Update on I-69 Extension in Indiana

[thefro]

Indiana State Budget Committee & Governor Pence have approved I-69 Section 5.  Just a matter of negotiating the final contract terms now.

http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=135&ArticleID=73850

The State Budget Committee has reviewed and Gov. Mike Pence has approved the selection of I-69 Development Partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain Section 5 of Interstate 69.
However, a few more things still need to happen before the upgrade of the 21-mile stretch of Ind. 37 between Bloomington and Martinsville to interstate standards can begin.

The Indiana Department of Transportation along with the Indiana Finance Authority now will negotiate the final terms of the contract with I-69 Development Partners, said Will Wingfield, INDOT spokesman. He said those negotiations should wrap up some time in April.

[theline]

Gov. Pence is poised to sign the public-private partnership deal to continue work on the Bllomington-Marinsville section of I-69: Public-private plan for I-69 work proves divisive

Gov. Mike Pence is getting ready to sign onto a deal with a Dutch-led contractor to construct and maintain the section between Bloomington and Martinsville, the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1dFCcM6 ) reported Saturday. Under terms of that contract, the state would make an $80 million "down payment"  to the private partner, which would pay the $325 million estimated for construction. Once that section of highway is complete, the state starts paying the partner $21.8 million a year for 35 years and the company maintains the highway.

If the private developer doesn't keep the road open to traffic and up to Indiana Department of Transportation standards, the state could reduce the annual payment.

Meanwhile, folks in Bllomington are true to form:

"It's a quick easy fix for government that can't afford to build and maintain the roads that people want. By at least getting it out there, the question is, is that fair to the next generation? We have pushed off the burden to future generations, years beyond what we would be normally paying,"  said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.

AASHTO sees this type of financing as the future of road contruction:

Jim Tymon, with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, compared the long-term deal with buying a house.

"You have to finance and mortgage it over a number of years. I think that's what you are starting to see with transportation projects as well. States don't have the cash on hand to pay for a big project up front, so, therefore, they are looking to finance it,"  he told the newspaper.

[SW Indiana]

Drove 69 to Evansville a month ago from Washington and noticed four or five of the BG exit signs were apparently blown down in Gibson County. Yesterday, I saw they were still laying in the grass. One is even still in the median.

[jnewkirk77]

Drove 69 to Evansville a month ago from Washington and noticed four or five of the BG exit signs were apparently blown down in Gibson County. Yesterday, I saw they were still laying in the grass. One is even still in the median.

IIRC, some of them have been down for quite a while.  Given the rough winter we had, I'm willing to give INDOT the benefit of the doubt. They'll get 'em put back up.  It was the same issue with the S.R. 162 1-mile BGS on southbound U.S. 231 between Dale and Lincoln City, and I noticed they've gotten it taken care of now.

[SW Indiana]

IIRC, some of them have been down for quite a while.  Given the rough winter we had, I'm willing to give INDOT the benefit of the doubt. They'll get 'em put back up.  It was the same issue with the S.R. 162 1-mile BGS on southbound U.S. 231 between Dale and Lincoln City, and I noticed they've gotten it taken care of now.

Indeed. It's been a horrible winter and spring hasn't been much better.

[bmeiser]

There were a handful down on the US31 Kokomo bypass this weekend too.

[tdindy88]

I'm noticing a trend here.

[Brandon]

I'm noticing a trend here.

Yep.  There's a bunch down across Indiana after this winter.  I-65 has several as well, especially north of Indianapolis.

[Henry]

I noticed that Section 5 will include an upgrade to 21 miles of IN 37, but what about the one that will bring I-69 back to Indianapolis? Looking at maps of the proposed route, I see where it splits away from IN 37 before joining I-465 on the south side. And I'm assuming that it will use the eastern half of the beltway to connect with the already-existing I-69 to Fort Wayne, Lansing and Canada?

[silverback1065]

Yes it will. 


Post Merge: April 14, 2014, 08:49:35 PM
Will that short section be sr 37 when 69 splits away?

[thefro]

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?fromdate=1/1/2014&todate=12/31/2014&display=Year,Month&type=public&eventidn=167372&view=EventDetails&information_id=199542

The contract for I-69 Section 5 has been finalized.

NDIANAPOLIS (April 14, 2014) - The Indiana Finance Authority and Indiana Department of Transportation have finalized the contract with I-69 Development Partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain I-69 Section 5. The project involves rehabbing and upgrading 21 miles of the existing, four-lane State Road 37 to interstate standards between Bloomington and Martinsville.

