17th Street construction during construction of I-69 section 5. Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
I-69 Regional Summit
The I-69 Regional Summit, hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for Nov. 18 and 19 in Bloomington. Speakers will cover various topics related to the highway, including an overview of the project and possible economic opportunities.
The event begins with registration at the Bloomington/Monroe County Convention Center, followed by a welcome reception at Hoosier Energy Headquarters. The following day's activities at the convention center include presentations on such topics as "The Future of Transportation" from Peter Rogoff, U.S. Department of Transportation acting undersecretary of policy, and "Vehicles of the Future" from Tom Easterday, executive vice president of Subaru of Indiana Automotive. There will also be a lunch and breakout sessions on topics including the future of infrastructure funding and interchange development from a site selector's perspective.
Full summit registration is $169. Single tickets for the keynote lunch with Jeff Davis, senior fellow with the Eno Center on Transportation, who will be speaking about a case study on highway funding, are $47 per person.
For more information, contact the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce at 812-336-6381 or email info@chamberbloomington.org. To register of see a full agenda, visit i69summit.wordpress.com.
When vehicles traveling on Rockport Road reach what used to be the intersection with Ind. 37, they now drive over the highway. Between Tapp Road and Second Street, the grassy median that once separated the north and southbound lanes of the highway has been replaced with asphalt and a concrete barrier wall. At the stoplight for Vernal Pike, drivers can see bridge beams in place for what will soon become an overpass. All through Bloomington, it's clear the state highway's transformation into an interstate is well underway.
The Indiana Department of Transportation entered into a public/private partnership with I-69 Development Partners in 2014 to design, build, finance, operate and maintain Section 5 of Interstate 69 for 35 years. Section 5 is the 21-mile stretch of I-69 that will run from the south end of Bloomington to just south of Martinsville. Officials with I-69 Development Partners plan to have all upgrades completed by November 2016.
Preliminary work, such as tree clearing and utility relocation, began last year, but true road construction didn't really begin until spring of this year. Much of that effort was concentrated on the southern end of the project in anticipation of the opening of Section 4 at the end of this year.
Section 4 is the 27-mile stretch of newly constructed highway that will connect Naval Support Activity Crane to Bloomington. When it opens, a four-lane, limited access highway will connect Evansville to Bloomington for the first time. That will make construction in Section 5 a little more challenging.
"There'll be a lot more traffic when Section 4 opens," said John Fox, land owner relations representative with I-69 Development Partners.
When all that northbound I-69 traffic gets to Bloomington, it will still be greeted by a few stop lights, at least for a while. A full interchange is planned at Fullerton Pike near Monroe Hospital, but right now, the most noticeable change is a huge mound of dirt where Professional Golfcar used to be.
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