With $202 million worth of infrastructure just north of the Ohio River now built, all that’s left to connect Interstate 69 from Indiana to Kentucky is the most costly piece — a four-lane bridge expected to open in 2031.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and other dignitaries gathered Sept. 25 to celebrate the Ohio River Crossing project’s latest milestone: completion of three approach bridges, roadways, and embankments. Work on this phase, called Section 3, started in fall 2024 and was completed by ORX Contractors, a joint venture of Walsh Construction and Traylor Bros.
Braun noted challenges such as the rising cost of construction materials — “50 percent over the last three or four years,” he said — as well as the many years of advocacy to complete I-69 between Indianapolis and Evansville and, now, southbound from the River City.
“It’s taken a lot to get here,” Braun said at the project site. “But the community of Evansville and folks who never let this get out of the attention of the Statehouse, thank you for that. … It’s a big day. And you can count on us to make sure the rest of it gets done.”
The ORX project’s next step is letting a contract for the river crossing. That is expected late this year, with construction slated for spring 2027.
A 2031 opening “is what we are targeting,” Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Lyndsay Quist said. “As we look to pursue an award to a contractor, anything we can do with our partners in Kentucky to speed that up … if there’s any way we can innovate and go faster, we would certainly be open to it.”
Cost estimates for the bridge reached $933 million as of 2025. Project officials say financing will come from toll revenue supplemented by federal funding, as well as dollars from Kentucky and Indiana. According to ORX officials, initial toll rates on the bridge are expected to range from $3.14 for a passenger vehicle with a prepaid account and transponder to $18.62 for a large vehicle without an account or transponder. The rates are similar to those expected to be in place for tolled bridges in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2032.
Braun said tolls are needed to build the I-69 connection in part because efficient vehicle technology is driving down revenue from gas taxes. The governor described tolls as “a dedicated long-term funding source” and “one of the tools in the tool chest.”
Officials hailed the enhanced driver safety the four-lane bridge will bring, and finishing the infrastructure work on each side of the river is a critical step. Kentucky’s approach to the bridge site, known as Section 1, was wrapped up in fall 2025.
Now, officials say it’s time to build the big bridge — Section 2. Braun said the completed interstate stretching from Evansville to Henderson “may arguably be the most important north-to-south connection in the country. The amount of commerce that will move across I-69 from the Mexican border up to Canada is going to be hard to measure.”