The private activity bonds that will finance the project are expected to be issued by I-69 Development Partners in late June. The state's payment structure makes rising construction costs and the risk of operations and maintenance the responsibility of the private developer, and requires the developer to meet performance standards for quality, schedule and maintenance to avoid reductions in recurring payments.

Two payments to the private developer for I-69, Section 5 are tied to completion of safety improvements in Bloomington, such as interchanges at Fullerton Pike and Tapp Road, and overpasses at Vernal Pike and Rockport Road.

Construction Preparations
INDOT contractors completed tree cutting on March 31 within the land available so far for I-69 Section 5 in the Bloomington area. Utility relocations will continue until construction begins later this year.  Crews will continue to mulch and haul off trees that were previously cut, and clear underbrush.

This spring and summer utility crews will begin installing new lines where existing service conflicts with the new I-69 footprint. Utility companies hire their own crews to perform this specialized work. Citizens with any questions or concerns about the work should contact the utility company directly.

The 21 new miles of interstate are scheduled to open by the end of 2016, several years ahead of schedule.

[silverback1065]

This isn't exactly pertaining to this board but it does involve 69. Are the sr 37/116th st interchanges complete?  if not any idea on when they will be done?

SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

[tdindy88]

The interchange is complete, all that needs to be finished is the auxiliary lanes between the exits on southbound I-69.

[silverback1065]

Cool that was a well needed fix.

SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

[andy]

I drove south of Washington today, and I'm not trying be too critical, but it looks like they are already rebuilding the expansion joints on both of the White River bridges. Both are closed to one lane.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Can someone refresh my memory on what section 5 covers?

[thefro]

Can someone refresh my memory on what section 5 covers?

It upgrades current Indiana State Road 37 to Interstate standards from just south of Bloomington, IN (where the new terrain I-69 meets SR 37) and ends just south of Martinsville, IN, before the State Road 39 interchange there.

[jnewkirk77]

I drove south of Washington today, and I'm not trying be too critical, but it looks like they are already rebuilding the expansion joints on both of the White River bridges. Both are closed to one lane.

I'd love to say it's probably a result of the harsh winter ... and quite honestly, I won't be surprised if that's the official line ... but my gut feeling is that this is the sort of end result we'll see more and more of from ex-Gov. Daniels' cost-cutting to get it done.

Yes, it got "done," but at what price???

[silverback1065]

69 seems to be suffering from a lot of shoddy work. Didn't part of one of the bridges over the patoka river sink a few inches a while back?

SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

[mukade]

I thought these were in the areas built over old coal mines so they predicted settling and used HMA pavement.

US 31 near Lakeville and LaPaz was built over peat bogs so they built it over years. Likewise, US 31 between CR 200N and Touby Pike in Kokomo had bogs that required a lot of work (and time) to remediate. With the aggressive I-69 timeline, there was not as much time to look for every old unmapped coal mine, but I remember they dug out a ton of muck along the route.

[andy]

I thought these were in the areas built over old coal mines so they predicted settling and used HMA pavement.

Agreed.  Several sections were built with asphalt specifically because remediation was reasonably expected.

That being said, I am a firm believer that "perfect" can be the enemy of "good enough".  We've waited 30 years for this road. I don't know that hurrying the job knowing it will need patching is worse than taking a long time getting the dirt packed perfectly.  There was a significant effort to pack this dirt, but in some ways, time and the truck traffic might be the best tool available.

Then again, not much excuse on bridge joints which should have been done right the first time.

[theline]

Can we presume that the contractor bears some burden for the repairs? I wouldn't buy a microwave oven without some kind of guarantee. I hope the state has the same policy for its freeways.

[andy]

Can we presume that the contractor bears some burden for the repairs? I wouldn't buy a microwave oven without some kind of guarantee. I hope the state has the same policy for its freeways.

I don't know.  To be clear, I only know what I saw driving by.

Although it reminds me that public/private partnerships (section 5) may have good and bad points,  but they do provide an incentive to get it right the first time.

[thefro]

Can we presume that the contractor bears some burden for the repairs? I wouldn't buy a microwave oven without some kind of guarantee. I hope the state has the same policy for its freeways.

I think it would depend on how the contract was structured and if they're on a different timetable than other parts of the road.

I know when the I-69 pavement sank last year the contractor was liable for fixing it since INDOT hadn't performed their final inspection on the work yet (the road opening in late 2012 wasn't the end of construction).  I would presume they would have wrapped most of that stuff up by now.

[thefro]

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/18731fbb96894d2c8b976e00acf5bd1a/IN--I-69-Clearing-The-Way

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – Interstate 69 was a rumor when Dan Rea and his wife, Gail, bought their house on Bloomington's west side about 18 years ago.

