their property a few times to clean up or try to fix the damage, but the problem continues.

Access to their property and others nearby has also changed because certain roads were cut off when the interstate was built. For one of their neighbors, a few minute drive to get to another nearby road has now turned into a 15-minute trip, they said.

They also have the noise, sound and sight of a massive interstate a few hundred feet from their doorstep. It's a sickening sight and has caused them to avoid going to the property that used to be their retreat, they said.

And they are dreading being so close to the interstate again in their southside home. Bluff Road has always been an easy route into downtown but won't be anymore. And other roads will constantly be congested with traffic, they said.

"People in Johnson and Marion counties, this is what you can expect unless we stop this project,"  Bill Boyd said.

they won't stop bitching until the 465/69 interchange is finished in the 2020s. 

[seicer]

That's a nice way to label someone who has different opinions than you.

[mvak36]

It does suck for them that they have had to give up their land twice for two different sections.

But, did they not realize that it was a pretty good possibility that the state was going to use the 37 highway route for the upgrade?

[Henry]

Talk about fighting a battle that's already lost!

[thefro]

That's a nice way to label someone who has different opinions than you.

I have sympathy for them, but this isn't really an objective article for something that went out over the AP wire.

Also given what I've heard about people driving Section 4, I doubt the traffic is heavy enough for the road to be a "sickening sight", nor will all the other roads magically fill up with more traffic once they complete upgrades on Section 6.

[qguy]

...this isn't really an objective article for something that went out over the AP wire.

News (AP or otherwise) not objective!?! Say it isn't so! 

[silverback1065]

their opinions don't matter anymore, they lost, they need to move on, the road isn't going anywhere. 

[EngineerTM]

I visited the I-69 Section 5 website today, and noticed that the 3P Development Partners/Contractor finally updated the posted construction schedule to reflect the recent news stories regarding the construction issues and delays.  The new schedule now shows the construction to be essentially finished around May/June of 2017.  Given all that needed to be done to convert this section of SR37 to interstate standards, I often thought that the original schedule was optimistic.

If I did this correctly, here is a link to the website: http://www.i69section5.org/

If the contractor is still on track, it looks like the Fullerton Pike Interchange and Kinser Pike Overpass should be opening in June.  They've already posted the detour route for Tapp Road, which states that the detour will be in effect once the Fullerton Pike Interchange is opened to traffic.

It's getting there...

[noelbotevera]

Can't I-69 be routed through Indianapolis? Various stubs, ROW, and interchanges (especially the missing Exit 112B on I-65) exist that were meant for I-69. Why did they string it on the beltway, even though they had prepared it for I-69, to have it go through Indianapolis?

[CobaltYoshi27]

Can't I-69 be routed through Indianapolis? Various stubs, ROW, and interchanges (especially the missing Exit 112B on I-65) exist that were meant for I-69. Why did they string it on the beltway, even though they had prepared it for I-69, to have it go through Indianapolis?

There was probably opposition from the citizens of Indianapolis of having another highway go through the middle of the city. Plus it would be a lot cheaper to tag it on I-465 as well.

[ysuindy]

Can't I-69 be routed through Indianapolis? Various stubs, ROW, and interchanges (especially the missing Exit 112B on I-65) exist that were meant for I-69. Why did they string it on the beltway, even though they had prepared it for I-69, to have it go through Indianapolis?

There was probably opposition from the citizens of Indianapolis of having another highway go through the middle of the city. Plus it would be a lot cheaper to tag it on I-465 as well.

That ship sailed decades ago.  There was zero discussion about routing I-69 through Indianapolis.  The money isn't there and neither is the appetite to build it.   

There has been discussion of mass transit through that corridor (light rail) but that's all it been.  Discussion.

There are many more pressing infrastructure needs in Indiana that I-69 through the Northeast side IMO.


Fixed quote. - rmf67

[2trailertrucker]

Plus, when INDOT did the  Hyperfix project in downtown Indy, they eliminated some of the stubs that were planned for I 69 when it was originally designed.

[silverback1065]

it would be great to have 69 go downtown it sucks trying to get there from the north east side

[westerninterloper]

it would be great to have 69 go downtown it sucks trying to get there from the north east side

There won't be any more interstates built inside I-465. Very likely that I-69 will be routed up the east side on I-465; I can't imagine it going through town on I-70.

