Indiana awards $70 million contract for I-69 project

WASHINGTON, Ind. — State highway officials have awarded a Clarksville company a $70 million contract to build an 8-mile section of Indiana's planned Interstate 69 extension.

Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cher Goodwin says that with the new contract the state has so far awarded eight contracts for building about 45 miles of the new $3 billion, 142-mile highway between Indianapolis and Evansville.

Under its contract, Gohmann (GO'-man) Asphalt and Construction will build a section of the highway running from the Patoka River to Indiana 61 in Pike County. Work is expected to begin early next year.

Environmentalists who oppose the I-69 project say it will destroy forests, wetlands and farmland and create runoff from automobiles and road salt that could harm sensitive caves and springs.