INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Department of Transportation is modifying its plans for the Interstate 69 extension through Southwestern Indiana.
INDOT announced Monday that as it builds the superhighway between Oakland City and Crane, it plans to postpone building two new interchanges at Pike County Road 600 North and Daviess County Road 375 South.
INDOT spokesman Bruce Childs said the ramps will be engineered and designed and could be built later. The delay is necessary to extend I-69 north to Crane within the $700 million funding available through the Major Moves toll road lease by 2015 or 2016.
Building the highway while delaying the two ramp systems will save $30 million, INDOT said.
Two other exits will serve area traffic, at Indiana 61 near Petersburg, and U.S. 50 near Washington. But because a primary motivation for building I-69 is to bring economic development to the region, a local legislator is concerned about any delay in constructing interchanges.
"It does give me pause," Rep. Kreg Battles, D-Vincennes, said. "This is a serious part of economic development for Southwest Indiana. I am concerned and definitely will be investigating and looking into this."
INDOT's plans to postpone two interchanges were among the details in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a set of documents the state released Monday as part of the federal regulatory process.
The documents cover Section 2 of I-69, which will extend almost 29 miles from Indiana 64 west of Oakland City to U.S. 50 east of Washington; and Section 3, which will extend 26 miles from U.S. 50 northeast to U.S. 231, near the Crane warfare center.
Section 2 is estimated to cost $473 million to $572 million, and Section 3 is estimated to cost $322 million to $399 million, according to the drafts. In interstate construction projects, the federal and state governments typically split costs, 80 percent to 20 percent.
INDOT's release of the documents online Monday at www.i69indyevn.org triggers a public comment period. The public can go to that Web site to read about INDOT's proposed alignment or the "footprint" for the interstate and to submit written comments and concerns.
Two public hearings on the draft environmental plans for sections 2 and 3 have been scheduled:
5 p.m. EST on March 19 in the Pike Central High School cafeteria at 1810 Indiana 56.
5 p.m. EST March 26 at North Daviess Elementary School gymnasium on Indiana 58 between Elnora and Odon.
Based on the public input, INDOT will refine the I-69 road alignment in anticipation of a final environmental impact statement being released this fall, with the federal government giving its construction approval by the end of the year.
Original plan goes through changes
The draft environmental statement says planners originally envisioned four interchanges for the Petersburg-Washington area - at Indiana 61, U.S. 50, northern Pike County and southern Daviess County.
But "in light of near-term budget constraints," the draft says, the two ramp systems that would receive less traffic will be designed and engineered but not built with the rest of the highway.
Exactly when they would be added is not determined.
"Everything leading up to the actual construction of those interchanges will be complete, so when the time comes to do that, we can say all background and foundation work is done and we just move ahead with it," said Bruce Childs, INDOT deputy commissioner of communications.
Battles, who represents parts of Pike and Daviess counties, assumed that the interchanges were necessary junctions in light of the area's hopes for economic development and attracting industry.
"To change the plan doesn't make them less necessary," Battles said.
Steve Schaefer, head of the Hoosier Voices for I-69 and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana, said "job No. 1" is to get the superhighway completed, but he wants to know more about the proposed changes.
Called important for development
"I understand and applaud INDOT for trying to get as far as possible with $700 million as they can, but some of the intersections are important for economic development," Schaefer said.
"As they are doing these segment by segment, we need to continue to voice our input."
Among other revisions in the Section 2 environmental plan: The bridge carrying I-69 over the Patoka River through the Patoka National Wildlife Refuge would be extended under INDOT's latest plans, from the previous 500-foot span to about 4,400 feet, to minimize damage to sensitive wetlands.
Childs said INDOT also acquired 310 acres of adjoining property that would be reclaimed and restored into a wildlife habitat to substitute for that lost in the bridge construction.