Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, December 3, 2015
(BLOOMINGTON) - A ceremony to celebrate the opening of Section 4 of Interstate 69 is set for Wednesday, December 9.
According to an email from the Indiana Department of Transportation, remarks and a ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the WestGate Academy in the industrial complex adjacent to Naval Support Activity Crane.
Gov. Mike Pence is expected to be in attendance.
Doors will open with a reception at 11 a.m.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, law enforcement will lead attendees on a drive on the new highway to the Ind. 37 interchange south of Bloomington.
Section 4 of I-69 is the 27-mile stretch of highway from Naval Surface Activity Crane to Bloomington.
Sections 1, 2 and 3, which connected Evansville to Crane, opened to traffic November 19, 2012. Section 5, the 21-mile stretch from Bloomington to Martinsville, is under construction and follows the path of existing Ind. 37.
An Environmental Impact Study, which is required by the federal government for major infrastructure projects, is being conducted to help determine the exact route of Section 6. That study is expected to be completed by 2017.
The final Environmental Impact Study and Record of Decision to be finished by 2018. No source of funding has been identified for Section 6.
Once Section 6 is complete, I-69 will stretch from Evansville to Port Huron, Michigan, near the Canadian border. Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas all plan to build portions of I-69 to create a transcontinental highway linking Canada to Mexico.
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