Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States. It exists in two parts: a completed highway from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and a mostly-proposed extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension, nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway, since it would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement, only a short piece in northwestern Mississippi has been built and signed as I-69 (see Interstate 69 in Mississippi). Other sections, such as those in Kentucky and Tennessee, exist but are yet to be signed.

The southern terminus of the existing portion is at Interstate 465, the beltway around Indianapolis, on the northeast side of that city. I-69 heads northeast, past Anderson, Muncie, Marion, and Fort Wayne, Indiana; the latter city is served by Interstate 469, I-69's only current signed auxiliary route. After crossing the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/I-90) near Angola, I-69 enters Michigan, crossing I-94 east of Battle Creek and joining with I-96 for an overlap west of Lansing. Where it splits from I-96, I-69 turns east, both in compass direction and in signed direction, and heads north of Lansing and through Flint (where it crosses I-75) to a junction with I-94 in Port Huron. The last bit of I-69 overlaps I-94 to the Blue Water Bridge across the St. Clair River, where traffic continues on Highway 402 in the Canadian province of Ontario.

In addition to the main line of I-69, the overall project – known as Corridors 18 and 20 of the National Highway System – also includes Interstate 94 between Chicago and Port Huron, and several spurs from I-69. Among these proposed spurs are an extension of Interstate 530 from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, an upgrade of U.S. Route 59 from Texarkana, Texas, and a split in southern Texas to serve three border crossings at Laredo, Pharr, and Brownsville. In August 2007 I-69 was selected by the USDOT as one of six Corridors of the Future, making it eligible for additional federal funding and streamlined planning and review.

Route description

Interstate 69 currently exists in two distinct sections: the original route from Indianapolis, Indiana to the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron, Michigan, and a 42-mile (70 km) section from Tunica Resorts to the I-40/I-69/TN-300 interchange in Memphis, Tennessee.

Interstate 69 in Indiana starts at an interchange with Interstate 465 in northeastern Indianapolis, running roughly northeast to near Anderson, Indiana, where it turns more easterly to provide indirect access to Muncie before turning more northerly towards Fort Wayne. In Fort Wayne, I-69 roughly runs along the western edge of the city while an auxiliary route, Interstate 469, loops east of the city. I-69 continues northerly to the Indiana Toll Road near Fremont, then crosses the border into Michigan just south of Kinderhook.

I-69 in Michigan runs north passing through Coldwater and Marshall. Near Olivet, I-69 begins to turn in a northeasterly direction passing through the Lansing metropolitan area. Here I-69 is cosigned on with I-96, the only such palindromic pairing in the Interstate Highway System. I-69 is signed east-west from Lansing through Flint to Port Huron. At its eastern terminus, I-69 joins I-94 to cross the Blue Water Bridges at the Canadian border over the St. Clair River.

Interstate 69 in Mississippi and Tennessee starts at an at-grade intersection with the former route of Mississippi Highway 304 in Banks, Tunica County. It continues roughly north-northeast, crossing into DeSoto County, to a partial interchange with the current route of MS 304, then runs easterly to an interchange with Interstate 55 in northern Hernando. It then continues north, overlapping I-55 to the Tennessee state line, and continues northward multiplexed with I-55 to the south side of Memphis. It then follows I-240 northward through downtown before joining I-40. Presently, the northern end of this section of I-69 is at the I-40/I-69/TN-300 interchange on the north side of Memphis. This portion of the route is the first "section of independent utility" of the proposed extension to be signed as part of the national I-69 route, and the first portion designed as part of the extension.

Proposed extension

As of 2007, SIU 1 (north of Indianapolis) and SIU 2 (which will use I-465 around Indianapolis) are open, as is the short SIU 10 in northwestern Mississippi. SIUs 5 and 6 in Kentucky are built as freeways, but not to Interstate standards. On June 6, 2008, President George W. Bush signed HR-1195, designating these parkways as I-69. The legislation also authorizes Kentucky to immediately sign the parkways as I-69. Kentucky officials plan to place I-69 signs on Breathitt, Western Kentucky, and Purchase Parkways in 2008. Three SIUs in Indiana, Tennessee and Arkansas (3, 9 and 28) are under construction; portions of SIUs 9 and 28 are open to traffic. Most of the remaining parts of the mainline are in the environmental impact statement (EIS) stages; the Federal Highway Administration has signed records of decision approving the final EIS for SIUs 7, 11, 12, and 13.

