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The state of Indiana has committed $475 million for what it calls “transformational” road infrastructure projects throughout the state. Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state would commit $75 million for improvements to 48 miles of U.S. 231, $200 million for a 25-mile extension of State Road 101 and $200 million to the Indiana approach to the Interstate 69 Ohio River Crossing. “Indiana’s location and extensive transportation network make our state one of the most attractive places in the country to do business and create jobs,” Holcomb said in a press release. “These projects will better connect our communities, enhance commerce...

When Modesti Cooper returned home to Houston in July 2019 after more than a decade overseas with the United States military, she moved into her dream house on the corner of Nance and Grove streets in Houston’s Fifth Ward. She’d bought a parcel of land and designed the home from scratch in her downtime while touring from Kuwait to Afghanistan to Iraq. It was a relief to finally move in. “It’s a calm, cool, nice area,” Cooper says. “Besides the traffic, there’s no violence, no noise. It’s so quiet, it’s unbelievable. I had rockets and mortars and missiles blown over...

or years, Interstate 69 being built through Johnson County was a distant idea. On Tuesday, the state awarded more than $1 billion in construction contracts for the last leg of I-69 construction, marking the start of the final two phases of the project between Martinsville and Indianapolis. Now, the entire 27-mile corridor from State Road 39 in Martinsville to Interstate 465 in Indianapolis is under contract, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. INDOT awarded a $345 million contract for I-69, from Morgan Street in Morgan County to Fairview Road in Johnson County, to Reith-Riley Construction Co. of Goshen, and...

Workers in Johnson County could have hundreds of additional dollars taken out of their paychecks annually to help pay for roadwork in the county and an expansion of the county jail — work expected to cost more than $130 million in the next five years. The Johnson County Council unveiled an income tax increase proposal to fund $110 million in road, bridges and infrastructure improvements across the county, mainly due to the construction of Interstate 69, and an estimated $20 million jail expansion project that would address a frequently overcrowded jail that the state has ordered the county to fix....

Dozens of drivers have filed tort claims seeking money from the state of Indiana after their cars were damaged while driving on a 15-mile, pothole-afflicted section of Interstate 69. The problematic stretch of highway extends between mile markers 219 in Pendleton and 234 in Daleville, The Star Press reported. Forty claimants are pursuing damages for repairs to brake calipers and rotors; rims and wheels; tires; improper wheel alignment; suspension way bars and other vehicle parts.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Northern Indiana lawmakers are calling into question Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision against imposing new tolls on the state’s interstate highways, while allowing the Indiana Toll Road’s private operator to significantly boost rates for large trucks using that highway. Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage tells the South Bend Tribune that the situation is unfair because only the communities in northern Indiana along the Toll Road will have the burden of higher tolls, while all parts of the state will benefit from the toll money. The Republican governor announced in September that the operator of the Toll...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...

Bath Township, MICHIGAN (WJRT) - (08/21/2018) - The Michigan Department of Transportation tweeted out photos of a motorcycle on I-69 missing its driver. MDOT is using the photos as reminder of the importance of driving safety in work zones as the busy construction season is wrapping up. Their Facebook Post, which has generated thousands of responses and shares, asks if you have lost a motorcycle driving on I-69 in Clinton County Monday. One of the photos, which appears to show tire imprints in wet concrete, serves as a reminder of why it's not a good idea to use closed lanes...

The final leg of Interstate 69 from Martinsville to Indianapolis will cost nearly $1.6 billion.ThatÂ’s according to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for I-69 Section 6 the state released Thursday. The analysis says construction could start in 2020 and wrap up within six years.Section 6 will run along the existing route of State Road 37. That means some of the many businesses that line the highway in Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties will have to move.The FEIS says more than 80 businesses, including a non-profit and fire station, will need to relocate. ThatÂ’s in addition to nearly 200 residences that...

HUMBLE, TX — The traffic in Kingwood is already an issue, but it's about to become more frustrating as crew prepare to shut down parts of the Interstate 69 bridge that spans the San Jacinto River, just south of Kingwood. The Texas Department of Transportation announced this week that they will close the southbound lanes of I-69 over the river at the end of this month to repair damages caused during flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The construction is expected to continue through the start of summer, and the start of the 2018 hurricane season, which begins in June. Humble, Kingwood...

