Transportation Growth

Indiana’s position as the “Crossroads of America” has provided a natural Indiana with a significant reputation in the transportation industry. Because of Indiana’s central location in the United States, transportation in Indiana ranks among the top five states in terms of total inbound and outbound freight. Not only does Indiana’s interstate system provide transportation routes for domestic travel, it provides international travel routes between Canada and Mexico. Indiana is able to service 75 percent of the populations in the U.S. and Canada within a one day drive. “Indiana is first in interstate highway access, in the top ten in rail miles, and in the top fifteen in maritime shipping. Also, the Indianapolis International Airport is listed in the top ten in air freight shipments.

Memphis, Tennessee has a leading distribution center in recent years. They achieved this status by building up their roads, railroads and airports systems. Their airport has become a hub for many top distribution and logistics moguls. With the growth of the Indianapolis International Airport in recent years, FedEx Company has decided to enlarge their Indianapolis distribution hub, even though it is the second-largest FedEx distribution center next to Memphis. This means traffic in and out of the Indianapolis Airport will increase, but it also means that truck transportation on Indiana’s interstates will increase with significant proportion.

Traffic in Indiana has increased by 150 percent and freight loads by 600 percent since 1970. During all of this growth, Indiana’s new road miles have only seen a six percent growth. By the year 2020, freight traffic on the highways is suppose to double which means congestion could cause serious problems if something is not done.

The I-69 project is the key to all of these transportation problems. With the expansion of I-69, running from Indianapolis to Evansville, IN, Indiana would be providing a whole new growth to the global transportation industry. The expansion of

I-69 would strengthen Indiana’s state slogan as the “Crossroads of America”. Indiana’s current distribution/transportation/logistics sector (DTL) provides jobs for 250,000 Hoosiers, along with another 75,000 DTL employees working in manufacturing operations throughout the state. With the expansion of I-69, Governor Daniels states that, “We can become the nation’s distribution and logistics capital. This plan is important for our metropolitan areas but is also necessary to help our small towns and rural areas flourish and fully participate in our growth “. If Indiana does have the potential to become a leading distribution and logistics center, our economy would flourish with benefits.

"We have more interstates converging in Indianapolis than any other city in the country. . . I-69 will add to that great network," said Kenneth E. Cragen, president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association (i69tour). With this expansion, Indianapolis could have the potential to be a key hub for shipping, trucking, warehousing and distribution; causing industries to view Indianapolis as infrastructure of long-term economic growth. Today, fifteen percent of all freight being transported through the U.S. everyday stops in Indiana at some point (Friedman, i69tour). A fully completed I-69 would have the possibilities of developing into a channel of new business for Indianapolis, along with heightening Indiana’s strategic importance in the mighty profitable industry of distribution and logistics (i69tour). It is estimated that I-69 would also lessen the immense in truck traffic that is forecasted over the next ten years by forty percent. Indianapolis has the potential to become a national cargo stopping area for all national and international transportation. With this, Indiana will see a dramatic growth in the warehousing and distribution plants being built.

Today, the Greater Indianapolis area alone has over seven million square feet of bulk warehousing space and has ten million square feet more in the planning stage. If the new I-69 expansion does not take place, all of these distribution and warehousing plants could disappear, taking away the jobs of the people employed in them. Celedon Group, an Indianapolis trucking company who focuses their business primarily on freight shipments in and between NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) nations, stated “We will benefit from the time that will be saved by completing I-69. We are delighted with any action that moves I-69 forward. We do a lot of business between the Midwest and Mexico, and this would certainly have a positive impact when it is completed” (Star, Mar. 30)(Star, Feb 5, 2006). Another major factor influencing logistics transportation is just-in-time delivery. Just-in-time delivery is an inventory control system that replenishes and delivers products to a retailer just as a current supply is depleted. Because more and more companies are using the just-in-time distribution method, more businesses are looking for central locations to build warehouses and distribution centers. The I-69 expansion would give reason to companies using just-in-time distribution to house their warehouses and distribution plants in Indianapolis. Most companies are finding it easier to combine several of their warehouses in one region. The benefits for businesses that ship products by truck on a regular basis are startling “The savings in operating costs will be $155,000 per day, $51 million per year and $1.2 billion over twenty years (Star, Aug. 18). The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has pointed out in many different ways how the expansion of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville can potentially benefit everyone, including Indiana’s economy. Indiana’s economy will see extreme growth in all different sectors.

