Project Paves the Way for New Opportunities for Jobs, Investment
Published Feb 11, 2009
I-69 is part of a transportation corridor that will ultimately stretch from Canada to Mexico.
Interstate 69 may be Indiana’s newest transportation undertaking, but that doesn’t mean the project popped up on the state’s to-do list this year – or this decade.
The Indiana Department of Transportation has been working for roughly 40 years to secure funding for the mammoth project, part of a national effort that is ultimately intended to connect Canada and Mexico.
Money is in place to build roughly the first 70 miles of the Evansville-Indianapolis corridor, and bulldozers began moving dirt in July 2008.
The start of the I-69 project will boost growth and development in Southwest Indiana as companies looking to expand or relocate take advantage of a connected, accessible business location.
The first section, a 2.5-mile stretch from I-64 and State Road 67 in Warrick County to State Road 68, will be complete by July 2010. Construction on the next two-mile section is slated to begin in July 2009.
“You can actually envision what this is going to look like, including the overpasses and interchanges, so this is really coming together quite nicely,” says Cher Goodwin, public information officer for INDOT’s Vincennes Office.
The impact of the I-69 project will be felt throughout the region, says Greg Wathen, president and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana.
The road being laid today is a step toward the larger goal of an integrated transportation network for Southwest Indiana. “It’s an important piece of infrastructure,” Wathen says. “If you look at a map of Indiana as sort of a wheel and the interstate system as the spokes of a wheel, there were some spokes missing. And this is a much-needed spoke that will just strengthen the overall transportation network that we have in the state.”
The whole idea behind growth and development, Wathen says, is connectivity, be that by road, rail or remote access.
“I think what I-69 represents,” he says, “is the promise of being connected to North America in a more direct manner than what we are now.”
Transportation access played a key role in a decision by Evansville-based retailer Shoe Carnival Inc.
When the company decided a couple of years ago that it needed a larger distribution facility, a study it conducted determined the ideal site would still be in Southwest Indiana.
“We built a new distribution center along the current I-164 corridor in anticipation of I-69 coming through,” says Mark Lemond, Shoe Carnival president and CEO. “That will provide us with much better north-south access to our store locations. So that’s the primary reason why we located a new distribution center where we located it.”
The company’s 400,000-square-foot nationwide distribution facility has now been open more than a year.
Lemond says he believes other businesses will be drawn to the Southwest Indiana region for the same reasons Shoe Carnival was.
“I think, without a question, it will improve the viability of this area tremendously,” he says.
Story by Michaela Jackson
Photo by Brian McCord
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