A view of the construction on the interchange of I-69 and 37. I-69 will link Evansville to Indianapolis. Matthew Hatcher | Herald-Times
It will take money to make money from Interstate 69. That was the message from various speakers during Tuesday’s I-69 Regional Summit at the Bloomington/Monroe County Convention Center.
Congressmen, transportation officials and business leaders touted the economic benefits of completing an interstate that touches the Canadian border to the north and the Mexican border to the south. The biggest obstacle, of course is funding.
In Indiana, the Department of Transportation is still trying to figure out how to pay for Section 6, which will connect Martinsville to Indianapolis, as well as the bridge that will span the Ohio River connecting the Hoosier state to Kentucky.
Indiana’s troubles, however, pale in comparison to Texas, which is responsible for more than 1,000 miles of the project. The state is short $5 billion annually of what is needed just to maintain roads, said Jennifer Shepard, executive director of the Alliance for I-69 Texas.
“We can’t build this by using traditional methods,” she said. “And we’re not looking for one single solution.”
That’s certainly the approach Indiana has taken and will continue to take. Funding for the 94-mile stretch of I-69 from Evansville to Bloomington came from the state’s Major Moves transportation plan. The long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road raised $2.6 billion for the transportation plan, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation’s website. That money has since been exhausted, so the state entered into a public-private partnership with a group called I-69 Development Partners to complete the section of I-69 between Bloomington and Martinsville.
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