INDIANAPOLIS— Now that the first half of Indiana's Interstate 69 project is open for traffic, the key question is whether — and when — the second half of the Evansville-to-Indianapolis interstate will be built.
A 67-mile stretch from Evansville to Crane opened Monday. Another 27 miles from Crane to Bloomington are expected to be finished in two years. But there is no timeline for the 48 miles from Bloomington to Indianapolis.
The state's two most powerful lawmakers said after an Indiana Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday that they are not sure what sort of timeline will exist to complete the 142-mile project or how it will be funded.
"I don't think anybody knows right now what will happen with that portion," said state Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne.
"There's no glaring solution at this point," said the leader of Indiana's other legislative chamber, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis.
Each said they view funding the remainder of the highway project — a portion that would mostly run along the existing route of State Road 37, from the west side of Bloomington to the southwestern side of Indianapolis — as part of the state's larger highway funding problem.
Nationally and on the state level, gasoline tax revenue is drying up as increasingly fuel-efficient vehicles hit roadways. As planned, the state has pumped much of its $3.8 billion in Major Moves toll road lease money into projects such as I-69, but that was for one-time projects, rather than year-over-year needs.
Those needs have left state lawmakers, as well as U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Newburgh, examining other possibilities, including fees based on the number of miles that motorists drive rather than the amount of gas those motorists buy.
Long said it's "a 50-state crisis, really, on transportation funding — how we're going to pay for the future needs of our highways and roads. That problem is not resolved anywhere." He added that potential decreases in federal funding could tighten the squeeze.
Incoming Republican governor-elect Mike Pence, who pledged during the campaign to complete the I-69 project, also has said he will appoint a blue-ribbon panel that will examine all of the state's transportation and infrastructure needs.
The I-69 project is divided into six sections. The first three covered the Evansville-to-Crane portion that opened Monday, and the fourth is the Crane-to-Bloomington segment that will open by the end of 2014.
The fifth, from Bloomington to around Martinsville, is the subject of a draft environmental impact statement recently released by the Indiana Department of Transportation. After a public hearing, those plans will be finalized and submitted for federal approval.
The sixth section, from Martinsville to Indianapolis, could be the biggest problem. Because it would involve buying a number of homes and businesses so the state has the right-of-way necessary for the project, it's expected to be the most costly section.
During an event Monday morning in Elberfeld, outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels said he expects the final portion to eventually be finished. The questions, he said, are on what schedule, and at what price per year.
"I think that will be a manageable problem. I think that folks will look at it and logically they'll say, 'Sure, we got to get that done," Daniels said. "They may do that quickly or they may stretch it out a little bit, but it will happen."