Senator Mike Braun of Indiana (R), was in Evansville on Monday, where he met with leaders from both Indiana and Kentucky to talk about infrastructure.
The main topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting, was the construction of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing, a project that has been discussed for years, but is now becoming reality.
Officials say that the project will feature a 4 lane bridge between Henderson and Evansville, as well as over 11 new miles of interstate, and 3 miles of upgrades to Highway 41.
The estimated cost of the project is $1.4 billion. Work has already begun on the Kentucky side of the project, as crews began moving earth and laying embankment back in August.
Officials believe that completing the final section of I-69, will not only bring a major boom in freight business to Evansville, but it will reduce traffic congestion in the area and make it safer for other drivers.
Senator Braun said that southern Indiana has been overdue for infrastructure improvements such as this one.
44News spoke to Senator Braun, who said that “Infrastructure is important, economies are not going to grow in the long run without it being adequate. And I know first hand that southern Indiana has not been the beneficiary of it, and so I’m going to try to make sure that things move along at a good pace.”
“There is a lot of commerce that goes all the way from Mexico to Canada that’s going to depend on it. Otherwise it all gets shunted into other interstate systems across the country, that may not have the capacity or may not be in the shape to handle it, so it means a lot” says Braun.
Officials with the project tell us that the bridge would likely have some sort of toll in order to help pay for the cost of construction.
Project officials say that the current bridges are still in adequate shape and do not need to be demolished yet, however one bridge may have to close at some point, in order to complete construction.
Senator Braun said that project officials are confident that construction will be completed sometime between 2027 and 2031.
