Interstate 69

Template:Routeboxint Interstate 69 (abbreviated I-69 or in Texas IH-69) is an interstate highway in the Midwestern United States. It currently runs from Indianapolis, Indiana at Interstate 465 to the U.S. side of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Michigan, at the Canadian border, where it continues as Highway 402 in Ontario.

As of early 2006, an extension southward from Indianapolis to the Mexican border in Texas is currently in various stages of planning and construction.

Length

Miles	km	state
157	253	Indiana
203	327	Michigan
360	579	Total

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.

• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Anderson, Indiana
• Muncie, Indiana
• Marion, Indiana
• Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Lansing, Michigan
• Flint, Michigan
• Port Huron, Michigan

Intersections with other interstates

• Interstate 465 in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Interstate 80/Interstate 90 (Indiana Toll Road) near Fremont, Indiana
• Interstate 469 in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Interstate 94 in Marshall, Michigan
• Interstate 96 in Lansing, Michigan
• Interstate 496 in Lansing, Michigan
• Interstate 75 in Flint, Michigan
• Interstate 475 in Flint, Michigan
• Interstate 94 in Port Huron, Michigan (continues northeast, co-signed with I-94, to Blue Water Bridge)

Spur routes

• Greenville, Mississippi - potential I-169
• Memphis, Tennessee - Future I-269
• Union City, Tennessee to Martin, Tennessee - potential I-169
• Fort Wayne, Indiana - I-469

Notes

• Between Lansing, Michigan and Port Huron, Michigan I-69 is signed as an east-west route.

• Temporary Interstate 69 or TEMP I-69 between Charlotte, Michigan and Flint, Michigan was an expressway with at-grade intersections that was originally designated as Michigan State Highway 78. This segment of highway is now a fully controlled-access freeway designated as I-69.

• In Flint, I-69 is also known as the Chevrolet-Buick Freeway, as a tribute to the Flint automotive industry.

• A 30 mile stretch of I-69 between Flint and Perry, Michigan is designated as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway.

• The 12 mile stretch of I-69 between Charlotte, Michigan and I-96 was opened in October, 1992. It completed Michigan's original state-wide interstate highway system.

• The original southern termination point of I-69 was to have been at the I-65/I-70 interchange (known locally as the "spaghetti bowl") near 13th and College Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana. In fact, the grading and overpasses for this connection's ramps can still be seen at that location. Later, the State of Indiana changed its mind and sought to designate the freeway connecting the spaghetti bowl to the I-69/I-465 interchange (approximately 11 miles or 18 km) as "I-169". Due to a political fight over the inner-city portions of I-70 and I-65, it was decided to scrap I-169. In its place, the state widened I-70 from eight to 10 lanes and reworked its eastside interchange with I-465 to handle the additional traffic loads from the northeastern suburbs.

• The duplex with I-96 near Lansing is the only concurrency — or intersection — in the Interstate system where the roads' numbers are mirror images of each other. (This can lead to confusion navigating around Lansing for unfamiliar drivers.)

• Because I-69 is signed as east-west in Port Huron, I-94 is signed as north-south once it joins I-69. This is the only instance in which the numbering conventions regarding even- and odd-numbered interstates are reversed.

Trivia

• Michigan State Highway 21 has been truncated to Flint, Michigan when Interstate 69 followed it's path. And coincidentally, M-21's former route's intersection with Interstate 196 near Grandville, Michigan has the exit number "69", and Interstate 196 helped truncated the other remainder of M-21.

Extension to the South

In 1998, Congress approved an extension of I-69 to the south and west from Indianapolis to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. Should the construction be completed, it will become only the second Interstate to connect both the Mexican and Canadian borders (current Interstate 5 is the first).

Proposed Route

The proposed routing of the I-69 extension traverses seven states, and has been divided into 32 Sections of Independent Utility, numbered (mostly) from north to south. [1] The "mainline" route includes 26 SIUs, of which 24 represent new construction south of Indianapolis.

Indiana

From Indianapolis, Interstate 69 is planned to follow the route of Indiana 37 south via Martinsville to Bloomington, Indiana, where a "new terrain" routing to the southwest will serve the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center, Washington, and Oakland City, Indiana. The route will then intersect Interstate 64 and encompass existing Interstate 164 through the Evansville, Indiana area, crossing the Ohio River a few miles upstream of the existing U.S. Route 41 bridges.

To fund construction of this extension, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels introduced a proposal known as "Major Moves" in early 2006. Though controversial, this proposal did pass, albeit with one significant modification.

