Jim Merritt, Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear, Gov. Mike Pence and Hamilton County Com- missioner Mark Heirbrandt celebrated the beginning of construction on I-69 in Fishers with a press conference June 22 that was moved indoors at IU Health Saxony due to inclement weather. (Photo by Sam Elliott)
By Sam Elliott
Indiana Governor Mike Pence visited Fishers June 22 and was joined by local officials to celebrate the official kickoff for construction along Interstate 69 in Hamilton County.
“This is a project that will provide $92 million in improvements to I-69 from State Road 37 here in Fishers to State Road 38 in Pendleton,” Pence said. “It is a part of the Major Moves 2020 program, which was an initiative of our administration our very first year in office. I’m someone who truly does believe that roads mean jobs and, with all due respect to the members of our team wearing the bright yellow vests, I don’t just mean road jobs. If you have the right infrastructure, you make the right investments, you take care of what you’ve got and you build for the future, you create the kind of infrastructure that will support economic growth in the state of Indiana.”
Milestone Contractors has begun work on I-69 by repairing pavement and paving an asphalt overlay on approximately 15 miles of the interstate. The project also will add a third I-69 travel lane in each direction from State Road 37 (Exit 205) to north of State Road 38 (Exit 214) in Pendleton. Additional project highlights include a southbound auxiliary lane between the 116th Street entrance ramp and future 106th Street exit ramp as well as a reconfiguration of the Campus/Southeastern Parkway interchange at Exit 210 into a double crossover diamond to improve traffic flow.
“I believe this project, which will accomplish not only a widening but also improvements in a variety of ways, is going to contribute to the ease with which people move through this area, do commerce in this area and I believe it’s going to create even more economic growth in the days ahead in this corridor,” Pence said. “It’s a major infrastructure project that’s going to widen and improve and strengthen this asset for generations to come.”
Construction on the new I-69 traffic lanes and Exit 210 interchange is set to begin following the Fourth of July holiday, with all construction for the project anticipated to be complete by the fall of 2017. For more, details on the project can be found at in.gov/indot/3440.htm.
