Gov. Mitch Daniels talks with Delphi elementary students at Wednesday's ribbon cutting for the Hoosier Heartland Highway. / Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier
At a glance
Segments from the eastern side of the state, between Fort Wayne, Huntington, Wabash, Peru, and Logansport, have already been completed.
The final segments to be constructed between Delphi and Logansport are scheduled for completion at the end of 2013. The Fort Wayne to Ohio state line segment is scheduled to open in December.
The following are just a few milestones of the project:
Jan. 12, 1985: Community leaders from Lafayette to Fort Wayne meet at Peru to discuss the Hoosier Heartland project. At the time, 40 miles of the route are already four-lane, but resources to improve the remaining 60 miles are nowhere in sight. Lobbying begins in earnest.
October 1990: Congress approves $2.5 million for land acquisition between Logansport and Peru. Construction is expected to begin in 1993.
1994: The project's first new structure, a bridge over the Wabash River southeast of Logansport, is completed at a cost of $2.5 million. The twin spans, connecting with no existing roadway, are dubbed the "bridge to nowhere."
Sept. 2, 1999: State officials cut a ribbon on a newly completed four-lane segment of Hoosier Heartland Highway connecting the "bridge to nowhere" between Logansport and Peru. Plans are announced for an environmental impact study of the 31-mile segment from Lafayette to Logansport.
Jan 11, 2005: The Federal Highway Administration gives final approval to the Indiana Department of Transportation's preferred route from Lafayette to Logansport.
May 17, 2006: Gov. Mitch Daniels announces that work on the final leg of Hoosier Heartland Highway from Lafayette to Logansport will accelerate under his $3.8 billion Major Moves transportation plan, made possible by leasing the Indiana Roll Road to a private group.
Sept. 10, 2008: Indiana Department of Transportation awards the first major contract for the final phase of Hoosier Heartland construction to Walsh Construction Co. for $10.5 million. Work gets under way in Tippecanoe County near the Carroll County line.
July 11, 2012: INDOT awards the last major contract of the Hoosier Heartland Highway project to Primco Inc. of Fort Wayne for $24.8 million. The final segment of the four-lane highway, to be built in Cass County, is expected to be completed in 2013. When completed, the Lafayette-to-Logansport segment will have cost an estimated $386 million, according to INDOT.
—David Smith/dsmith@jconline.com
DELPHI— For at least one day, it did not matter which political party they belonged to or whether the governor’s Major Movesroad program was a good idea.
Residents and elected leaders, Republicans and Democrats, shared in the thrill of cutting the ceremonial ribbon and taking an inaugural drive on the newest section of the Hoosier Heartland Highway.
“Next to the folks who live along here, no one is happier to see this come together,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels.
The 12-mile stretch of road will replace the existing winding, hilly, two-lane Indiana 25 that has linked Lafayette and Delphi.
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