Other I-69 route in works

EVANSVILLE -- State officials could push back a year-end deadline to announce a route for Interstate 69 through southwestern Indiana to allow more time to consider an alternative proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.\nBut the goal is still to announce an interstate route from Indianapolis to Evansville by the end of the year, State Transportation Commissioner J. Bryan Nicol said Monday.\n"It will be a couple weeks before we know if it's going to take a little bit longer," Nicol said.\nThe state is reviewing thousands of comments on a draft environmental impact statement that examined 12 routes for the interstate from Indianapolis to Evansville -- five of which the state named as preferred.\nIt is also analyzing a "hybrid" route suggested by EPA officials during an October meeting with Nicol that would follow Indiana 37 south from Indianapolis to Bloomington before turning west to link with U.S. 41 near Vincennes.\nThat route is a combination of two of the studied routes with some additional roadway, Nicol said.\n"We are taking all routes seriously, including the EPA alternative," Nicol said.\nNo decision has been made, but Nicol said the EPA-backed alternative "has the potential to meet our project goals and have less environmental impact."\nTransportation officials have not determined whether the state would need to conduct an environmental impact study of the hybrid route or hold public hearings, Nicol said.\nIf a decision is made to do another study and conduct hearings, choosing a route by the end of the year will be nearly impossible, said James McDowell, a political science professor at Indiana State University.\nBut the state will likely face intense public pressure if it chooses not to publish a study and hold public hearings if it moves forward with the hybrid route.\n"If they didn't do this now, people are going to scream and holler," McDowell said.\nIn a report earlier this month, the EPA said the state's five top choices would damage the state's wetlands and forests, and the state should reconsider a route using existing U.S. 41 and I-70.\nThe U.S. 41/I-70 route is backed by environmentalists but has the longest travel time between Indianapolis and Evansville of the 12 routes. It was not one of the state's top five routes.\nAfter the report was made public last week, Nicol said the "hybrid" route was being reviewed.