Decades in the making, the Interstate 69 bridge project is drawing closer to reality, with current projections showing a completed, tolled span above the Ohio River in about seven years.
The bridge will be about 1.5 miles east of the U.S. 41 Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Twin Bridges, with construction cost estimates in the $1 billion range. Transportation officials from Indiana and Kentucky spoke about the massive project during an Aug. 21 event hosted by the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership at Bally’s Evansville.
The audience learned about cooperation between the states, funding challenges, and an update on where construction stands on both sides of the river, which was reported in August/September 2025 Evansville Business.
Drivers in Henderson, Kentucky, have navigated major construction since 2022, when $158
million in road and bridge work related to I-69 got underway. The list has included six miles of new road, nine new bridges (seven of which are completed), seven rehabilitated bridges (all done), and new interchanges at U.S. 60 and U.S. 41, as well as roundabouts on Kentucky 351. All of the work in Henderson will be finished by the end of 2025, says Mindy Peterson, spokesperson for the Ohio River Crossing (ORX) project.
In Indiana, ground was broken in fall 2024 in a cornfield just north of the river, signaling the start of $202 million on a road extension and bridges approaching the future I-69 span. Peterson says construction crews are working in a floodplain that’s been submerged twice this year. Officials expect to complete about 60 percent of the Indiana work this year, wrapping it up by the end of 2026.
The current schedule calls for a contract to build the I-69 bridge to be awarded in late 2026 and construction to start in early 2027, with completion planned for 2031 — though officials hope work is completed sooner. Peterson says the bridge’s cost is to come from “a combination of state and federal dollars. We do have alternative funding, and part of that equation is tolls on the I-69 bridge.”
Toll Talk
During remarks at the Aug. 21 luncheon, Kentucky Secretary of Transportation Jim Gray and Indiana Secretary of Transportation and Infrastructure Matthew Ubelhor spoke about the issue of tolls.
Uebelhor pointed to declines in fuel tax revenues brought on by vehicles that are more efficient, as well as hybrid and electric models. He also noted that I-69 will connect the Canadian and Mexican borders, “and I’m not sure (the bridge) should be supported totally by the taxpayers of Indiana and Kenutcky and when the world and all of the United States are using that corridor.”
Gray agreed, and he also cited growing construction costs. “We are all dealing with where we are having to do more with less,” he said. “Our gasoline tax in Kentucky has declined, and it’s at the same level it was in 2011. So these are significant challenges … that alternative revenue source [toll revenue] has got to be part of the future.”
What about the Twin Bridges?
Peterson addressed the future of the Twin Bridges. The I-69 Ohio River Crossing project’s
Record of Decision calls for the southbound U.S. 41 bridge, built in 1965, to be removed from service once the I-69 bridge is open to vehicles. The northbound bridge, built in 1932, will remain in use with two-way traffic.
That has not changed, Peterson said, but she added that transportation officials are well-aware of the local community’s desire to keep both U.S. 41 bridges in service.
“We know how important those bridges are to both Henderson and Evansville,” Peterson told reporters after the E-REP event. “We have a tremendous amount of time between now and that new I-69 bridge opening to traffic in 2031. Nothing is happening to those (U.S. 41) Twin Bridges until the new bridge opens, and we have a lot of discussions continuing. It will be up to policymakers, funding, and what’s possible. We know the community sentiment.”
