Last week, Governor Holcomb announced Indiana is investing $425 million for three big road projects in the southern part of the state.
Nearly half of that money is going towards the state’s plan to design and construct the approach to the I-69 Ohio River Crossing in Evansville, which is critical to the economic stability and growth of the region says the co-CEO of the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership.
Greg Wathen told Inside Indiana Business that the I-69 bridge will do more than just connect Indiana and Kentucky. He says it’s Indiana’s part of something bigger.
“It’s a pretty critical piece of being connected to the rest of North America,” he said. “We really look at it as the USMCA Highway, where you’re just connecting all of this, particularly automotive in Canada, the U.S. and then in Mexico.”
Through various other highways and projects in Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas, you will technically be able to take I-69 from Canada all the way down to Mexico.
Wathen also says the project to improve U.S. 231 through Dubois and Martin counties will be important for the semi drivers.
“I don’t think people realize how much traffic is around US Highway 231, in particular, as you’re going up and connecting up to Crane and these areas,” he said. “It truly is a safety issue of making sure that those trucks all that activity, it happens in a safe manner.”
