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Last updated on Friday, April 4, 2014
(UNDATED) - I-69 and four segments of I-65 will get makeovers with 400-million dollars in highway money released by the General Assembly.
Construction should start next summer to widen I-65 to six lanes near Lafayette and on Indy's south side.
INDOT Commissioner Karl Browning says the department ranked segments of Indiana's highways on criteria including how congested they are, how many accidents they have, and how quickly a widening could be completed.
The first two projects are a step toward INDOT's goal of making I-65 and I-70 six-lane highways across the entire length and breadth of the state.
The second half of the 400-million will be released only if the State Budget Committee agrees the next revenue forecast in December is strong enough to allow it.
Governor Pence says improving jobs numbers make him confident it will be, and says the highway projects themselves will create hundreds of jobs.
INDOT has earmarked that second cash infusion for another three miles of 65 north of Lafayette, a seven-mile segment between Sellersburg and Memphis, and chronically congested I-69 between Fishers and Anderson.
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