Johnson County residents can expect to start seeing road work on the final leg of the state’s biggest highway project in about a year.
The Indiana Department of Transportation revealed an updated timeline this week after Gov. Eric Holcomb sped it up by about three years. Work along what is now State Road 37 in Johnson and Marion counties will happen concurrently and run through fall 2024, according to state documents.
“We’re starting out slow, but we’re building steam as we move north,” said Sarah Rubin, INDOT’s special projects deputy director.
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“If you attended our meetings back during the environmental phase, you would have heard us say it will be complete in 2027. Our open-to-traffic is now expected to be 2024. So we’ve shaved about three years off of that construction timeline.”
INDOT organized the meetings to provide updates on the sixth and final section of the interstate, which is being built in phases from Evansville to Indianapolis, and will follow the State Road 37 route through the west side of the county. Construction of that final stretch is expected to begin next year, including in parts of Johnson County, and wrap up in 2024.
Those who attended the meetings learned more about I-69’s final leg, reviewed the expected construction schedule and heard about design changes made since the latest environmental impact statement was approved in February 2018. They were also given the opportunity to participate in an online aesthetics survey related to pedestrian railings and light fixtures at overpasses and interchanges up and down the I-69 corridor.
In Johnson County, INDOT spent 2019 acquiring right-of-ways of more than 200 parcels the highway will impact. The team’s deadline to complete that portion of the project is June 2020. They expect to open bids on Johnson County’s portion of the project next fall.
All active Johnson County parcels are in the process of being acquired or have already been purchased, an INDOT spokesperson said last week.
Hundreds filed in to the Center Grove High School auditorium Tuesday evening for the second of three public meetings to learn new details about the project and how it might affect them.
Rubin gave a 30-minute presentation, but attendees were free to mosey about in the halls and visit various stations that were set up to offer more details about specific interchange plans, sound barriers and other aesthetics, such as light fixtures and types of materials that will be used.
Last year, while INDOT was studying the environmental impacts of the project, surveyors identified areas where sound barriers would be useful, but residents and business leaders will have a say in whether those sound barriers are built to serve as a buffer between the highway and their homes, as they’re the ones who will have to look at them everyday, Rubin said.
INDOT mailed a survey to residents and business leaders who will be impacted by the project. Attendees could pinpoint exactly where those sound barriers may be built and the concrete that would be used during the meeting Tuesday. Surveys are due Nov. 8.
Locally, major construction will occur along State Road 37, which will become I-69, through the county, with interchanges at State Road 144 near Bargersville, Smith Valley Road and County Line Road in White River Township.
INDOT recently made changes to how the State Road 144 and Smith Valley Road interchanges will look, adding additional roundabouts west of each and minimizing impacts east of the interchanges.
There will be four total roundabouts at the Smith Valley Road interchange, and three at State Road 144. Project managers decided to replace a stoplight at Old State Road 37 with a roundabout to eliminate all signalized intersections near the interstate and keep traffic flowing throughout the corridor, Rubin said.
When it’s all said and done, 14 traffic signals will have been removed throughout the corridor.
The highway will widen as it travels north from Martinsville. It will be four lanes, two in each direction, from State Road 39 in Morgan County to Smith Valley Road. It will widen to six lanes from Smith Valley Road to Southport Road, and eight lanes from Southport Road to Interstate 465 in Indianapolis, she said.
INDOT is also planning to add a lane in each direction on I-465 between Interstate 70 on the west side and Interstate 65 on the south side, she said.
State officials are coordinating with local officials to determine the affect the highway will have on local roads, and what needs to be done to address it, Rubin said.
“We’d rather do all of that due diligence upfront than have any surprises down the road,” Rubin said.
The big question on the table as construction looms is how neighborhoods in Bargersville and the Center Grove area are going to develop around the new interstate. Those decisions, and most of the costs associated with it, are up to them.
While the state has complete control of the interstate, county officials and residents will make decisions regarding development around it, including making sure local roads are equipped to handle it.
The county’s Board of Zoning Appeals, Plan Commission and, ultimately, Board of Commissioners will have final say.
INDOT leaders have said repeatedly they welcome and encourage feedback from residents and business leaders impacted by I-69, and they will continue to accept that feedback, but it’s down to the wire now.
“We look forward to continuing to work with you all, continuing the dialogue as we get rolling on this corridor,” Rubin said.
“We’re not that far off from being under construction on the main line.”
