Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When did construction on I-69 begin?
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of seven disjointed parts with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canada–US border in Port Huron, Michigan, at 355.8 miles (572.6km). The remaining separated parts are variously completed and posted or unposted parts of an extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension—nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway because it would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement—five pieces near Corpus Christi, Houston, northwestern Mississippi, Memphis, and Evansville have been newly built or upgraded and signposted as I-69. A sixth segment of I-69 through Kentucky utilizing that state's existing parkway system and a section of I-24 was established by federal legislation in 2008, but only a portion is signposted. A section of the previously existing Western Kentucky Parkway from Eddyville to Nortonville was approved and signposted in late 2011, with the Pennyrile Parkway between Nortonville and Henderson being signed as I-69 in 2015.[2] This brings the total length to about 680 miles (1,090km).
The original plans for the bypass were to connect I-69 to US 24 east of Fort Wayne, but by 1981 these plans were expanded to connect to I-69 on the city's north side, completing the half-loop. Samaan stated that he had to convince Governor Otis Bowen in 1978 to expedite construction of the bypass. An additional factor appeared as contracts for the project were being awarded, when General Motors announced construction of an automotive plant in 1984 on Lafayette Center Road, where the bypass was planned to interchange with I-69. According to Samaan, this helped to accelerate construction when the state decided it would be beneficial to the new employer in the area, stating "I never have seen anything move that fast in my whole life."
On October 3, 2006, protest groups, citing environmental concerns, along with six individuals who live along the I-69 corridor, filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that state and federal agencies rigged environmental studies and violated several federal laws in the selection of a new-terrain route for I-69. They further pressed the court for a summary ruling directing the FHWA and INDOT to route I-69 over I-70 and US 41. Judge David Hamilton disagreed, and on December 10, 2007, he issued a 58-page ruling upholding the selected route for I-69 and the Tier 1 ROD. His ruling did, however, leave open the possibility that the FHWA and INDOT could be forced to reconsider some or all of the previously-rejected Tier 1 alternatives if there are new significant findings during the Tier 2 studies that were absent from the Tier 1 EIS. Barring any new major findings in the Tier 2 studies, Judge Hamilton's ruling paved the way for construction to begin on the southernmost segment.
Since the completion of I-96 in 1977, several changes to the freeway have taken place. Beginning in 1984, an extension of the US 27 freeway (later to become I-69) bypassing Lansing opened; US 27 was then cosigned with I-96 along the western side of Lansing. Three years later, the I-69 designation was applied to this new bypass, resulting in a triple concurrency (I-96/I-69/US 27) that existed until 2002, when US 27 was decommissioned in Michigan.
From 2003 to 2005, the Beck Road interchange (exit 160) in Novi was reconstructed as a single point urban interchange (SPUI), the first in the metropolitan Detroit area and the first on I-96.
An interchange between 36th Street and I-96 was built starting in 2005 and was completed in 2006. The project aimed to improve access to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport southeast of Grand Rapids. The reconstruction of the Wixom Road interchange near Novi as a SPUI was completed in late fall of 2008. Another interchange at Latson Road in Howell was approved for construction on July 19, 2012. This interchange was designed to bring improved access to the eastern Howell area, which prior to construction of the Latson Road exit was only accessible from westbound I-96. The project was completed on December 2, 2013. Also in 2013, the two interchanges near Nunica serving M-104 and B-31 were reconstructed, with two ramps removed from the former and two added to the latter; a new partial interchange was also built in preparation of M-231, which opened on October 30, 2015.
On October 24, 2007, INDOT announced a $600 million plan to reconstruct the I-69/I-465 interchange on the northeast side of Indianapolis that included the widening of about of I-69, I-465, and Binford Boulevard. Environmental studies and design work were subsequently undertaken, and construction on the I-69 portion of the project was initially expected to begin in 2012. However, that portion of the plan was later severely scaled back, with the I-69/I-465/Binford Boulevard interchange still awaiting most of the planned major improvements.
To fund construction of this extension, Indiana Governor Daniels introduced a proposal known as "Major Moves" in early 2006. It provided $700 million from the Indiana Toll Road lease to be used to complete nearly 20 years of environmental studies and construct about half of the proposed extension (between the I-64/164 interchange and the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center). It also allowed for the construction of of the I-69 extension to Evansville to be constructed as the Southern Indiana Toll Road. Due to ongoing controversy over making this portion of the extension a toll-road, the governor announced in November 2006 that the entire stretch of the highway would be toll-free, subject to construction of the Indiana Commerce Connector (SIU 2). Officials with the INDOT have since stated that I-69 will be toll-free regardless of whether or not the Indiana Commerce Connector is constructed. Additionally, the U.S. Congress allocated an additional $14 million in the 2005 SAFETEA-LU authorization to construct I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis.
