Update on I-69 Extension in Indiana

[mukade]

While the exact path of Interstate 69 from Martinsville to Indianapolis is still unknown, two state senators are adamant that it won't be going through Perry Township in Marion County...

Will township roadblock force I-69 route to detour in Indianapolis? (Indiana Economic Digest)

[silverback1065]

What is she talking about? Every cross street would more than likely get a bridge. What school would need to move for this highway? I feel like this is what the people representing Decatur township should say. Classic selfish nimbys

[tdindy88]

I bet that the folks in Bloomington are saying to themselves, "why didn't we think of this?" Living in Perry Township I can also probably guess that the politics of Perry Township are more in-line with those of the state than the politics of Bloomington.

I too am "separated" from the rest of the township via Interstate 65 and had little problem going to school back in the day. Every day I had to cross the interstate, and my life was fine. The school would be just fine where it's at and most homes I'd imagine would also be fine, no one has a house directly off of SR 37. Businesses would suffer a little more, especially around the proposed Southport/69 interchange, but those were built after the proposed route was announced and the developers probably didn't care. I think we'd be fine as long as overpasses were built at Banta, Stop 11, Wicker and maybe Edgewood along with interchanges at Southport and County Line. Realign Harding with the current SR 37 interchange to make that possible route for commuters to access I-465.

And if the worse should happen and we do have to move I-69 up to I-70, keep I-69 along I-70 to the east side to avoid having to multiplex with 465 and 74 (and widen the interstate to four lanes, not that that shouldn't happen anyway) and have it so that I-69 can pass through Downtown Indy, because why not?

[silverback1065]

It was the same type of people that killed 69 going on sr 37 on the northeast side years ago. Now we are suffering from their selfish nimby attitude. Traffic would be so much better if they lost.

[Revive 755]

^Former IN 37 inside the I-465 loop, or was I-69 originally supposed to follow IN 37 through the Noblesville area?

[silverback1065]

^Former IN 37 inside the I-465 loop, or was I-69 originally supposed to follow IN 37 through the Noblesville area?

Inside the loop

[silverback1065]

If they win, and this highway is rerouted, how soon after does everyone think that Perry township will start complaining about the traffic on 37 and demand they Carmelize it (Keystone Pkwy)? Also, if it would tie into 70 near the airport, wouldn't it need to go along the west leg of 465?  Which would likely force them to fix that awful 465/69 interchange in Castleton.

[US 41]

If they win, and this highway is rerouted, how soon after does everyone think that Perry township will start complaining about the traffic on 37 and demand they Carmelize it (Keystone Pkwy)? Also, if it would tie into 70 near the airport, wouldn't it need to go along the west leg of 465?  Which would likely force them to fix that awful 465/69 interchange in Castleton.

Running it to the airport wouldn't be a horrible idea since I-70 could definitely handle the extra traffic near the airport. The problem would be that INDOT would have to build a new bridge over the White River.

[silverback1065]

Wouldn't it be more expensive?  It's all new road plus a lot of road reconfiguration and demos depending on the route

[Revive 755]

If I-69 is rerouted to avoid Perry Township, I would hope that the new alignment would be similar to the one proposed for the Indiana Commerce Connector.

[silverback1065]

If I-69 is rerouted to avoid Perry Township, I would hope that the new alignment would be similar to the one proposed for the Indiana Commerce Connector.

O wow good luck building that thing people in the area will be against it. Completely useless imo especially as a toll road (it's proposed as a toll rd).

[andy]

How about heading east at about sr144 and sweeping wide to Pendleton?  Then give Pendleton back to 465  a new number.

