INDIANAPOLIS —By the time Gov. Mitch Daniels leaves office in January 2013, Indiana will have spent nearly $1 billion on construction of the approximately 90-mile stretch of Interstate 69 between Evansville and the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in Martin County.
By that time, too, another section of the road will be under construction, and that piece will establish a highway connection from Evansville to Bloomington. That will mean four of the six sections into which the 142-mile project is divided will be moving toward to completion.
It's far more progress than any of Daniels' predecessors had made, but it will leave some work for the next person to occupy his office to finish.
That leaves to questions to be answered in the next 18 months: How much of the project will be left at the end of Daniels' term? And how will those who seek to become governor tackle that unfinished work?
The answer starts with a section of roadway currently called Indiana 37. It runs from Bloomington, through Martinsville, and into the southwest side of Indianapolis. Sections five and six of the I-69 project involve upgrading that state road into a highway that meets federal standards for interstates.
Because the state isn't far along in the planning process on those sections, no detailed and up-to-date cost estimate exists.
However, based on plans released in recent years, the cost would likely be between $800 million and $1.7 billion, with much of that coming in the suburban area closest to Indianapolis.
Will Wingfield, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said the state might have a draft environmental impact statement started, or even finished, by the time Daniels leaves office.
That's the first step in a process that would next require public hearings, and then a final plan, and then federal approval. Only after all of those elements are completed could the state begin a construction effort that would mostly consist of upgrading the existing roadway.
It'll be a different kind of project, he said, because the other sections did not require any efforts to deal with traffic flow.
"Contractors had universal access to right-of-way limits," he said.
Daniels has been able to build the first four sections of I-69 at such a rapid pace because of the 2006 "Major Moves" deal, in which he leased a northern Indiana tollway for 75 years and used the $3.85 billion to speed up projects across the state.
Of that money, $700 million was set aside for I-69. That will cover much of the approximately $1 billion — a figure that will be finalized after the fourth section contracts are signed — that is being spent on the project under his watch.
That money, though, will have run out by the time the next governor is looking to pay for what's left.
Wingfield said most of the state's road-building schedule is contained in INDOT's 2012-2015 plan. That plan includes some funding for I-69 planning, but not much.
The federal government still must reauthorize a transportation funding plan. But based on current trends, the state expects to receive about $1 billion — give or take $100 million — each year over the course of that plan.
Much of that is earmarked for purposes such as safety programs, bridges, metropolitan planning and other purposes. The state will spend about $500 million of its own money, too, but much of that must go to smaller road-maintenance projects.
Determining the pace at which I-69 should move forward, and finding a way to pay for it, will be up to the next person to occupy the governor's office.
The race's front-runner at this stage is Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Pence.
A spokesman said Pence will unveil more detailed plans for how he would handle the remaining stretch of the I-69 extension closer to the 2012 elections.
For now, though, the congressman said he considers the project a top priority.
"I have always believed that roads mean jobs. I've supported the expansion of I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis since Gov. Frank O'Bannon announced plans for the route, and I commend Gov. Mitch Daniels for moving it forward. Finishing I-69 will create jobs in Indiana, and I believe this project should be completed," he said.
Former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg of Sandborn is likely Democratic candidate for governor. His spokesman, Steve Campbell, said he is still catching up.
"Since he's been out of office for 10 years, he's got a lot of relearning to do," Campbell said. "Every time he's in Southern Indiana, he says this comes up. He's talked to people in Bloomington and Evansville, all up and down the route. He wants to get back up to speed."
Campbell said that to Gregg, "resolving the issue is extremely important."
"Right now, I'm not sure where it would be in the list of priorities. Clearly, if it means economic development, if it means jobs in that part of the state, it's something we'd take a long look at," he said.
Jim Wallace, a Fishers businessman who is self-funding most of his fight against Pence in the Republican primary, called the I-69 extension "one of the top priorities, I think, for economic development for the state."
He said he is working on a "Project 500 list" — that is, a set of infrastructure projects that the state could complete for $500 million — to announce in the fall. The I-69 extension would cost more than that, but, he said, it is in the same vein.
He said his campaign has identified $6 billion in state spending in the area of health care and welfare that he would like to trim from Indiana's $28 billion biennial budget, and he said he would use that to fund the highway project.
"The creation of I-69 will itself create jobs that at the end of the day address the reason that people are on aid to begin with. We'd rather put the money to work so we can put people to work," he said.