How will I-69 be routed in Indianapolis? I-69 currently ends on the northeast side of Indianapolis. How will the two segments of I-69 be connected?

The I-69 project is national in scope, and it involves the creation of an Interstate Highway between the Michigan - Canada border and the Texas - Mexico border. A national study conducted for the Federal Highway Administration in 1999, identified a number of Sections of Independent Utility to be built between Canada and Mexico. Each of these sections of I-69 would have a useful, stand-alone purpose as a transportation facility - hence the name "Sections of Independent Utility."

Three new sections of I-69 are located in Indiana. One is identified in the national report as connecting "from I-465 S in the Indianapolis metropolitan area to I-64 north of Evansville. ... The southern terminus is at the I-64/I-164 Interchange north of Evansville." This section has been the subject of INDOT’s I-69 Environmental Impact Statement you have all heard about.

A second section is identified in the national report at beginning "north of Evansville at the I-64/I-164 Interchange and ... (crossing) the Ohio River in the Evansville metropolitan area. The southern terminus would be near Henderson KY at the Pennyrile Parkway interchange with SH 425." This section is the subject of another ongoing environmental study overseen by both the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The third section is within Indianapolis. It is identified in the national report as "the extension of I-69 from the northeast side of the City of Indianapolis to the I-465 loop on the southwest side of the area." INDOT recognizes, as did the federal government in the national I-69 study, that the location of the exact route of I-69 within the Indianapolis is not a forgone conclusion and remains to be determined.

As a practical matter, INDOT cannot "do everything at once." As the other two studies are concluded, and especially as the results of the Evansville to Indianapolis study are finalized, INDOT will be in a much better position to determine the routing of I-69 within the Indianapolis. At this time, no determination has been made as to what that routing should be. But, the National I-69 Steering Committee states that “A number of alternative routings will be considered. Possible routes could be via any of a number of facilities including I-465, [SR] 37 / US 31 or other routes”.