Much rides on I-69 plan

It may be more than five years before the first car drives down Interstate 69 through southwest Marion County and Johnson County to Evansville and, after that, on to Mexico. But already the road's planned location is giving rise to speculation on how the surrounding land will develop.

Area business

Officials for the Indianapolis and state chambers of commerce support the I-69 extension, but area business owners said many companies could take a fatal blow and much potential development could be snuffed if INDOT doesn't proceed with a careful hand.

"We understand that many, many people will be impacted by this," said Michael Grovak, project manager for Evansvillebased Bernard Lochmueller & Associates Inc., which was hired by the state to oversee the project's recently completed first study phase.

"The people involved are dedicated to making this not just a good project " he added, "but exemplary in every sense of the word."

The new I-69 will generally overlay State Road 37 south of Interstate 465 through Bloomington. The interstate-which will be 250 feet to 475 feet wide, depending on number of lanes - will be placed some where in a 2,000-foot-wide corridor laid out in the phase I study and approved by Gov. Frank O'Bannon last month.

"It's all about access," said Don Williams, senior vice president for Colliers Turley Martin Tucker in Indianapolis. "State Road 37 is a limitedaccess road, but there's a lot of access. Development is always determined by where the access is, especially along an interstate."

Final routing begins

The Indiana Department of Transportation is awaiting federal approval of the phase I study that recommended the route O'Bannon chose. That approval is expected later this year.

The second phase of the study, during which engineers and contractors will actually walk over and inspect the route, will more precisely determine where the interstate will go and where access points, overpasses and underpasses, and frontage roads will be located.

That phase, which could take two to four years, also will determine what land must be acquired, and will address specific environmental concerns.

"Now we have conceptual information," said Lyle Sadler, INDOT's I-69 project manager. "The next phase is where the rubber meets the road."

Though Sadler said many details are not yet "set in stone," some of the plans outlined in the study's first phase have raised eyebrows-and some local business officials' and developers' ire.

"The first thing we noticed was the planned interchanges," said Donald Tharp, president of Indianapolis-based commercial real estate developer Tharp Investments Inc. "I look at this plan and wonder how in the world people are going to get on and off this road. We're talking about some of these properties going from having access to a road with a 40,000 daily car count to zero."

The first interchange south of I-465 isn't planned until County Line Road, which divides Marion and Johnson counties, and currently dead-ends just west of S.R. 37. The only east-west road across I-69 in that stretch would be lightly traveled Wicker Road, which is expected to get an underpass or overpass.

Busier Epler Avenue and Thompson, Southport and Banta roads will be cut off at I-69.

That's troubling to Michael Wadsworth, president of Red Line Graphics Inc., headquartered along S.R. 37 near Banta Road.

"I think I-69 could help a lot of businesses down here", Wadsworth said. "But when you start talking about cutting off access from the east and west, that could be detrimental to a lot of companies."

Especially befuddling to Rick Jones, retail adviser in Grubb & Ellis-Harding Dahm & Co.'s Greenwood office, is no access planned for burgeoning Southport Road.

"Southport Road is a major artery connecting State Road 67 to U.S. 31," Jones said. "My understanding is that was planned to become a four-lane road. Now you're telling me Southport Road is just going to dead-end at [Interstate] 69. I don't know if this is etched in granite, but that needs to be addressed."

In the last five years, two major housing subdivisions were built just west of S.R. 37 on either side of Southport Road. There also are several major retail developments at that intersection.

At S.R. 37 and Banta Road, a major apartment complex and three large housing subdivisions have all been developed in the last three years within about a mile of the intersection.

Frontage roads are seen as critical to smooth access to and from the interstate.

"If you start talking about forcing traffic behind our businesses, that's bad," said Wadsworth of Red Line Graphics.

Residents' access worries

Locals said they will be troubled if traffic west of the interstate is forced farther west to make its way around. There are few arteries other than Mann Road, which doesn't meet a major east/west connector between Southport Road and State Road 144 in Morgan County.

The next overpass/underpass south of Wicker Road is set for Fairview Road, which has small developments to the east and none to the west of S.R. 37.

An interchange is planned at the next road south, Smith Valley Road, which also deadends west of S.R. 37. Smith Valley has no developments to the west of S.R. 37, and has a school, fire station, dry cleaner, fast food restaurant, gas station and a couple of other retail outlets directly east.

S.R. 144-15 miles north of Martinsville-is the next site of a planned interchange. Developments line the north side of S.R. 144 to the west of S.R. 37, but there is just one on the south side. There's little development directly east of S.R. 37.

Business interests hoping for consideration for additional access, especially in Marion County, have more reason for concern, sources said.

Interchanges are the most expensive part of building an interstate, Bernard Loclunueller's Grovak said, so it's likely there will be fewer interchanges planned at the end of the phase II study.

THe impact on current developments would be considered during the phase II study, he said, while detailed design work and land acquisition will not begin until after the phase II study is complete.

Engineering marvel?

The locations for interchanges, underpasses and overpasses pinpointed in phase I were based on local traffic counts and road classifications, INDOT's Sadler said. Land acquisition and current developments also were given some weight, especially at the I-465 interchange.

INDOT officials are still wrestling with how to connect I-69 and I-465. They concluded during the phase I study the intersection at State Road 37 and I-465 should not be disturbed. It's a critical trucking hub, with numerous fuel stations, hotels, restaurants and truck-specific service centers.

"If we put the I-69 interchange there, we'd have to wipe all that out," Sadler said.

Instead, INDOT officials have decided to take the I-69 interchange a little west of where State Road 37 now connects. The new interstate will blaze a trail through new terrain, but several businesses and a large pond sit in that route.

"That's going to be a very complicated piece of engineering," Grovak said.

South of I-465 are still vast expanses of undeveloped land along S.R. 37. Parcels in the immediate vicinity of the intersections not used for the project will be worth considerably more when the highway's finished, developers said.

"You can bet that there are some savvy developers who have had this project on their radars for some time," said Kevin McNamara, economics professor in Purdue University's Department of Agriculture. 'This will have the most dramatic effect for businesses, developers and residents right along the interstate, but it will impact the entire region.

"Developers and land speculators understand this," he added, "and you can bet there's already some jockeying for position and options being offered."

Utility extension will be critical for development, and several area builders and developers, especially in Johnson County, question local officials' ability to keep pace.

"There really isn't much for us to do at this point," said David Hirschle, director of Johnson County's Planning and Zoning Department. "We haven't had much contact with [INDOT]. They haven't made any inquiries. Of course, we have some major concerns."

Purdue's McNamara expects the new I-69 to give rise to a variety of businesses.

"You'll see typical highway support businesses like gas stations, hotels and restaurants," he said, "but I think you'll also see manufacturers and transportation companies interested in that access. Residential also should see a significant boost."

Despite that expected boost, the uncertainty over a final route and access are making real estate agents, developers and other interested business interests jittery.

"This has created a bottleneck for development," said Jones, the retail adviser for Grubb & Ellis-Harding Dahm. "There are a lot of serious questions and some big-dollar investments at stake. There are a lot of people stuck not knowing what to do, and what's going into these decisions is not being communicated."