An Indiana Department of Transportation representative confirmed Friday that it is no longer certain that Interstate 69 will follow the path through Martinsville of what is now Ind. 37 when the interstate heads north from Liberty Church Road.
Sarah E. Rubin, INDOT Section 6 project co-manager, and Sandra Flum, Section 5 manager, were the featured speakers at Friday’s Greater Martinsville Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
“We have the ability to look at an alignment other than 37,” Rubin said. “We’re still considering 37.”
Rubin said final approval from the Federal Highway Administration is anticipated in early 2018 for a route north of a new Liberty Church Road interchange at Indian Creek, which is where Section 5 ends.
For approximately a decade, Morgan County residents and elected officials have generally been working with information that stated I-69 would replace Ind. 37 as it is built through Martinsville. Maps issued by the state have shown Ind. 37 being the corridor that the interstate follows through Martinsville.
Funding for Section 6 hasn’t been determined, Rubin said, but that is expected to be determined by when the FHA approves a plan.
Several factors are affecting the decision to seek an alternate route through Morgan County. One of those is a state law passed in 2006 that restricts I-69 from entering Indianapolis’ Perry Township. Ind. 37 would take it through that township.
“We’re monitoring what’s going on in the legislature,” Rubin said.
Other factors that could affect the decision include the impact on businesses and residential developments, the development of Indianapolis International Airport, flood plains, waterways, schools, emergency services, hospitals, the impact on communities, endangered species and environmental and archaeological issues.
“We’re at the beginning of developing conceptual alternatives,” Rubin said.
Those alternatives should be ready for review by the late spring or early summer, she said.
In the first quarter of this year, there will be public information meetings, and those gatherings will be held each quarter. A project office will be established with 9 a.m to 4 p.m. hours during the week. The locations of the meetings and the office haven’t been determined.
There will be only one Morgan County interchange for Section 5 construction of Interstate 69 along 37 from Monroe County, Flum said. That section of the road will include land that Martinsville has annexed.
It is expected to be open to traffic by the end of 2016.
Section 5 is being built as a public-private partnership, Flum said. The private firm will be responsible for maintaining the road for 35 years.
“There is a full bank of money for the (Section 5) project,” Flum said.