SOUTHERN INDIANA — A group of Southern Indiana legislators are trying to position the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant along Ind. 62 as an economic driver for the region by the time a bridge extending from Louisville’s east-end to Utica is complete.
House Bill 1265 authored by Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, and co-authored by Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon, and Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Austin, would establish the River Ridge Commerce Corridor.
The commerce corridor would consist of an area adjacent to Ind. 62 between Interstate 265 and Ind. 3, in Charlestown, and would be designated as an extra heavy duty highway.
“It allows the Highway 62 frontage to be designated as a heavy haul load,” said River Ridge Executive Director Jerry Acy. “The heavy load designation allows overweight limit trucks to use that road without getting [a special permit].”
Both Acy and Stemler said without the designation each time a company would want to traverse the road with an oversized load they would have to apply for special permitting.
By changing the roadway’s designation a tedious permitting step for large-haulers will be removed, which supporters of the legislation hope will be an enticement for businesses to locate in the River Ridge Commerce Center.
“One of the benefits obviously, is there is a lot of land along Ind. 62 [to be] developed after the completion of the bridge,” said INDOT Spokesman Will Wingfield. “The bill is intended to help prepare for that.”
River Ridge has been working to attract multiple businesses to the 6,000-acre property, of which only 325 acres has been developed.
While structural upgrades will be required to make Ind. 62 an extra heavy duty highway, one of the changes with the most impact will be connecting the River Ridge property to an area that already holds the desired specification, the Port of Indiana in Jeffersonville.
“Right now we have that designation for our port facility,” Stemler said. “What we want to do is connect that facility to our port center.”
Connecting the two entities increases the potential for business expansion at River Ridge.
Acy said it will allow the commerce center to easily accommodate heavy-type industry and it will also allow River Ridge to serve as an extension to the port.
The bill, if approved, would amend the existing legislation — IC-9-20-5-4 — to add Ind. 62 to a series of roadways that already carry the designation.
“In many cases, what you’ll find is these roads are connecting to [heavy industry and] to another state,” Wingfield said.
By designating the area as a heavy duty roadway, shipping of over-sized loads will be made easier and could include shifting the mode of transportation to barge or railway, both of which are located at the port.
The largest impact for the roadway will be felt once, and if, the Ohio River Bridges Project has been completed and the commerce center gains immediate interstate access.
Before the Ohio River Bridges Project — the construction of an east-end bridge, downtown bridge and reconstruction of Spaghetti Junction — breaks ground in Aug. 2012, the hope is that the road designation will be in place.
But that does not necessarily mean road reconstruction will have started.
“We included language in the bill that [Ind. 62] would not have to be upgraded immediately,” Stemler said.
He explained the language was a response to the fiscal constraints facing the state and the leeway would allow the Indiana Department of Transportation to build the cost into its project list and be planned into the budget cycle.
If approved, the change in designation would take effect July 1, 2011.
The cost of the proposed project is estimated at $4.9 million with the majority consisting of the construction of a center line that would run the length of the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, at a rate of $500,000 per mile. The distance the road would cover is more than seven miles, totaling $3.57 million.
Other related costs include $1 million to replace three small structures and $323,000 for I-265 ramp reconstruction.
Not all of the road improvements will need to be made at the same time and it is likely it will be done in stages.
“It may be phased in conjunction with [the east-end bridge] project,” Acy said.
The bridges project is still well away from having a secured funding source in order to begin construction.
On and off ramps for I-265, however, will not need a special designation, Wingfield said.
“Most interstates are designated as heavy highways,” he said. “They’re to the standard because of the traffic they handle.”
But without the bridge in place Acy said the change in the roadway’s designation is still necessary.
“Even if the east-end bridge doesn’t get built we still need this designation with the commerce corridor,” he said. “It will accelerate the development overall for River Ridge.”
However, Acy said he is confident the construction of the east-end bridge will not be an issue.
Stemler agreed, and was pleased with the timing of both projects.
“I’m very encouraged,” he said. “The timing is perfect. I think they’re going to bode well together.”
If both projects come to fruition, the expectation is that River Ridge will benefit greatly.
“Those improvements really enhance our marketing opportunities,” Acy said.
Taken together with an interstate bridge and Jeffersonville’s port, Stemler said it will be a major economic tool for the region.
“[It’s] one piece of the economic development area,” he said. “The importance of this can’t be over-emphasized. [The designation will] connect the two largest economic engines in our county. That’s what this is all about, improving employment opportunities for our area.”
The bill has passed out of the House committee on roads and transportation and has been referred to the House committee on ways and means.
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