[silverback1065]

it would be great to have 69 go downtown it sucks trying to get there from the north east side

There won't be any more interstates built inside I-465. Very likely that I-69 will be routed up the east side on I-465; I can't imagine it going through town on I-70.

That's exactly what they're going to do, but I was just saying how I wish they would route it through the city.

[thefro]

Article in the Bloomington Herald-Times (behind paywall), mentions that the contract dispute that stopped some Section 5 construction is now resolved and crews are back to work.

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/news/local/crews-back-at-work-on-i--section/article_da4ef549-9556-5c8d-8b7f-6078376c8ee0.html

There's still at least a year's worth of construction left, but for now, contractual issues that caused some work in Section 5 of what will be Interstate 69 to stop earlier this spring have been resolved.

[SW Indiana]

Article in the Bloomington Herald-Times (behind paywall), mentions that the contract dispute that stopped some Section 5 construction is now resolved and crews are back to work.

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/news/local/crews-back-at-work-on-i--section/article_da4ef549-9556-5c8d-8b7f-6078376c8ee0.html

There's still at least a year's worth of construction left, but for now, contractual issues that caused some work in Section 5 of what will be Interstate 69 to stop earlier this spring have been resolved.

I hope that's the case. Last few times I've traveled that stretch over the past couple months, work seemed to have stopped or slowed from the crossover to Martinsville.

[thefro]

Bloomington Bicycle Club wants a pedestrian overpass on future I-69 in Bloomington between 2nd & 3rd street.

Not sure who this benefits except cyclists.

Keep in mind there's already going to be a bunch of multi-use paths on the new exits & overpasses downtown, including ones on 2nd & 3rd street.

Here's what they say, anyway

But President of the Bloomington Bicycle Club Jim Schroeder says the community needs another option.

"Those facilities are great except they're still five feet away from very fast moving traffic,"  Schroeder says. "And studies have shown that 90 percent of our population in this country are very scared of mixing that walking or biking with motor vehicle traffic."

Schroeder says he wants the bridge for cyclists and pedestrians to cross over I-69 between Second and Third Streets.

That's an idea Tim Gehres likes. He lives on the west side and says the city needs a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians to get across town.

"When I commute over to the east side, I go across Third Street, and it's a very tricky process of getting across there without getting hit,"  he says.

[silverback1065]

Bloomington Bicycle Club wants a pedestrian overpass on future I-69 in Bloomington between 2nd & 3rd street.

Not sure who this benefits except cyclists.

Keep in mind there's already going to be a bunch of multi-use paths on the new exits & overpasses downtown, including ones on 2nd & 3rd street.

Here's what they say, anyway

But President of the Bloomington Bicycle Club Jim Schroeder says the community needs another option.

"Those facilities are great except they're still five feet away from very fast moving traffic,"  Schroeder says. "And studies have shown that 90 percent of our population in this country are very scared of mixing that walking or biking with motor vehicle traffic."

Schroeder says he wants the bridge for cyclists and pedestrians to cross over I-69 between Second and Third Streets.

That's an idea Tim Gehres likes. He lives on the west side and says the city needs a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians to get across town.

"When I commute over to the east side, I go across Third Street, and it's a very tricky process of getting across there without getting hit,"  he says.

Well why won't he pay for it then? This is a waste of money

[hoosierguy]

Well why won't he pay for it then? This is a waste of money

Says who? You? Why not extend this logic to the entire interstate? Should not the interstate's supporters have been forced to pay for it instead of reaching into everyone's pockets?

[silverback1065]

Well why won't he pay for it then? This is a waste of money

Says who? You? Why not extend this logic to the entire interstate? Should not the interstate's supporters have been forced to pay for it instead of reaching into everyone's pockets?

The interstate IS needed, and has been since interstates were originally proposed, and the people who want the highway DID pay for it through taxes, so your point is irrelevant.  If you're so against it, don't use it, but I doubt you or any of the other people against it will do that.  The bike crossing is a waste of money since there is adequate access for bikes to cross 69.  And guess what? we all pay for things we don't like sometimes, it's part of living in a civilized society, this project is beneficial to the state as a whole.