The expected completion date for the Interstate 69 Section 5 project has been pushed back again.
In a statement to bondholders Friday, the Indiana Finance Authority said it assumes substantial completion can be achieved by Aug. 31, 2018, nearly two years after what was expected when the project began.
A voice mail left for state finance authority spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland early Monday afternoon seeking an explanation for the change was not immediately returned. Later, she issued a statement via email that read in part:
"In the interest of moving I-69 Section 5 to completion, the IFA has engaged in negotiations with the developer's bond holders and has made an offer to buy out the bonds and transition the I-69 Section 5 project under the state's direct management."
Information about this plan was released publicly on the Electronic Municipal Market Access website Friday upon the expiration of a nondisclosure agreement between the finance authority and certain bondholders. According to the statement on the municipal market website, money for the bond buy out will come from the proceeds of bonds issued by the state finance authority by September. The state finance authority's most recent offer was about $36.2 million. Bondholders have not accepted the state's offer, according to McFarland's statement.
In July of 2014, the state finance authority completed the sale of nearly $244 million worth of tax-exempt, private activity bonds on behalf of I-69 Development Partners to help finance the Section 5 project. Earlier that year the two entities entered into a public-private partnership. I-69 Development Partners submitted a winning bid of $325 million for the project the state estimated would cost $347 million.
A summary in the statement on the municipal market website shows it will take $236,785,000 to complete the project, with only about $72 million available. An additional $164,785,000 will be needed to complete construction and resolve claims.
According to LaMar Holliday, public involvement specialist with the Indiana Department of Transportation, Section 6 of construction is not affected by a delay in Section 5.
“Section 5’s schedules will not have any impact on Section 6’s schedule. We are actually still on schedule to receive the Final Environmental Impact Statement and the record of decision from the Federal Highway Administration in the first quarter of 2018,” Holliday said.
Section 6 starts at the intersection of Ind. 37 and Liberty Church Road south of Martinsville, goes though the city, northern Morgan County and into the city of Indianapolis to connect to I-465.