The construction of the Interstate 69 highway between Evansville and Indianapolis took a giant step forward this past week with the announcement that the Indiana Department of Transportation has completed plans for the highway from the Crane Naval Survace Warfare Center to Bloomington.
This is the section that will take I-69 from Crane, through Greene and Monroe counties right into Indiana 37 just south of Bloomington. Indeed, this is the link that takes I-69 through what has been characterized as hostile territory: The home ground of I-69 opposition groups that continue to fight construction, even though it is well along. On the far south section, motorists are already driving on I-69 and construction is under way at various sites between Evansville and Crane.
Eric Bradner of the Courier & Press Indianapolis bureau reported on Monday that construction could begin on the Crane-to-Bloomington section as soon as INDOT gains approval from the Federal Highway Administration. He reported that could come later this summer.
That would be great news for the people of Greene and Monroe counties who welcome this coming interstate highway. That's right, not everyone in his beautiful region of South-Central Indiana is opposed to the highway coming through or near their communities. It only seems that way at times, when Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads or the Hoosier Environmental Council or even some public officials in Bloomington and Monroe County are trying to block the highway.
But the truth told, many people in these areas feel just as the residents of deep Southwestern Indiana do about having an interstate highway link to the rest of Indiana and the nation.
We have long argued on this page that Interstate 69 is needed for multiple reasons, among them to give Indiana University students a safe highway for travel to and from school. It is needed to give Southern Indiana residents safe and quick access to the top-level medical specialists in Indiana. It is needed for the economic benefit of businesses and communities all along the route. These factors and others are just as important to Hoosiers in Monroe and Greene counties as they are to Hoosiers in Posey and Warrick counties.
Interstate 69 should make a difference in the quality of life of all Hoosiers living along the route.
Hence, when you hear of the opposition groups again raising objections to the highway, know that those feelings are not universal. CARR has filed a suit to move the route over to Terre Haute, and Bloomington/Monroe County officials have attempted a procedural maneuver to block construction, but it is doubtful either will succeed in slowing progress on the highway.
We look forward to the day when construction is complete, and so do, we expect, a majority of residents in Monroe and Greene counties and in Bloomington.