Kentucky

Interstate 69 is expected to bypass the city of Henderson to the east, then follow the existing Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway south to Nortonville, where the route will turn west along the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway to its terminus near Eddyville, Kentucky. I-69 will then coincide with Interstate 24 westward to Calvert City, where it will turn to the southwest and follow the Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway to the Tennessee state line at Fulton.

Tennessee

From Fulton, I-69 is planned to continue to the southwest, replacing and bypassing existing U.S. Route 51, serving Union City (and potentially intersecting proposed I-169), Dyersburg (where it will intersect Interstate 155), Ripley, Covington, and Millington.

South of Millington, I-69 will intersect the Interstate 269 Memphis Outer Beltway, then continue southwest, roughly parallel to U.S. 51, and connect with Interstate 40 at the existing Tennessee SR 300 interchange in the Frayser neighborhood. Interstate 69 will then merge with I-40 for about 3 miles to the I-40/I-240 Midtown Interchange, where I-69 will continue south along the Midtown portion of I-240 (mileposts 25-31) to the I-240/I-55 interchange in Whitehaven. From that interchange, I-69 continue south, merged with I-55 for approximately 12 miles, crossing the Mississippi state line.

Mississippi

In Hernando, Mississippi, I-69 will again meet up with I-269 (and possibly Interstate 22) and turn west for approximately 16 miles to the area around the Tunica County casinos, where the route will turn to the south to run parallel and a few miles east of U.S. Route 61. I-69 will bypass the Town of Tunica to the east, then veer to the west and merge with U.S. 61 route to Clarksdale, also merging with U.S. Route 49 near Rich.

In Clarksdale, I-69 will merge with U.S. Route 278 and continue south, serving Shelby, following the existing U.S. 61 route. I-69 and U.S. 278 will diverge from U.S. 61 near Merigold, bypassing Cleveland to the west, and continue south to near Shaw. From Shaw, I-69 and U.S. 278 will proceed west to Benoit, where it will intersect Mississippi 1 (and possibly the proposed Greenville Connector Route), then cross the Charles W. Dean Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Great River Bridge) over the Mississippi River into Arkansas.

Arkansas

In Arkansas, I-69 and U.S. 278 will continue west to McGehee, where U.S. 278 will leave I-69 and rejoin its existing routing. I-69 will continue on a separate alignment to Monticello, where it will meet the Interstate 530 extension, then bypass Wilmar and Warren to the south, and turn to the southwest, crossing the Ouachita River and running between El Dorado and Smackover to meet U.S. Route 82 west of El Dorado.

From U.S. 82, I-69 will continue to the southwest, crossing the Louisiana state line near Haynesville, Louisiana.

Louisiana

From the Haynesville area, I-69 will run to the south and southwest, intersecting Interstate 20 near Haughton and bypassing Shreveport to the southeast. I-69 will then turn more westerly, intersect Interstate 49 near Stonewall, and head for the Texas state line.

Texas

In Texas, I-69 will intersect with the U.S. Route 59 corridor near Carthage and roughly follow U.S. 59 to the south, serving Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Livingston, Shepard, and Cleveland.

In the Houston area, a number of possible routings of mainline Interstate 69 are possible. The designation could follow U.S. 59, Interstate 610, Beltway 8 and the Sam Houston Tollway, the Grand Parkway, or some other (new) route. During non-peak hours, through I-69 traffic is likely to follow the U.S. 59 routing, which is the most direct and is toll-free, regardless of the designation. In the Houston area, I-69 will meet Interstate 10 and Interstate 45.

From Houston, I-69 is again expected to follow the U.S. 59 corridor southwest to Victoria, Texas. From there, the congressionally-designated corridor splits into three alternatives:

• West along the U.S. 59 corridor to the Mexican border in Laredo via George West (where it will intersect Interstate 37). This leg will also intersect Interstate 35 in Laredo.
• Central along the U.S. 59 corridor to George West, then turning south along the U.S. Route 281 corridor to the Mexican border in McAllen.
• South along the U.S. Route 77 corridor to the Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas, intersecting IH 37 northwest of Corpus Christi.

The routing of I-69 in Texas is being studied as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor concept as the "I-69/TTC" component. Portions of the route may coincide with the "TTC-35" corridor component as well.

Spur Routes

In addition to the I-169 and I-269 spurs and loops, a number of other projects are designated as SIUs of the Interstate 69 corridor:[2]

• Interstate 94 between Chicago, Illinois and Port Huron, Michigan.
• The Interstate 530 extension from Pine Bluff to Monticello, Arkansas.
• U.S. Route 59 from Texarkana to Carthage, Texas.
• The "Corpus Christi North-side Highway and Rail Corridor from the existing intersection of United States Route 77 and Interstate Route 37 to United States Route 181, including FM511 from United States Route 77 to the Port of Brownsville."

