HENDERSON, Ky. —Indiana has started building its portion of new Interstate 69 near Evansville and is moving north. Tennessee has started building its portion at the Kentucky state line and is heading south.
But it looks as though Kentucky will start work in the middle of its section of the Canada-to-Mexico highway.
Gov. Steve Beshear announced Wednesday that Kentucky soon will be permitted to install I-69 signs along the Western Kentucky Parkway as well as a short section of Interstate 24 near Eddyville.
That will mean a 55-mile stretch from Madisonville to near Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park will bear the red, white and blue I-69 shield — the first in a series of efforts to extend the interstate across Western Kentucky.
“The first domino has fallen,” Henderson Chamber of Commerce President Brad Schneider said.
“For the average person, they need a tangible sign — pardon the pun — that I-69 can actually happen in Western Kentucky,” Schneider said. “We’ve been talking about and talking about this. … To see actual I-69 signs hung in Western Kentucky is a tremendous achievement.”
“We’re obviously very excited about this,” Beshear said in a conference call with reporters.
“Kentucky has been working on this I-69 corridor for years,” he said. “I think everyone agrees that having a second designated interstate in Western Kentucky will open up the region for more economic development.
However, the governor couldn’t forecast when the toughest portion of Kentucky’s I-69 project — financing and building a bridge across the Ohio River between Henderson and Evansville, estimated a few years ago to cost $1.4 billion — will be completed or even begin.
Beshear said leaders in the Henderson-Evansville area likely will establish a special authority to develop a financing plan, as is already taking place for a planned pair of Ohio River bridges at Louisville.