Supporting Information

Corridor 18 Funds. Since Corridor 18 was first designated in 1991, Congress has made approximately $ 63.4 million in federal funds available for Corridor 18 between Evansville and Indianapolis. These funds come from the following sources:

Section 1105(f) of ISTEA, as amended, authorizes $23.7 million "to improve the Bloomington, Indiana, to Evansville, Indiana" high priority segment of Corridor 18. These funds have been appropriated. (See Ref 1.)

 

Section 1107(b) of ISTEA, as amended, authorizes $3.8 million to "construct an extension of Interstate 69 to link Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana." These funds have been appropriated. (See Ref 2.)

 

USDOT Appropriations Acts for FY 1992 and 1995: the 1992 Act appropriated $3.2 million for work on an "Indianapolis to Evansville" route as a demonstration project; the 1995 Act appropriated $1.5 million for work on the "Evansville-Bloomington corridor" as a surface transportation project. (See Ref 3.)

 

Section 1602 of TEA-21 authorizes $27 million to "improve the Southwest Highway from Bloomington to Evansville" to be appropriated during fiscal years 1998 to 2003. (See Ref 4.) As of fiscal year 2000, $12 million of this amount has been appropriated and is available for obligation.

 

Section 1602 of TEA-21 restored $47 million to Indiana for funds reduced during conference. (See Ref 5.) Congress did not specify the purpose for which these funds were to be used but left that decision to Indiana’s discretion. Subsequently, INDOT assigned $3 million of those funds to the development of the Southwest Indiana highway.

 

Borders-and-Corridors Grants. In TEA-21, Congress established the "Borders-and-Corridors" grant programs – officially known as the Coordinated Border Infrastructure (CBI) Program and the National Corridor Planning and Development (NCPD) Program. From these programs, Indiana received $1.25 million in 1999 as part of a multi-state award to prepare environmental studies on the future I-69. In 2000, Indiana received an individual grant of $600,000 for environmental studies on the proposed extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville and is expecting to receive a portion of an $8 million multi-state grant to Arkansas for the preparation of environmental, location, and related studies of I-69 from Canada to Mexico. (See Ref 6.)

 

Total (Gross). The total amount of dedicated highway funding for Corridor 18 – from all of the sources listed above – is $63,374,287. This figure is subject to some upward adjustment as it currently excludes Indiana’s portion of the 2000 NCPD multi-state grant.

 

Total (Net). Approximately $2.9 million has been expended for the previous EIS and for other preliminary engineering work. Subtracting these expenditures, the adjusted balance of available funding is $60,462,488.

 

Restrictions on Use of Corridor 18 Funds. As described above, the laws that designate federal funds for Corridor 18 impose various restrictions on the use of those funds. For example, Section 1105(f) of ISTEA provides funds to "improve" the Bloomington-to-Evansville segment of Corridor 18, while Section 1107(b) of ISTEA provides funds to "construct" an Indianapolis-to-Evansville section of I-69. Based on a review of these various restrictions, FHWA and INDOT have determined that:

Tier 1 Study The Tier 1 EIS is eligible for all of the funding that has been made available thus far for Corridor 18, except for the $3.8 million appropriated for "constructing" I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis. (Note: The Tier 1 EIS is the ongoing I-69/Evansville-to-Indy Study.)

 

Tier 2 Studies. The amount available for the Tier 2 studies (which could be one or more EISs or smaller studies, such as Environmental Assessments) will depend on the corridor selected at Tier 1.

 

If the corridor selected in Tier 1 connects Evansville and Bloomington: The Tier 2 studies would be eligible for all of the funding that has been made available thus far for Corridor 18, except for the $3.8 million appropriated for "constructing" I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis.

 

If the corridor selected in Tier 1 does not connect Evansville and Bloomington: The Tier 2 studies would be eligible for all of the funding that has been made available thus far for Corridor 18, except for (1) the $3.8 million appropriated for "constructing" I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis and (2) the $48.7 million designated for "improving" a Bloomington-to-Evansville route.

 

(Note: The Tier 2 studies would proceed only if the ongoing Tier 1 study results in a "build" decision.)

 

Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Construction. The amount available for final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction would depend on the corridor selected at Tier 1.

 

If the corridor selected in Tier 1 connects Evansville and Bloomington: Final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction work would be eligible for all of the funding that has been made available thus far for Corridor 18, except for the $1.9 million in Borders-and-Corridors grants for environmental, location, and related studies.

 

If the corridor selected in Tier 1 does not connect Evansville and Bloomington: Final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction work would be eligible for all of the funding that has been made available thus far for Corridor 18, except for (1) the $1.9 million in Borders-and-Corridors grants for environmental, location, and related studies and (2) the $48.7 million designated for "improving" a Bloomington-to-Evansville route.

 

(Note: Final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction work would proceed only if Tier 1 and Tier 2 studies result in a "build" decision.)

 

General Appropriations. In addition to the $63.4 million that has been specifically designated for Corridor 18, Indiana also receives a much larger general appropriation each year from the Highway Trust Fund. For fiscal years 1998 to 2003, the average apportionment for Indiana was approximately $640.1 million per year, which was divided among numerous separate programs. Funds from three of these programs – the National Highway System, the Surface Transportation Program, and the Minimum Guarantee – are available to Indiana for development of Corridor 18. For fiscal years 1998 to 2003, the amounts distributed to Indiana under these programs are as follows:

National Highway System – approximately $138 million per year

 

Surface Transportation Program – approximately $169 million per year

 

Minimum Guarantee – approximately $83 million per year