[thefro]

There's several different options I see:
- Keep the route they picked in Tier 1 and pass a bill locking in the route over the objections of a few State Reps/couple State Senators.  Republicans have the super-majorities to easily do that.  Having driven both the SR 67/SR 37 routes many times when I lived in Bloomington & worked in Indianapolis, that would be the best option.
- Similar route to Tier I, but it jumps the White River south of the Marion County line (that's the township border) and then goes up the relatively undeveloped flood plain to I-465 a couple miles west of where the Tier 1 exit was.  Probably the 2nd best option and would just require 5-6 miles of new terrain road & a bridge over the White River.
- Similar route, but road cuts NW to I-70 instead near the airport
- Route bypasses Martinsville to the west (so no mess in Martinsville; but requires a bridge over the White River) and Section 6 follows SR 39 --> SR 67 to Mooresville, where the road could either bypass Mooresville to the W and hook up with I-70 there, or it bypass to the E and follow some of SR 67 (demolishing a strip mall or two), before a new terrain route to I-70 or I-465.
- Full Indiana Commerce Corridor-ish route all the way to I-69 N of Indy

[tdindy88]

Of course, it was Republicans who were those State Reps/Senators who introduced the language forbidding the route in Perry Township, and Perry Twp in general is Republican, so I'm not sure why the super-majority in the statehouse will change any of that. Bloomington is of course Democrat and it's probably no surprise who got screwed over in wanting I-69, from merely a political standpoint. For the record, B-town does have its annoying NIMBYs too and behaved similar to Perry Township residents in not wanting the highway and I am all for I-69 in Bloomington.

As for Section 6, I indeed hope it stays on SR 37. To me the highway is not too dissimilar to US 31 in Carmel and Westfield and if we can covert that stretch of highway into a freeway (through heavily Republican areas I might add) then I don't see how SR 37 couldn't get the same treatment.

If that don't work, I'm okay with a routing north through Decatur Township (if not my backyard then clearly someone else's right?) or up along that SR 39 route. As it has been pointed out, the highway by the airport is very suitable for another interstate, we just need to widen I-70 west toward SR 39 and Monrovia, which may happen in the future anyway. And as I've said before, keep I-69 along I-70 through the city, not joining I-465 until the east side where the exit ramps are already designed for the interstate to move onto northbound 465. We may need to widen I-70 to four lanes from Downtown to I-465 on the west side however. But, I'd get a kick out of seeing Fort Wayne and Evansville on the BGSs in Downtown Indy and we can finally say that I-69 DOES go to Downtown Indy.

Construction may need to be done around the North and South Splits for that to happen however...but that never stopped Nashville, TN where they're three interstates downtown and heavy traffic.

As for the ICC....no, no, no.

[thefro]

Update on I-164 being converted to I-69... starts this week.

I-164 Renamed to I-69 by End of Year

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Later this week, Indiana Department of Transportation crews and contractors will be replacing Interstate 164 signage in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties with new Interstate 69 shields. Motorists should watch for short-term lane closures as crews work along the interstate and the roads that connect with it.

The conversion will require updating approximately 70 large interstate signs at or near exits and the smaller, blue signs posted at bridges and every two tenths of a mile. Hummel Electric of Evansville is assisting INDOT with the large panel and overhead signs as part of a $1.9 million contract.

INDOT anticipates that all 21 miles of preexisting interstate highway will be renamed to I-69 by the end of this year, weather permitting. Businesses and other organizations are encouraged update their signage, maps and directions.

A year ago, INDOT announced that the Federal Highway Administration and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved Indiana's request to rename I-164 to I-69. Mile markers and exit numbers on I-69 from Evansville to Crane will not be affected.

[Captain Jack]

I drove this last Friday, and most of the route signs and markers had already been changed. The only thing left is the BGS's. I expected some type of multi-plexing for the next year or so, but the 164 signs are gone.

Below is an article in the Evansville Courier and Press. Ahhh...the gas prices in 1990.

Interstate 164, we hardly knew ye.

The Indiana Department of Transportation reminded us of your impending death this week. Their road workers will give the eulogy: New Interstate 69 placards to replace all those big, green exit signs and all those little, blue mile-markers.

You opened on Aug. 2, 1990. Truckers were thrilled with the prospect of avoiding U.S. 41 through the middle of Evansville, with its perpetual string of stoplights.

