The Evansville Courier Press is now reporting that the governor will entertain proposals for the construction of I-69 that result in the road or portions thereof being toll roads. This contradicts a recent statement by Indiana Department of Transportation spokesperson Jamie Jorczak that “Gov. Daniels is firmly against making the planned I-69 from Indy to Evansville a toll road.”
The new party line is:
“Nothing can be ruled out,” Daniels said when asked if he could give an assurance that the I-69 extension still would be a freeway instead of a tollway.
Let’s get on the same page people.
Here’s a snapshot of opinion I hear down here in SW Indiana from many people along with the Evansville TV stations and that is most people want this road even if tolls are required as long as they get to building it sooner rather than later.The only complaint people have is that they say if our section in this part of the state has tolls then the rest of the road should be tolled including from Martinsville to Indianapolis which correct me if I’m wrong is supposed to be toll free which was written in the legislation last year.
My reading is that under the Governor’s plan, two new toll roads, the Illiana and the Commerce Connector, are to be built from scratch and operated for profit in NW and and Central Indiana by private contractors on nearly 200 miles of prime land taken by eminent domain from Hoosier farmers with the State’s part of the tolls going to assure that there are no tolls on the Indy-Evansville leg of I-69.
Exactly. I don’t mind paying tolls to get from Bloomington to Indy. Martinsville shouldn’t get a free ride though.
I just want the thing to be built – and my preference would be down the existing SR37 corridor.
I live between 1/2 and 3/4 mile from SR37. The road that passes directly behind my house, Smith Valley Road, is slated to become an exit. I look at it this way:
– The noise is barely noticable and can’t be much worse. Cars already do 60-70mph.
– The existing State Road 37 is a mess. You can sit in a mile-long backup just to get from I-465 onto SR37. The intersection of Southport & SR37 is a disaster – due to the nearby White River, it’s the only road you can go west on unless you go 8/9 miles down the road to SR144. Throw in a booming housing market in that area and you get more giant backups. To really solve the problem, you need to build SR37 to interstate standards from I-465 all the way to SR144… so why not use it as an interstate?
The NIMBY’s in Perry Township are just flat wrong & short-sighted on this issue – their businesses are toast, it’s just whether it will be sooner (as a part of I-69) or later (when SR37 would be upgraded to interstate quality).