INDOT unveils six options for Reconstruction of I-65/I-70

INDOT publicly unveiled six alternatives for reconstruction of I-65/I-70 as it holds a listening session for the community. Rough estimates for inclusion of each alternative as well as estimated time-savings on each alternative are also unveiled. 

Listening to presentations by INDOT? Here's what you need to understand:

HNTB representatives have said that the INDOT contract for the initial design is to design an above-grade, expanded lanes highway. Those elements are pre-determined for the first 30% of the design-build plans, and are expected to be completed by summer 2018.

FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) generally defers to state transportation planning departments as to project design. The federal government does not dictate that highways be of a certain width or design-style in order to qualify for federal funding. In recent years USDOT, along with HUD, has funded several studies for freeway-to-boulevard conversions. USDOT also has increasingly made funding available for more innovative and progressive transportation design, such as TIFIA financing and through the Center for Innovative Finance Support. INDOT is distributing this fact sheet on the seven system-level options.

Added Info on Option 4 of INDOT's System-wide Analysis—A depressed interstate with (or without) a Lid

A lid covers a depressed interstate (yes, we recognize there's a joke in there somewhere). Here are links to several good articles discussing lids to accompany Option 4 (lids can be added at any time if initial funding is limited). Freeway Lids: Reconnecting Communities and Creating New Land Use for Development; The Cap at Union Station (Columbus OH); Dallas's Klyde Warren Park Selected for ULI Urban Open Space Award.

Peer Cities

Peer cities' residents have successfully collaborated with their Departments of Transportation to mitigate negative impacts of these essential interstate systems. We are insisting on the same consideration from INDOT and from our government leaders. To preserve our Quality of Life, we believe design alternatives must include the reassessment of long-term transportation and community needs before launching the reconstruction.

Noteworthy Organizations Echo Call for Governor to Act

Throughout 2018, several organizations and individuals joined voices to urge the Governor to establish a joint-committee to study options to rebuild our crumbling interstate infrastructure in a way that not only accommodates commuters passing thru our community, but contemplates those who live, work, play and learn in our urban core every day. Those voices include CICF President Brian Payne, the American Society of Landscape Architects - Indiana Chapter, and Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard.