2 hearings set on I-69's final leg, a nearly 30-mile stretch

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana transportation officials are hosting two public hearings on plans for the final leg of the Interstate 69 extension that's been under construction since 2008.

The first hearing will be held Thursday evening at Perry Meridian High School on Indianapolis' south side, followed Monday evening by another at Martinsville High School.

Indiana Department of Transportation staffers will answer the public's questions about the segment that will eventually run between Indianapolis and Martinsville.

Indiana's preferred route calls for 26 miles of new interstate snaking through Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties with 10 exits and 16 overpasses or underpasses.

Construction on the $1.5 billion stretch remains years away. But when complete it will finish the more than 140-mile I-69 extension between Indianapolis and Evansville. The extension currently runs from Evansville to Bloomington.