I-69 approach completion sets up procurement for the Ohio River bridge

Indiana has completed Section 3 of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing program in Evansville, delivering the approach infrastructure that crews will use to build the future river bridge.

The project team’s September 25 update puts the package at $202 million and says it finished on budget and schedule. Work began in fall 2024 and included three approach bridges, roadways and embankment.

The structures provide all-weather construction access through a floodplain. They will open to public traffic after the new I-69 bridge is complete, rather than immediately becoming a finished interstate crossing.

The main bridge belongs to the separate, bi-state Section 2 package. The project team expects a contractor selection by the end of 2026, construction beginning in spring 2027 and completion in 2031.

Enabling works can be easy to overlook because their first customer is the next construction team. Here, dependable access is part of the risk reduction for the much larger river crossing.

For prospective delivery partners, the relevant distinction is between completed access infrastructure and the remaining bridge procurement. The Section 3 milestone gives the coming contractor a physical starting point; it does not close out the whole corridor.

The next meaningful signal will be the Section 2 award and confirmation of its delivery schedule.

Reporting source: I-69 Ohio River Crossing project team, September 25, 2026. Sources reviewed September 30, 2026. Delivery implications are Infraday analysis.

Illustrative photograph; it does not document the announced work. Trucks parked beside a U.S. highway, May 2024; representative photograph. Photo: Shashidhara halady / CC BY-SA 4.0. No editorial alterations; WordPress may resize or crop for display.