At a press briefing before Monday’s Greenwood and today’s Martinsville Interstate 69 Section 6 meeting, Indiana Department of Transportation representatives said there are 13 conceptual routes from the south side of Martinsville to Indianapolis under consideration.
Although Ind. 37 had been identified for nearly a decade as the path Interstate 69 would use as it heads north, INDOT officials have said since January that was only the initial finding. At a round of public meetings in February, residents were allowed to mark on maps alternative routes.
There is a hearing today at Martinsville High School, 1360 E. Gray St. Doors will open for a 5:30 p.m. open house followed by a 6:30 p.m. presentation and public comment session in the high school auditorium.
From the 26 possible routes suggested at the February meetings, the list was narrowed down to 13 conceptual alternatives, INDOT representatives said.
The 13 conceptual alternatives fall into central, west and east alternatives. The east alternatives would have Ind. 37 connect to Interstate 65 to connect with Interstate 465, which connects with the existing I-69 on the north side of Indianapolis, after going east of Ind. 37. The central alternatives would have Ind. 37 connect to 465, while the western alternative would use Interstate 70 to connect to 465.
One reason alternatives to Ind. 37 were being considered was that there was a legislative block to taking the interstate through Perry Township in Marion County. The past session of the Indiana General Assembly removed that barrier, but now as part of the process all alternatives are being examined. Ind. 37 will be a part of that mix throughout the process, said Will Wingfield, an INDOT spokesman.
Based on the route suggestions at the previous meetings, 40 percent favored the existing Ind. 37 route, 34 percent favored a western route, 20 favored routes other than 37 and 6 percent favored an eastern approach.
Traffic was listed as the leading consideration among those attending the first round of meetings, followed by human impact, interchanges, schedule, acquisition, other, land use, funding and environmental/historical impact.
During the first round, 243 people signed in as attending the Greenwood gathering and 326 at the Martinsville meeting.
The entire interstate has sets of purposes and needs and there are separate purposes and needs defined for each section. The goals and performance measure for Section 6 is improving the link between Martinsville and Indianapolis, improving personal accessibility and reducing future traffic congestion on the high network within area, improving traffic safety, support economic growth, helping freight movements and and supporting intermodal connectivity within the area.