I-69 Tier 2

Since the 1940s the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and its predecessor agencies considered an improved highway between Evansville and Indianapolis. Although the idea wasn't fully developed then, the idea continued to receive attention until the early 1990s. At that time, Congress selected an Evansville to Indianapolis highway as part of a national high priority transportation corridor, designated as Corridor 18 in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (known as ISTEA). By the late 1990s, Congress further determined that Corridor 18 would be a part of a national Interstate highway project, I-69, which would improve connections between Canada, Mexico and the United States.

In late 1999, a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Study (EIS) was initiated for the Evansville to Indianapolis portion of I-69. This EIS looked at a wide range of possible highway corridors to link Evansville and Indianapolis. At the outset of this EIS, the Purpose and Need for I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis was determined, and was based upon both Federal and State policies, as well as a comprehensive needs analysis using state-of-the-practice technical tools. Nine project goals for I-69 were developed that fall under the following three categories:

Strengthen the transportation network in Southwest Indiana;
Support economic development in Southwest Indiana; and,
Complete the portion of the National I-69 project between Evansville and Indianapolis.

From its outset, this study had a comprehensive public involvement process to obtain feedback from residents and interest groups that would potentially be impacted by the development of the highway. This process continued through the completion of the study in early 2004. Based in part upon this public input, INDOT designated five highway corridors for detailed study that resulted in 12 alternatives for consideration in the Tier 1 EIS. A detailed analysis of these 12 alternatives was presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released in July, 2002.

A series of public hearings on the DEIS were held in August, and comments on the DEIS were accepted through November 7, 2002. After careful consideration of all comments from resource agencies, interest groups and the general public, INDOT recommended to the late Governor Frank O’Bannon that Alternative 3C be selected as the corridor for I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis. INDOT found that Alternative 3C best fulfilled the project purposes, while at the same time having an acceptable level of impacts. Governor O’Bannon accepted INDOT’s recommendation, and on January 9, 2003 he announced his approval of Alternative 3C as the selected corridor for I-69.

In December of 2003, a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for I-69 was issued. The FEIS responded to the comments made on the DEIS, and added considerable information to that presented in the DEIS. The FEIS recommended Alternative 3C as the preferred corridor for I-69. The Federal Highway Administration selected Alternative 3C for I-69 in its Record of Decision (ROD) dated March 24, 2004. The ROD paved the way for the initiation of Tier 2 studies for I-69.

After the ROD was issued, INDOT began the current I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis Tier 2 Studies. In a continued effort to include the pubic in the transportation decision-making process, INDOT has divided the approved corridor into six sections, which are between 13 and 29 miles long. The corridor is 2,000 feet wide, and each of six Tier 2 section study teams will determine the final alignment the approximately 350- foot wide highway within the approved corridor.

The DEIS, FEIS, and many other reports from Tier 1 are available on the Tier 1 project web site. Click here to go the Tier 1 web site and view these reports.