INDIANAPOLIS — Last week, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston said the House has made record investments in Indiana’s roads in the past three years, but it has some unfinished business.
”I-65 and I-70 should be three lanes border to border,” Speaker Huston said.
Huston said this upcoming session, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Roads and Transportation Committee will work together to create a plan to widen I-65 and I-70 statewide.
”We’re gonna start working that plan to figure out what it’s gonna take and what the costs are to be able to do that,” Speaker Huston said.
INDOT said there are roughly 200 centerline miles along I-65 and I-70 that still need to be widened.
”It’s around 84 miles that have been expanded just since 2017, and that’s on 65 and 70,” Natalie Garrett, INDOT’s strategic communications director, said.
”When we do a major project on 65, we’re adding those lanes as we go because we do know that we need that capacity,” State Rep. Jim Pressel, the chair of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, said.
According to Rep. Pressel, bottlenecks along I-65 and I-70 are causing headaches for drivers and businesses hoping to expand.
”What I really hear from the motor carriers, I hear it from businesses, when we talk about businesses coming into a community is we, we don’t have enough capacity to move goods if they were to expand,” Rep. Pressel said.
Pressel went on to say the General Assembly will partner with INDOT to tackle the most congested areas and create a long-term strategy.
”Just the engineering alone, you’re probably looking at two, three, or four years before we can get something in the queue,” Rep. Pressel said.
INDOT said a section of I-70 in Hancock County and sections of I-65 in Boone and Tippecanoe Counties are currently being expanded. I-65 expansions in Clark and Scott Counties are expected to begin next year.