Shift into gear, gas, brake. Shift into gear, gas, brake. Shift...

Instead, those truckers zipped along your 20 miles of fresh payment (retail price: just north of $200 million). An article on the Evansville Courier the following day noted how you were the talk of the local CB radio community.

(For the younger crowd: CB stands for citizens band radio. Think Twitter, but with your voice, a few different channels and an antenna. Ask your parents or grandparents about it.)



Read the article from our archives

Alas, your birth was secondary news – on the day you finally opened, 22 long years after being designated as Interstate 164 – Saddam Hussein's tanks rolled into Kuwait, bringing the spectre of war to most of the world.

Motorists enjoying the new "spur"  around Evansville saw an immediate spike in prices at the gas pump. A gallon of 87-octane at the Shell station skyrocketed from 99 cents ... to $1.08.

Now here we are, not even 25 years later, and you've undergone the ultimate quarter-life crisis: An identity change. Every two-tenths of a mile, we'll be reminded of who you are now. All 70 of those large interstate signs will bear your new name.

Weather permitting, INDOT says your overhaul will be finished by the end of the year. Your assimilation into the Interstate 69 – the 67 miles of it that are done, anyway – will be complete.



"After all of the signs and maps are changed, (I-164) will only live on in historical or outdated records,"  said INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield.

There is some good news: INDOT says you'll keep your designation as the Robert D. Orr Highway, an honor bestowed upon the man who grew up in Evansville and became Indiana's 45th governor.

It'll have to do.

[NE2]

"After all of the signs and maps are changed, (I-164) will only live on in historical or outdated records,"  said INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield.

Not quite; it's still officially on the bit west of US 41.
http://route.transportation.org/Documents/Indiana%20AM2013.pdf

The overall route length of I-164 is 21.39 miles. The segment of I-164 that is proposed to be eliminated, renamed and resigned as I-69 over an existing facility is approximately 20.70 miles long.

[rickmastfan67]

I drove this last Friday, and most of the route signs and markers had already been changed. The only thing left is the BGS's. I expected some type of multi-plexing for the next year or so, but the 164 signs are gone.

I'll go ahead then and update OSM then and remove I-164 and replace it with I-69.   Any exit numbers change?

[dfwmapper]

I'll go ahead then and update OSM then and remove I-164 and replace it with I-69.   Any exit numbers change?

Update on I-164 being converted to I-69... starts this week.

...
A year ago, INDOT announced that the Federal Highway Administration and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved Indiana's request to rename I-164 to I-69. Mile markers and exit numbers on I-69 from Evansville to Crane will not be affected.

[andy]

And to be explicit, the exit numbers on the previously 164 also will not change.  69 was numbered with that assumption.

[hbelkins]

Does Indiana use demountable route markers on its guide signs?

I'm wondering if replacing the I-164 signs on the guide signs will involve removing them and replacing them with I-69 shields, or if greenouts will be necessary.

[silverback1065]

Does Indiana use demountable route markers on its guide signs?

I'm wondering if replacing the I-164 signs on the guide signs will involve removing them and replacing them with I-69 shields, or if greenouts will be necessary.

I can't guarantee that they use it everywhere, but the do use them in a lot of areas around the state.

[theline]

The overall route length of I-164 is 21.39 miles. The segment of I-164 that is proposed to be eliminated, renamed and resigned as I-69 over an existing facility is approximately 20.70 miles long.

Fun fact: The remaining portion of I-164 is .69 miles long! (21.39 - 20.70 = 0.69) 

Oddity: I-164 will no longer connect to its parent. I'm wondering if they thought this through. 

[silverback1065]

So is 164 going to be signed? Is the small east west portion going to be 164?

[vdeane]

I'm not sure why they bothered to keep I-164 at all.  Just take the small bit west of US 41 off the interstate system.  Or at least renumber it to I-169 (though I'd rather not; I'm not happy about NY losing the distinction of having the smallest interstate to Indiana).