Texas lawmakers have gone from championing to criticizing toll roads, a shift that some Houston-area leaders worry has gone too far and could limit coming projects. "Without toll roads and that funding, I don't know what we are going to do," said Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal, citing the need for new roadways in rapidly growing parts of the Houston area. The concern, voiced at a Dec. 15 meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council's Transportation Policy Council - the region's transportation planning group - was shared in response to decisions by the Texas Transportation Commission. A day earlier, the commission...

Take Interstate 65 south across the Ohio River and you might not notice you've just spent $4. No toll booth stands between the Indiana border and Louisville. Motorists who frequently travel the route likely have a transponder device, with the cost charged automatically to their account. For those without a transponder, a camera captures a license plate photo and the tolling system operator, with access to motor vehicle records, sends a bill to the vehicle's registered owner. As technological advances make highway and bridge tolling easier and more efficient, technology also is delivering more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The gasoline-tax...

INDIANAPOLIS — A recent state study found that if the state’s interstates were made into toll roads, they could generate between $39 billion and $53 billion over 30 years. But it’s unlikely that all of Indiana’s interstates would be made into toll roads, State Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, said Friday morning. He especially doubts that Interstate 64 or Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis would be converted. “The only way you can put a toll on a road is if you upped the capacity of the road,” he said. “If you widen the bridges or increased the number of lanes,...

President Donald Trump’s $1 trillion plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure may be unprecedented in size and ambition, but it mimics a controversial scheme championed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was the governor of Indiana. That’s why Pence is the public face of the Trump initiative, and executives from financial firms that helped privatize Indiana’s toll road are in the White House, busily sculpting Trump’s national plan. Pence and his allies like to boast about how Indiana sold control of major roads to private firms, claiming the move prompted corporations to invest money in infrastructure that would otherwise have...

The state has officially taken over the Interstate 69 Section 5 project from I-69 Development Partners.The Indiana Finance Authority announced it had reached an agreement with the private developer in June to take over construction, operation and maintenance of the project after several delays in the completion schedule. To officially take control of the project, the Indiana State Budget Committee had to approve the plans. Additionally, all parties had to endorse a settlement agreement and bondholders had to be paid in full.The finance authority announced Monday it had completed the settlement transaction to terminate the contract with I-69 Development Partners...

The state of Indiana wants to take over the Interstate 69 Section 5 project. Three years after hiring a private developer to build the 21-mile stretch of interstate and then maintain it for 35 years after completion, the state issued a statement Monday saying it’s moving forward to assume control of the project. The proposed takeover was announced along with a revised substantial completion date nearly two years after the original. The new date for Section 5 is Aug. 31, 2018, according to the state finance authority. The statement from the Indiana Finance Authority was sent after media outlets, including...

It was disappointing, but not surprising, to learn from the Indianapolis Business Journal (Oct. 10-16) that both John Gregg and Eric Holcomb endorse public-private partnerships (P3s). These candidates for governor are experienced in the ways of our Indiana government. Mr. Gregg has served at the highest level of the legislature while Mr. Holcomb is our Lt. Governor. P3s are agreements between governments (national, state, or local) with private companies to assume control, but not ownership, of public assets. Hoosiers know them in the form of the new bridge over the Ohio River, connecting the east end of Louisville with Clark...

The controversial 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road paved the way for highway projects funded by public-private partnerships in Indiana — including the relatively smooth and nearly finished building of a bridge over the Ohio River at Louisville and the beleaguered construction of a 21-mile stretch of Interstate 69 from Bloomington to Martinsville. Indiana’s next governor — whose road-funding agenda will likely shape discussions at next year’s budget session of the Indiana General Assembly — will have a major role in crafting future deals to fund projects and maintain the state’s infrastructure. The question is whether the state will...

Continuing delays on the construction of Interstate 69 between Bloomington and Martinsville have led to another ratings downgrade on the bonds issued to help finance the project. Standard & Poor’s has lowered its rating from BB+ to BB- on $244 million in bonds issued by the Indiana Finance Authority in 2014 for the interstate project. “The rating action reflects our view of increased construction risk at the project, which is eight months behind schedule and about 56 percent complete,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Tony Bettinelli said in the ratings agency’s statement on the downgrade last week. The 21-mile project,...

The state of Indiana needs to do a better job of looking out for the interests of Hoosiers, especially Monroe County Hoosiers, when it comes to construction of Interstate 69. Section 5 of the project, the part that starts just south of Bloomington and goes north to Martinsville, has run into problems. Not for the first time. Again, the private development company the state picked to build the highway has fallen behind on payments for work that’s been done. So major contractor Crider & Crider of Bloomington has stopped working, again, until it gets paid. State officials aren’t saying so,...