Environmentalists claimed the construction of I-69 would lead to the destruction of of forest and more than of wetlands. The route selected passes through the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge but on a corridor that the federal government purposely did not acquire for the refuge. This was because of an agreement with the state not to dispute the passage of a highway on this corridor. Environmental groups then filed suit in federal court on October 2, 2006, to block further study and construction of the route, but the lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton on December 12, 2007, clearing the way for construction to begin in 2008. Opponents had considered appealing Judge Hamilton's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (which could have possibly sent the case to the Supreme Court of the United States), but they ultimately abandoned further legal challenges to the proposed route. Instead, opponents tried to block construction through the legislative process, when Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives stripped funding for the I-69 extension in their version of the 2008 two-year state budget. Money for I-69 was restored after budget negotiations with the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate.
After bypassing Pendleton to the west and north, SR 9 and SR 67 join I-69, which continues to the east-northeast into the Anderson area. There, SR 9 departs, and shortly thereafter I-69 begins two long curves to the northeast, and then the north. Between Daleville and Chesterfield, SR 67 departs I-69, bound for Muncie. From the Anderson–Muncie region, I-69 continues north, running concurrently with US 35 between SR 28 east of Alexandria and SR 22 near Gas City. After passing SR 18 east of Marion, I-69 then heads more northeast, straight toward the Fort Wayne metro area.
Construction began in 1988, with the first section built between I-69 and Lafayette Center Road. In June 1989, the US 24 bypass received the I-469 designation. A temporary halt to construction occurred in 1991 when crews unearthed a lock that was once used in the Wabash and Erie Canal while constructing the interchange with US 24 east of New Haven. Upon the highway's completion in 1995, its construction was the most expensive in Allen County's history, with a cost of $207 million. In 1998, US 24 and US 30 were rerouted onto I-69 and I-469. Coliseum Boulevard was to be decommissioned, but due to a lack of local funds to maintain it, INDOT recommissioned that route as SR 930. In 2005, I-469 was given the name Ronald Reagan Expressway, in honor of the former United States president.
While federal legislation established a mandate to extend I-69 from Indiana to Texas, it did not provide funding for its construction. I-69 construction must compete against other projects for traditional funding. Despite approval of several segments, work has been completed on only a few scattered segments, 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, but have not applied tolling to their sections of I-69 due to the widespread unpopularity of toll roads in these states. A bridge over the Ohio River, which was to have been built along I-69 to connect Indiana with Kentucky, stalled in 2004 because each state did not have enough funding for it. In 2016, both states reached an agreement to restart environmental studies and develop a funding strategy for the Ohio River crossing. In December 2018, the I-69 River Crossing project team announced a preferred plan to built a new toll bridge across the Ohio River as part of I-69.[17] Tennessee and Mississippi have suspended work on I-69 indefinitely, due to a lack of funding to build the highway outside of the Memphis metropolitan area. Arkansas has halted work on its mainline portion of I-69, aside from the Monticello Bypass, although it has applied for a federal grant to complete design and construction for the 25-mile (40km) section between Monticello and McGehee. A spur known as the I-530 connector is however under construction. Louisiana officials have stated that its current priority is completing Interstate 49, and it will focus on constructing its portion of I-69 after it finishes work on I-49. In contrast, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana have been advancing construction of I-69 within each state through traditional funding sources, tolls, and innovative financing methods, such as public-private partnerships.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement on SIU 13 was completed in April 2006, and the Federal Highway Administration issued a Record of Decision approving the FEIS on May 25, 2006. This segment is currently in the final design phase, with construction expected to cost $784 million. Arkansas further divides SIU 13 into several smaller segments. Construction on the first leg of SIU-13, the eastern leg of the Monticello Bypass between US-425 and US-278 east of Monticello, began in November 2011. The first two lanes of the Monticello Bypass (initially signed as US-278 Bypass) are scheduled to open to traffic on October 11, 2018. In the 2013-2016 STIP, AHTD plans start constructing the western section of the Monticello Bypass from US-425 to US-278 east of Wilmar, including the planned I-69/I-530 interchange in 2017. Additionally, Arkansas submitted a $25 million FASTLane grant application to the Federal Highway Administration in May 2016 to continue design and right-of-way acquisition for the section of I-69 between Monticello and McGehee. In November 2016, AHTD submitted a revision to its FASTLANE grant application requesting additional funds to include construction of the McGehee to Monticello section. According to the 2019-2021 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, $69 million is planned in Fiscal Year 2022 to begin construction on two lanes of the Monticello-McGhee section, plus an additional $4.9 million allocated in FY-2019 to continue design and right-of-way acquisition for the western section of the Monticello Bypass. 
