Southwestern Indiana counties hope to spur I-69 development
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Officials in two southwestern Indiana counties are hoping to spur development along the Interstate 69 extension by installing infrastructure along its exits to attract businesses that so far haven't followed the partially built interstate.
People ask all the time what happened to the expected development along the I-69 extension that will eventually run about 142 miles from Evansville to Indianapolis, said Todd Mosby, president and CEO of the Gibson County Economic Development Commission.
"If I've heard that question once, I've heard it a thousand times," he told the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1qIshwh).
Mosby said the I-69 extension has had an impact on travel but not yet on local industries. The interstate is currently about two-thirds completed and runs from Evansville to Bloomington.
But just having a federal highway running by an exit doesn't mean businesses are lining up to locate there. And rural counties like Gibson and Pike counties face the task of creating a place businesses want to move to by building infrastructure.
Both of counties are planning for that infrastructure along I-69 exits.
Pike County officials are working to finalize plans for an industrial access road at I-69's Petersburg exit. That road would be visible from the highway and should entice bigger businesses to consider locating in the area, said Ashley Willis, executive director of the Pike County Economic Growth and Development Council.
"We've had some interest but the puzzle pieces just haven't quite fit yet," Willis said.
Gibson County is looking at paying $30 million $40 million over the next few years to get sewer and water lines out to the interstate's Oakland City exit.
Mosby said businesses need those two resources in order to think about locating there, but the water and sewer line projects are still in the survey and planning stage.
Crews in Daviess County began work last year on a shell facility catering to industries and that project should soon be complete, said county economic Director Ron Arnold.
That facility and a $2 million add-on that will make that it accessible to railways were paid for by revenue from an economic development income tax.
"We've been fortunate in Daviess County," Arnold said. "We've seen population growth over the last few years and we have local politicians who have been proactive."
Arnold said the location could become more desirable once I-69's final two legs are complete and traffic can travel from Evansville to Indianapolis along the finished interstate.
The first 67 miles of the I-69 extension opened in 2012 between Evansville and Crane, followed in December by the opening of a 27-mile segment between Crane and Bloomington.
Construction of the next 21-mile stretch, an upgrade of Indiana 37 between Bloomington to Martinsville, is expected to wrap up in late June 2017. And the interstate's final leg between Martinsville and Indianapolis remains in the planning stages.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. estimates the final leg alone will add $2.4 billion to the state's GDP. But that projection is over a 20-year period, demonstrating how long it can take for economic development to make a full impact.
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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com