Despite approval of several segments, work has been completed on only one segment, due in part to increasing costs for construction materials and machinery. As a result, several states have indicated that construction of I-69 may not be possible without the use of tolls as the primary means to finance building the highway. Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi passed legislation authorizing toll roads within each state. In Texas, a private firm will build, operate, then transfer the highway to the state after a specified period of time. Lawmakers in Kentucky are considering a bill that would authorize the re-tolling of three parkways slated to become I-69. Kentucky and Indiana plan to finance a new bridge across the Ohio River with tolls, and governor Mitch Daniels announced in 2006 that I-69 through Indiana will be toll-free; about half of I-69 extension through southwest Indiana will be built using $700 million from the 2006 Major Moves deal, although the Major Moves legislation gives Indiana the option to place tolls on I-69 if necessary.

In Texas, I-69 planning has become part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) studies. This part of the TTC, called I-69/TTC, includes I-69 and all of its spurs authorized by Congress. It will extend from three border crossings, at Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, along US 59, US 281, and US 77 towards Victoria. After the three branches join, I-69 will continue along the general US 59 corridor past Houston to Carthage, where it will turn easterly to Louisiana. Around Houston, I-69 may use the Grand Parkway (SH 99) around the west side. A planned branch continues north on US 59 to Texarkana. Most of the proposed I-69 route in Texas already exists as 4-lane highways, with a lengthy freeway section stretching north and south of Houston along U.S. 59 and shorter freeway sections of U.S. 77, U.S. 81, and U.S. 281 in the Rio Grande Valley.

The I-69/TTC project has been split into 15 SIUs, which match the original ones but do not share numbers. SIUs 1 to 8 (original 16 to 23) cover the main line along the "I-69 East" branch to Brownsville. The "I-69 Central" branch to McAllen is SIUs 9, 11, and 12 (original 24 to 26). The branches to Texarkana and Laredo are SIUs 13 and 14 (original 29 and 30), and two connections near Brownsville are SIUs 10 and 15 (original 31 and 32). The I-69/TTC study also includes SIU L-CC, a connection between Laredo and Corpus Christi that was not in the 2000 study. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) originally considered building the I-69/TTC over new terrain paralleling US-59, US-77, and US-281. Responding to widespread opposition from environmental groups and property rights activists, TxDOT announced in June 2008 that it will complete I-69 by upgrading the existing US-59, US-77, and US-281 roadways to Interstate standards. Instead of building the Trans-Texas Corridor as originally planned, TxDOT now plans to finance upgrading the existing highways to I-69 through private sector investment. Under the proposed arrangement, I-69 would remain toll-free. Meanwhile the private firms awarded contracts for I-69 would also build and operate toll roads throughout the state; some of those revenues would then be applied to I-69 construction.

As well as covering the part in Texas northeast of Nacogdoches, SIU 16 also extends into Louisiana, ending at US 171 near Stonewall. SIU 15 continues around the south and east sides of the Shreveport area, crossing I-49 and ending at I-20 near Haughton. SIU 14 extends northeast from I-20 to US 82 near El Dorado, Arkansas, and SIU 13 continues northeast to US 65 near McGehee, mainly paralleling US 278. Also included in Corridor 18, as SIU 28, is an extension of I-530 from Pine Bluff south along the US 425 corridor to I-69 west of Monticello; a short piece at the south end opened in mid-2006 as Highway 530. The Charles W. Dean Bridge, SIU 12, will cross the Mississippi River between McGehee, Arkansas and Benoit, Mississippi, while SIU 11 will parallel US 61 to Tunica Resorts. SIU 10, the first completed portion of the I-69 extension, runs east from Robinsonville to I-55 near Hernando, and opened in late 2006. With the record of decision signed in 2007, the FHWA authorized MDOT to add I-69 signs on I-55 from the I-55/I-69 interchange in Hernando to the Tennessee state line.

