Feds: State can build debated S. Ind. I-69 stretch

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A federal highway administrator says no one can stop the state from building a hotly debated section of the Interstate 69 extension in southern Indiana without using federal money.

A Bloomington-Monroe County planning committee has withheld its support for a planned stretch of the highway linking up with Indiana 37 near Bloomington. That has led to a standoff with state highway officials, who’ve threatened to withhold federal transportation funding to the community.

The Herald-Times reports that the Federal Highway Administration’s top Indiana official told planning committee members on Wednesday that the state has all the needed approvals for building I-69 between Evansville and Bloomington. Indiana division administrator Bob Tally suggested a formal agreement giving local officials more involvement in the highway’s design.

The Bloomington committee meets again next week.