Construction on Section 5 to upgrade SR 37 through Bloomington to Martinsville to Interstate standards at a cost of $425 million was completed October 31, 2018. Under a public-private partnership, I-69 Development Partners was originally responsible for construction of the section. However, the partnership experienced multiple delays from the original completion date of October 2016 due to financial and other difficulties, including several work stoppages by subcontractors who cited a lack of being paid in the agreed to manner by the private group. On August 14, 2017, the State of Indiana terminated the P3 arrangement with I-69 Development Partners, citing default on the contract terms and construction being delayed two years from the initial October 2016 completion deadline. INDOT assumed direct oversight of Section 5 construction, and contracted with Walsh Construction to serve as the prime contractor for the remainder of the project. Walsh is overseeing several subcontractors retained from the I-69 Development Partners P3 arrangement that are performing the earthworks, structure erection, paving, and other work to complete Section 5. As work wrapped up, the FHWA approved the designation of the highway as Interstate 69 up to Martinsville on September 18, 2018 and signage was installed.
In December 2015, another new plan was announced to rebuild the I-69/I-465/Binford Boulevard interchange. However, construction is not scheduled to begin until 2020.
Segment 10 of the I-69 extension was originally planned and built as part of the MS-304 relocation project to link the Tunica County casinos to Interstate 55. Planning of the MS-304 Bypass predates I-69 planning in Mississippi, and federal and state officials opted to route I-69 over this segment in 2000, since it was nearing the start of construction. It also eliminated the need for constructing a new highway while still accomplishing the intended goals for the I-69 corridor.
Environmental groups and the city of Bloomington have long protested the completion of Interstate 69 through southwest Indiana, and have long favored an alternative route for I-69 that follows I-70 and US-41 through Terre Haute and Vincennes. Their opposition has pitted them against residents in the southwest corner of the state and the cities of Evansville, Petersburg and Washington, which have long supported construction of the highway. Opponents had held up construction of I-69 through southwest Indiana for 40 years through lawsuits, legislative maneuvering, and acts of vandalism. Supporters of the highway have accused opponents of attempting to isolate the southwest corner of Indiana from the remainder of the state with their efforts to block I-69 construction. Ultimately, construction on I-69 began in 2008, and completed between Evansville and Bloomington in December 2015. and construction is underway to upgrade SR 37 to Interstate standards on the Bloomington-Martinsville section was completed in October 2018. The remaining section of I-69 from Martinsville to I-465 on the south side of Indianapolis is scheduled for completion by the end of 2024.
During Tier 2 studies, INDOT further divided SIU 3 into six smaller segments, allowing work on each subsegment to proceed at its own pace. On December 21, 2006, INDOT announced completion of the Tier 2 draft EIS for the section between I-64 and SR 64 near Oakland City. Officials further noted that they would accelerate the final EIS and construction on the southernmost section from I-64 to SR 68 to facilitate access to the Toyota's Princeton plant. On April 30, Governor Daniels signed the state's two-year $26 billion budget, which included $119 million to fund construction of the southernmost segment of I-69, ensuring that construction would begin as scheduled in the summer of 2008. The Final EIS for the southernmost section was issued on October 22, 2007.
The original plan (in a DEIS prepared by INDOT in 2004, but later dropped) was for I-69 to leave the now-former I-164 alignment somewhere just east of Green River Road (exit 3) and head south (instead of turning west with I-164) for approximately before crossing the Ohio at a point near the mouth of the Green River. This portion of the route had not then been funded, as construction of the new Ohio River crossing and its approaches in both states was expected to cost approximately $800 million. Indiana and Kentucky officials had said construction on the new Ohio River Bridge would not begin until at least 2020, after two new crossings near Louisville were completed. With Indiana then preparing to break ground on SIU 3, Kentucky officials indicated that collecting tolls might be the only feasible option for completing the I-69 bridge, as traditional federal and state funding for such projects were drying up. , neither Kentucky nor Indiana officials had yet come up with the money to plan and construct this I-69 bridge.
The Pennyrile Parkway, Western Kentucky Parkway, and Purchase Parkway were all originally built as toll roads when they opened in the 1960s. As the parkways' construction bonds were paid off, the tolls were removed; the Western Kentucky Parkway became a freeway in 1987, and the other two roads became free in 1992. To fund over $700 million to upgrade substandard segments of the parkways and fund a new $800 million Ohio River crossing for I-69, Kentucky transportation officials had previously considered reinstating tolls on the parkway segments over which I-69 is routed, but ultimately opted to keep I-69 toll-free.