Current status

As of 2006, most of the construction activity on the route has been in the Memphis metropolitan area:

• Approximately 16 miles of the future mainline Interstate 69 from U.S. 61 in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi to Interstate 55 in Hernando, Mississippi is under construction and expected to open in November 2006.
• Construction of the Memphis Outer Beltway (Interstate 269) from Interstate 40 in Arlington, Tennessee to U.S. 72 in Collierville, Tennessee is underway, with portions scheduled to open to traffic between 2006 and 2010.

Right-of-way acquisition for portions of the route in west Tennessee between Millington and South Fulton has been funded and is expected to start in 2006.

Environmental studies on the remainder of the route are underway or completed in all states along the route.

Opposition and Controversy

Opponents of neoliberalism believe that I-69, by expediting free trade between Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America, will further contribute to the exploitation of workers in the global south. They see struggle against I-69 as a new front in the alter-globalization movement.

More specifically, the extension of Interstate 69 has seen organized opposition in a number of states along the route, most notably Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Indiana

Particularly controversial has been the routing in Indiana. Environmentalists, elected officials and residents of the Bloomington area, and businesses and elected officials in Terre Haute lobbied for a route along existing U.S. 41 and Interstate 70 via Terre Haute. In addition, residents and local officials in southwestern Indianapolis and Martinsville have raised complaints about potential quality-of-life impacts and loss of access to the existing Indiana 37 highway, which would be upgraded to freeway standards as part of the extension.

The state department of transportation, current and past governors, and businesses and elected officials in Evansville, Indiana have favored a direct route via Bloomington that would be built over new terrain. Supporters argued that this direct route reduces the travel time to Indianapolis as well as improves access to Bloomington for residents of southwestern Indiana, something a route via Terre Haute would not achieve. State DOT officials have also pointed out that substantial upgrades to the Indiana 37 corridor will be necessary, with or without Interstate 69.

After extensive review of the alternative routes as well as detailed environmental studies, the state selected the new terrain route via Bloomington. However, there is still considerable debate over the routing through southwest Indianapolis, with residents and local elected representatives preferring that the route be moved west to intersect Interstate 70 near the Indianapolis International Airport.

Another area of controversy arose in late 2005 when governor Mitch Daniels proposed levying tolls on the highway to finance its construction, either as a state project or a public-private partnership, in order to accelerate the project. As the route would overlay existing (and free) Indiana 37 between Bloomington and Indianapolis, and there currently is no free alternative route between Bloomington and Martinsville, this proposal has raised hackles among local residents and businesses.

Tennessee

The routing of I-69 between Millington and Dyersburg, Tennessee has been criticized by the state Sierra Club chapter for not making use of the existing right-of-way for U.S. 51 and for potentially impacting the Hatchie River, a state-designated scenic river.

Texas

The project has been opposed in Texas by both environmentalists and property-rights activists, albeit for somewhat different reasons. See the article on the Trans-Texas Corridor for more details.

Some opponents see I-69 and the Trans-Texas Corridor as a U.S. component of Plan Puebla Panama, an economic development plan proposed by Mexican President Vicente Fox and related to NAFTA and CAFTA. While this plan has seen little public discussion in the United States, it may color views of the project in Mexico and other countries.

External links

• I69Info.com
• Interstate 69 at Michigan Highways
• Highway Position: Is an Indiana Congressman introducing legislation to change the name of Interstate 69? (Snopes.com)
• Friends of I-69: mailing list on Yahoo Groups
• Official DOT websites:
  • National I-69 Steering Committee
  • I-69 Indianapolis-Evansville Study (Indiana Department of Transportation, SIU 3)
  • Evansville/Henderson study (Indiana and Kentucky DOTs, SIU 4)
  • Interstate 69 in Tennessee (SIUs 7, 8, and 9)
  • Interstate 69 in Mississippi (SIU 11)
  • McGehee to El Dorado, Ark. (SIU 13)
  • El Dorado to Shreveport, La. (SIU 14)
  • Shreveport bypass (SIU 15)
  • KeepTexasMoving.com Trans-Texas Corridor, a Texas Department of Transportation site
• Supporters:
  • Alliance for I-69 Texas, an association supporting the development of I-69 in Texas
• Opponents:
  • Roadless Summer
  • Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, an organization opposed to a new-terrain route for I-69 in Southern Indiana.