Now it's here, and the couple has a clear view of the changes being made to bring Ind. 37 up to interstate standards.

Indiana Department of Transportation contractors cleared trees and underbrush along Ind. 37 earlier this year to make way for those upgrades. As a result, homes that were once hidden by vegetation now can be seen clearly from the highway.

The majority of Bloomington's residents only see the changes when they drive on Ind. 37. The Reas, however, see them every time they look at the backyard of their South Yonkers Street home. Dan Rea said his house is 100 feet from the highway, and the vegetation that created a natural barrier between the two isn't there anymore. He's taking the change in stride, though.

"It is a loss of privacy, but the cars go by so fast, we've tested it, and you can't really see much," he told The Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/1fa5YsK ). "It's not a huge deal."

Rea isn't too upset by the tree removal. He's kept up with the I-69 project and knew it was coming. He also doesn't think his view will be unobstructed forever.

"Once the sound wall is up, our privacy will be back," he said.

INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said the tentative plan is to build a sound barrier in some areas around Bloomington. He said a survey was sent out to certain residents asking if they would be in favor of such a structure.

Rea and Danny McGinn, who lives in Woodhaven Estates addition between Leonard Springs Road and Ind. 37, both said they received that survey and responded in favor of the barrier. They weren't the only ones.

"I received notice that the majority of the people answered yes, and they were going to build a sound barrier," McGinn said.

Building a barrier costs about $2 million per linear mile, Wingfield said. However, he said the barriers are only effective for the first row of houses, because sound moves in a pressure wave that curves around objects.

If sound walls are constructed in Monroe County, they will be the first such structures built along the I-69 extension, Wingfield said.

In the meantime, homeowners along the route will have to deal with the effects of the tree clearing. For McGinn, that means trying to sell a house with a backyard that can be seen from the highway. The interstate isn't why he's selling the home, though.

"It's not because of I-69," he said. "I have Stage 4 kidney disease. I want to move to Florida to be closer to my son."

McGinn said he can't say whether the interstate will make it harder to sell his house. On the one hand, certain things will be negatively affected, like the view from the sunroom that was built on the back of his home.

"Now, you'll look out and see a 16-foot concrete wall," he said, referring to the proposed sound barrier. "That wasn't the purpose."

Terry Phelps, who lives up the street from McGinn, is not optimistic about how the interstate will affect the neighborhood.

"I think it will cause all the property values to go down," he said.

Phelps said he and his wife have lived in their home along Woodhaven Drive for 19 years. About three years ago, he found out the stretch of Ind. 37 behind his house would be converted to I-69. He wasn't crazy about the plan, but moving didn't seem like a good option at the time.

"What was the economy like three or four years ago?" he said. "Banks were taking over houses. It was not a good time to try to sell, so we didn't pursue it."

He's still not sure if he'll try to move to get away from the interstate.

"We're still weighing that out," he said. "I've got about five years to go, and my house will be paid for. I'm right between a rock and a hard spot."

Wingfield couldn't say what effect, if any, I-69 will have on property values in the Bloomington area.

"It's not a regular occurrence that a state highway is converted to an interstate," he said. "Other examples would be pretty recent. The long-term impact on property values has not been seen yet."

Unfortunately, since the trees and underbrush were removed from the right of way, there won't be any compensation for homeowners who are affected. In addition, there was no direct notification for homeowners along the route.

"I don't think we got a notice about the tree removal other than what we read in the paper," Rea said.

INDOT didn't keep the tree removal secret; it distributed press news to various media outlets and posted information on Facebook and Twitter.

"We put information out on a number of different channels," Wingfield said. "We try to reach people in different ways."

Rea said he feels INDOT has a responsibility to disseminate information about what it's doing, but citizens also have a responsibility to keep up with what's going on. He has, and that's why he hasn't been too upset or surprised about what's happening with I-69.

However, there's still some things he's not sure about.

"One of my concerns is that they won't put up a wall," he said. "From everything I've heard, there will be one; I'm just concerned they'll change their mind."

While unlikely, that's a possibility. The plan agreement with I-69 Development Partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain Section 5 of I-69 calls for a design-build approach. That means I-69 Development Partners will be designing one portion of Section 5 while it's building another.

A preliminary plan exists, but I-69 Development partners can still make changes, which must be approved by INDOT.

"More often than not, it's a tweak to the design, not where something is installed," Wingfield said. "We'll make a decision based on the best information we have available."

As will the people who live along the I-69 route.

A sound barrier seems like a waste of money to me unless it's in very limited locations, since this is converting an existing road with a good amount of traffic to an interstate.