Economic Growth

Most people see the I-69 expansion as a waste of tax payers’ money. Not to mention, the fact that this project will end up taking around ten years to complete and the costs could exceed $1.78 billion. For a long time, Southwestern Indiana has seemed to be cut off from most other regions of the state because of their lack of a major interstate highway system. I-69 expansion could benefit this area of the state in tremendous ways. People tend to focus on the small, less significant benefits of this project. Minimizing time between Indianapolis and Evansville is just a very small part of the many benefits the new I-69 could pose to Indiana’s economy. The project wants to focus on the potential economic development and growth in the southwestern region (Star, Mar. 30).

Specific County Growth

The I-69 expansion will directly affect Marion, Johnson, Morgan, Monroe, Greene, Daviess, Pike and Gibson counties. These are the counties in the state of Indiana in which the new I-69 interstate system will be built. These counties will see major changes in the economy due to this “Major Move” (INDOT).

Morgan County is being to show a huge potential for economic development. Many large stream residential builders have begun planning for numerous amounts of housing developments to be developed in the county. Located in Morgan County, the city of Martinsville has been very interested in the potential economic gains that could come from this build. On April 1, 2004, Joe Kernan (former Governor of Indiana) observed Morgan County’s city Martinsville on an upward growth. Martinsville had announced a $1.7 million state economic development funding program. The funding program’s focus is to help lift more than $50 million of potential investments from private businesses, and create an estimated 190 jobs (Star, April 01).

Governor Mitch Daniels has stated that this project is a must for the southwestern portion of the Indiana’s economy. Daniels says we need to push this project because Indiana’s economy can not stand to sit by and let this great economical opportunity pass us by any longer. We are losing money and economic gain in the long run. People only see the costs and environmental aspects of this project. They don’t understand the growth factor (Star, Nov. 27).

Statewide Economic Growth

Job Growth

I-69’s expansion will provide immediately provide an estimated 5,947 on-site jobs, $22.5 million in wages and around $417.6 million in economic output. MacAllister Machinery Company, an Indianapolis based heavy-machinery company, made it clear that they would much like to see this major build take place. Thirty-five percent of MacAllister’s annual sales are from Indiana road work. MacAllister’s vice president, Doug Clark, stated that, “the company likely would boost its employee base of 615 by about ten percent over the next five years if their business picked up” (Star, Feb. 5). Indiana businesses associated with road construction will begin hiring more and more workers if with the building of I-69. We haven’t even began to mention how many jobs the I-69 build would provide for union workers. Daniel’s administration team has figured that 130,000 supply-and construction oriented jobs would be created due to the I-69 build. The U.S. Department of Transportation has figured that for each $1 billion invested in federal highways provides 47,000 jobs to the U.S. economy (Star, Jan. 18). This is just the number of jobs that would be created during the construction only. This statistic does not even amount to the potential jobs created years and years after the project is completed. Indiana’s job growth has currently been less than half the national average. A lot of this job loss is located in the Indianapolis area.

Overall Impact

With the fully built and operation I-69, running from Indianapolis to Evansville, it would generate $3.2 billion in personal income over the first twenty years. More than 200 industries are involved in interstate highway construction. These industries would be supported throughout Indiana’s economy (Star, Jan. 18). Travel time for commuters, truckers, and anyone else using Indiana’s new I-69 interstate system, to get back and forth from Indianapolis and Evansville, would be cut by twenty-seven minutes. If you add time saved by each person times the costs that would have been spent, estimates of $1.1 billion in savings in time and vehicle costs would be saved in the first twenty years of I-69 being completed. Along with the saved money, business growth, increase in personal income and logistics developments, Indiana would see a major decrease in traffic related accidents. Roughly 40,000 serious injuries over the first twenty years would be prevented (Star, Mar. 30). Because of the narrow, winding, two-lane roads (“killer” roads, called by some people), many fatalities and serious accidents have been occurring every year. The Indiana State Police report that, “an average of ten people are being killed and sixty-five people suffer personal injuries in accidents every thirty days on these outdated roads that blanket the thirteen-county area” (Star, Jan. 17).

All together, the I69 extension would provide a substantial economic growth to the state of Indiana. It would also allow the U.S. to grow as in terms of our logistics economy. If we do not speed up the pace in building and redesigning new routes for our transportation systems, we will not be able to keep up with the ever growing demand consumers insist

upon. Listed above are the economical and logistical benefits that would be provided with the massive I-69 expansion. Indiana needs to move quickly with this build in order to benefit the greatest. Governor Daniels stated, “A state that aspires to greatness has to think big and act boldly” (Star, Nov. 27).