In late 2013, construction began to reconstruct and reconfigure the I-94/I-69 interchange near Port Huron. The project will improve of freeway, replace several bridges and ramps and cost $76 million. In June 2014, MDOT closed the ramps from I-69 eastbound to BL I-69 through the interchange until later in the year. The project was completed in September 2015.
The construction of the I-69 extension has 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 topography, which environmentalists argue threatens to pollute underground water systems and harm the rare species that live there.[62][63] Fiscal conservatives also oppose completion of I-69, arguing that federal legislation establishing the I-69 corridor amounts to an unfunded mandate imposed by the federal government upon the states through which the highway will travel, as the legislation requires states to pursue construction of their portions of I-69, but provides no funding mechanism to cover its estimated $25 billion cost, thereby leaving cash-strapped states to figure out how to finance its construction. Two states (Louisiana and Mississippi) have publicly stated they will not build their sections of I-69 until Congress appropriates funds to complete environmental studies, design and construction in each state.
On December 12, 2007, the FHWA issued its ROD giving final federal approval for construction to begin on the section between I-64/I-164 and SR 64 near Oakland City. INDOT awarded the first SIU 3 construction contract to Gohmann Asphalt and Construction Company of Sellersburg, Indiana, on February 6, 2008. This contract, completed on May 31, 2008, included the removal of buildings and vegetation from the I-69 right-of-way between I-64 and SR 68. Gohmann also won the construction contract for the first from I-64 to SR 68 with a $25 million bid. Construction began with a groundbreaking ceremony in Evansville on July 16, 2008. INDOT built this first section of the extension of I-69 using the design-build method.
In Clarksdale, I-69 will merge with U.S. Route 278 and continue south, serving Shelby, following the existing U.S. 61 route. I-69 and U.S. 278 will diverge from U.S. 61 near Merigold, bypassing Cleveland to the west, and continue south to near Shaw, then west to Benoit where it will intersect Mississippi Highway 1. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for SIU 11 was approved in August 2010, and the Record of Decision was issued in September 2010. Due to funding issues, no major construction on this section of I-69 is expected through at least 2019, although some spot upgrades are planned on sections of US-61 that I-69 will eventually overlap. The 2016-2020 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) published by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) anticipates construction to begin in 2020 to upgrade a 6-mile (10 km) section of US-61 to I-69 from the north end of the Clarksdale Bypass to near Swan Lake. The 2017-2020 STIP released by MDOT in December 2016 includes $3 million in FY-2017 for engineering and design work on the northernmost section of SIU-11 from the south end of the existing I-69 freeway at MS-3 and MS-713 to Arkabutla Dam Road.
Interstate 69 (I-69) is a proposed U.S. Interstate Highway that will pass through the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, serving the cities of Union City, Dyersburg, and Memphis. State officials have considered building parts of I-69 as a toll road. Currently, a section of already-existing freeway in Memphis has been approved for the I-69 designation. A section near Union City is under construction.
Another area of controversy arose in late 2005 when governor Mitch Daniels proposed levying tolls on the highway to finance its construction, either as a state project or a public-private partnership, in order to accelerate the project. As the route would overlay the existing SR 37 between Bloomington and Indianapolis, and there is no other free alternative route between Bloomington and Martinsville, this proposal has raised concerns among local residents and businesses. In March 2006, Daniels signed a bill known as "Major Moves" that leased the Indiana East–West Toll Road, but also included a compromise on constructing I-69 in southwest Indiana. As part of the deal, the legislation permitted the Governor to enter a similar public-private partnership for construction of of I-69 as the Southern Indiana Toll Road from Martinsville to the I-64/I-164 interchange, while the remaining from Martinsville to the I-465/SR 37 interchange in Indianapolis would remain toll-free. On June 20, 2006, the Indiana Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge brought on by I-69 opponents, upholding Major Moves legislation in a 4–0 decision. The toll road option was highly unpopular, even among many who supported the extension via Bloomington. As a result, Governor Daniels announced in December 2006 that I-69 through southwest Indiana would be toll-free.
Construction is ongoing for an extension of I-69 southward from its current terminus in Indiana through Texas to the Mexican border. When built, I-69 will extend about across Texas, from the Louisiana state line in the Texarkana–Shreveport area to South Texas. Similar to I-35, I-69 splits into three letter-suffixed branches, I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W.