I-69 SIU 9 overlaps I-55 into Memphis, Tennessee, switching there to I-240 and then I-40 before leaving onto the short State Route 300 connection and then paralleling US 51 to near Millington. On January 18, 2008, the FHWA authorized TDOT to erect I-69 signs on I-55, I-240, and I-40 from the Mississippi state line to the I-40/TN300 interchange. The proposed Interstate 269 will bypass this part of I-69, beginning where I-69 joins I-55 in Mississippi and ending near Millington, and will include the northern part of State Route 385 near Millington. SIU 8 will continue beyond Millington, near US 51, to I-155 near Dyersburg, while SIU 7 will use the existing US 51 freeway and new bypasses to the state line at Fulton, Kentucky. In Kentucky, I-69 will mostly follow existing freeways once built as toll roads. SIU 6 follows the Purchase Parkway and I-24 from Fulton to Eddyville, while SIU 5 continues along the Western Kentucky Parkway and Pennyrile Parkway to Henderson. These older roads will require upgrading to Interstate standards, but will not require as much work as in other states, where entirely new highways must be built. The preferred alternative for SIU 4 will leave the Pennyrile Parkway near its north end and cross the Ohio River to I-164 near Evansville, Indiana, and will then use I-164 to I-64. SIU 3, connecting I-64 to I-465 in southern Indianapolis, will roughly parallel State Road 57 and State Road 37 past Bloomington. Finally, SIU 2 will follow I-465 around the city.

History

The Interstate 69 designation was assigned to the Indianapolis-Angola route in 1957, while the short South Bend-Kalamazoo route became Interstate 67. I-67 was shifted east to the US 27 corridor by early 1958, becoming an extension of I-69 to I-94 near Marshall. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 authorized an additional 1500 miles (2400 km) of Interstates, to be chosen by the Federal Highway Administration; among Michigan's proposals was a 156-mile (251 km) extension of I-69 northeast and east via US 27 to Lansing, M-78 to Flint, and M-21 to Port Huron. However, the FHWA only approved the route to I-475 in Flint. The continuation to Port Huron was approved in late 1984. Michigan's 1241-mile (1997 km) portion of the Interstate system was completed in 1992, when the last piece of I-69 opened southwest of Lansing.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 included two High Priority Corridors that would later become parts of a proposed extension of I-69:

• (18) Corridor from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Memphis, Tennessee, via Evansville, Indiana.
• (20) United States Route 59 Corridor from Laredo, Texas, through Houston, Texas, to the vicinity of Texarkana, Texas.

Corridor 18 was extended southwest to Houston, Texas, where it connected to Corridor 20, by the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993; the new definition read "Corridor from Indianapolis, Indiana, through Evansville, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, Shreveport/Bossier, Louisiana, and to Houston, Texas. The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 made further amendments to the description of Corridor 18, specifying that it would serve Mississippi and Arkansas, extending it south to the Mexican border in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and adding a short connection at Brownsville, Texas. This act also specified that Corridors 18 and 20 were "future parts of the Interstate System", to become actual Interstates when built to Interstate standards and connected to other Interstates. Although the act designated Corridor 9 as Interstate 99, no number was assigned to Corridors 18 and 20 yet.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), enacted in 1998, greatly expanded the definition of Corridor 18 to include the existing I-69, as well as Interstate 94 between Port Huron and Chicago. A connection to Pine Bluff, Arkansas was added, and the extension to the Lower Rio Grande Valley was detailed as splitting into two routes at Victoria, one following US 77 and the other following US 59 and US 281 to the Rio Grande. This act also assigned the Interstate 69 designation to Corridors 18 and 20, with the branches on US 77 and US 281 to the Rio Grande being "I-69 East" and "I-69 Central". With TEA-21, the I-69 extension took shape, and remains today as those segments.

Opposition and controversy

The construction of I-69 has also angered environmentalists. In particular, the portion of the route in Indiana would run through wetlands, existing farmland, and forested areas, and cut through geologically sensitive "karst" terrain, which environmentalists argue threatens to pollute underground water systems and harm the rare species that live there.

Opposition comes also from urban planners who (in addition to the concerns above) believe the highway will require subsidies of up to $2 billion a year and will greatly increase the spread of suburban sprawl and automobile dependency at a time when oil prices continue to rise to unprecedented levels.

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.

Auxiliary routes

• Interstate 269 (Tennessee/Mississippi) - under construction
• Interstate 469 (Indiana)

References

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)
• Indiana Highway Ends: I-69
• Official DOT websites:
• 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:
• Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, an organization opposed to a new-terrain route for I-69 in Indiana.
• , I-69 Opposition News Feed
• Stop I-69, the Roadblock Earth First! blog about the direct action campaign working to stop I-69 construction in Indiana.