2024 in Review | I-69 finally connects Indianapolis and Evansville
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The end of a 16-year, $4 billion project to extend I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis came on Aug. 6, 2024, when officials opened the I-69/I-465 interchange on Indy’s southwest side.
“Standing over a checkered finish line adorned with Interstate 69 shields, Gov. Eric Holcomb and former Govs. Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels cut the ribbon on the I-69/I-465 interchange, declaring complete a project decades in the making,” News 8’s Garrett Bergquist wrote.
The completion of the project means it’s now possible to drive from Evansville all the way to the Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan, without hitting a single stop light.
Although the stretch of I-69 from Indy to Fort Wayne was finished in the 1970s, plans to connect Evansville and Indianapolis in a similar fashion languished until then-Gov. Mitch Daniels began pushing for completion.
“I didn’t know how long it would take, but, I saw this day,” Daniels said on Aug. 6.
Despite considerable pushback from farmers, budget hawks, and environmentalists, work on the 142-mile stretch of interstate began in 2010. Work on “Finish Line I-69” took up most of Daniels’ administration, the entirety of Pence’s four years as governor, and almost all of Gov. Holcomb’s two terms in office.
“This is more than just a highway. This is a monument to the determination of the people of Indiana and leadership for generations to leave this state better than we found it,” Pence said.
Work on the sixth and final section of the I-69 corridor began in 2022 as part of the I-69 Finish Line project, which upgraded nearly 30 miles of State Road 37 to interstate standards between Martinsville and Indianapolis. The project culminated with the ribbon cutting at the I-69/I-465 interchange in August.
The interchange opened in its final configuration on Monday, Dec. 16., and crews from the Indiana Department of Transportation are putting the finishing touches on guardrails, barrier walls, and drainage systems. In the spring, crews will complete tree plantings, install fences, and wrap up other cleanup and landscaping activities.
Work continues on the I-69 and I-465 interchange on the northeast side of Indianapolis as part of the Clear Path 465 project.