Finally Done
EVANSVILLE - After decades of studies, protests, construction and mad scrambles for money, Interstate 69 between Evansville and Indianapolis is finally complete.
The last leg of project between Martinsville and Indy opened to traffic Tuesday morning. It comes more than 20 years after now-deceased Gov. Frank O’Bannon chose the final route in 2003.
But rumblings for the project started well before World War II. Over time, local, state and federal officials played a hand in the excruciatingly slow creation of a road that's been been hailed as both an economic savior and an environmental disaster.
Opponents decried the loss of farms and wetlands, while those in favor longed for easier travel between Evansville and Indianapolis - something they believed could bolster both cities and pump money into struggling small towns.
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Highlights(?):
** 1997: INDOT and Federal Highway Administration officials announce plans to “jumpstart” an environmental impact study. Construction, they claim, should start in July 1999. They’re off by nine years.
** 2004: State officials expect work to be complete in eight to 14 years. They’re off by six to 12.
** 2005: In August, [Governor Mitch] Daniels tells an Evansville crowd he expects the project to be done “around 2017.” He’s off by seven years.
** July 16, 2008: Officials finally start construction - indoors.
Daniels, Weinzapfel and about 1,500 supporters stood by as a front-loader carrying dirt from the actual construction site in Gibson County wheeled into Evansville’s Old National Events Plaza (then the Centre) and dropped a mound of dirt on the floor. Officials then grabbed shovels and turned it over.
Washington Mayor Tom Baumert was there, too. He spent 16 years in office advocating for the road, watching as companies abandoned plans to relocate to his town because there was no direct way to reach it. By the time the big day arrived, he couldn’t shake feelings of disappointment.
“I think it’s about 40 years too late,” he says.
Then there's the army of Evansville police dressed in riot gear.
The last leg of project between Martinsville and Indy opened to traffic Tuesday morning. It comes more than 20 years after now-deceased Gov. Frank O’Bannon chose the final route in 2003.
But rumblings for the project started well before World War II. Over time, local, state and federal officials played a hand in the excruciatingly slow creation of a road that's been been hailed as both an economic savior and an environmental disaster.
Opponents decried the loss of farms and wetlands, while those in favor longed for easier travel between Evansville and Indianapolis - something they believed could bolster both cities and pump money into struggling small towns.
...
Highlights(?):
** 1997: INDOT and Federal Highway Administration officials announce plans to “jumpstart” an environmental impact study. Construction, they claim, should start in July 1999. They’re off by nine years.
** 2004: State officials expect work to be complete in eight to 14 years. They’re off by six to 12.
** 2005: In August, [Governor Mitch] Daniels tells an Evansville crowd he expects the project to be done “around 2017.” He’s off by seven years.
** July 16, 2008: Officials finally start construction - indoors.
Daniels, Weinzapfel and about 1,500 supporters stood by as a front-loader carrying dirt from the actual construction site in Gibson County wheeled into Evansville’s Old National Events Plaza (then the Centre) and dropped a mound of dirt on the floor. Officials then grabbed shovels and turned it over.
Washington Mayor Tom Baumert was there, too. He spent 16 years in office advocating for the road, watching as companies abandoned plans to relocate to his town because there was no direct way to reach it. By the time the big day arrived, he couldn’t shake feelings of disappointment.
“I think it’s about 40 years too late,” he says.
Then there's the army of Evansville police dressed in riot gear.