Eleven years ago, a proposal to build a new highway that would wrap around Indianapolis, reaching south of Franklin, drew outcry from local residents.
The Indiana Commerce Connector was a hot topic in Johnson County, and one that local residents still remember.
So does Eric Holcomb, since he worked for then-Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2006, at the time the project was discussed.
For the now-governor, the beltway through central Indiana was the cause of a few of his grey hairs, Holcomb joked.
For the record: the project, which was estimated to cost as much as $1 billion, isn’t on his list of priorities, the new governor said.
At the time, plans showed the highway would run somewhere south of Franklin, connecting Interstate 70 and Interstate 69, also passing near Greenfield, Martinsville, Mooresville, Pendleton and Shelbyville. At the time, Daniels said the beltway would relieve traffic on Interstate 465, bring new businesses and jobs to the areas where the tollway connects and stimulate economic development by linking interstates in the five counties it would pass through.
The response from local residents was immediate and loud: they did not want it. For years after, signs against the commerce connector could still be found in rural Johnson County residents’ yards.
The proposal was withdrawn by Daniels in 2007, but it remained a topic of discussion at the state level in following years.
For Holcomb, the project isn’t a priority, he said. Holcomb has tasked former Franklin mayor Joe McGuinness, who he named INDOT commissioner, with coming up with a list of priorities for road projects that would be paid for with additional funding state lawmakers are considering in this year’s legislative session.
“That would be something that former mayor Joe McGuinness and Commissioner Joe McGuinness will have a big say-so in prioritizing our future projects. But a lot of this is happening on it’s own, but I’m not focused on that,” Holcomb said.
