Indiana to reclaim control of I-69 Project
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The state of Indiana plans to take control of the troubled I-69 Section 5 P3 project from Bloomington to Martinsville three years after hiring a private developer for it.
According to sources the project's new completion date would be pushed back from May 2018 to August 31, 2018, being the fourth time the completion of the project has been delayed. The original completion date was October 2016.
The I-69 project was being developed by I-69 Development Partners. The consortium was led by Isolux Infrastructure Netherlands B.V which partnered with the local contractors E&B Paving of Anderson, Force Construction Company of Columbus and Gradex Inc. of Indianapolis.
As we reported, the project reached financial close on July 2014, which envisaged a total investment of US$325 million. However, Indiana officials have stated that another US$237 million need to be invested to finalize the road project.
I-69 Development Partners was to arrange its own financing to design and build the project. In return, the state would make annual payments to the group to operate and maintain the highway for 35 years after its completion. In mid April we reported that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the private activity bonds (PABs) supporting the project to B+ from BB- after Isolux Corsan failed to provide additional funding.
I-69 Section 5 is part of the larger I-69 project connecting Evansville, IN with Indianapolis to complete the National I-69 corridor through Indiana. Section 5 begins at State Road 37 in Bloomington, IN and extends north approximately 23 miles to SR 39 in Martinsville, IN. SR 37 is an existing four-lane divided highway along the I-69 Section 5 corridor that the Department desires to upgrade to Interstate standards in order to complete the new build I-69 to Indianapolis. No part of the project is a toll facility.
