Car accidents have increased during I-69 construction delays

The two-year construction delay on I-69 isn’t just causing traffic headaches; it's costing Hoosiers money and putting lives at risk.

Crashes on the portion of the highway being built between Bloomington and Martinsville have risen nearly 48 percent since construction began at the tail end of 2014. 

There were 354 crashes in 2016, the last full year for which numbers are available.

That’s 114 more than in 2014, an IndyStar review of state data found. Some resulted in injuries.

The typical insurance payout for property damage in an automobile accident is $3,493, according to the Insurance Information Institute, which means as much as $398,200 more likely was paid in claims on the stretch of road in 2016 than in 2014.

That price does not include deductibles paid by the owners. Nor does it include bodily injury claims, which cost an average of about $17,000.

And it is not just a single-year anomaly. Average annual crashes were up 59 percent in the two years since construction began, compared to the four years prior to construction.

So the two-year delay could cost around $1 million in damages. 

IndyStar investigation:What went wrong with I-69?

Traffic deaths also increased along the 21-mile stretch of highway, but Indiana Department of Transportation officials say none of the six deaths since construction began were directly related to the work.

Still, they acknowledge that accidents occur more frequently in construction zones due to rerouted and stopped traffic and lane changes.

Ryan Dixon, a 29-year-old from Bloomington, spent almost a week in the intensive care unit after falling asleep at the wheel in the construction zone last September, a month before the project was supposed to be completed.

Prior to construction, Ind. 37’s north and southbound lanes were separated by a grass median. On the morning Dixon fell asleep, only thin orange traffic posts separated his northbound car from the oncoming traffic. He crossed the line and collided head-on with a semitrailer. Indiana State Police said he was trapped in his car.

“If it wasn’t a two-lane highway that they had brought right there, there was no way I would have made it across the median without waking up first,” Dixon said.

Part of his small intestine had torn from hitting the airbag and he said his “stomach content was leaking.” On his leg was a four-inch laceration down to his bone. 

At least he was alive. “All in all, I’m very lucky,” Dixon said.

State officials say the construction delay was caused by the contractor managing the project, I-69 Development Partners. They now predict the construction, which was supposed to be completed in October, will continue until August 2018.

One of the largest contractors on the project, Isolux Corsan, is flirting with insolvency, raising questions about how well the state vetted the European company before a contract was signed. Isolux was the majority owner of I-69 Development Partners, which entered a public-private partnership to design, build and maintain the highway.

On Friday, Indiana Finance Authority, the agency overseeing the public-private partnership, announced they had reached an agreement to take over the project from I-69 Development Partners.

More:State has agreement to terminate public-private I-69 contract

Just the day before Dixon’s accident, the state had issued a notice of non-performance to I-69 Development Partners. 

Officials in Bloomington, whose residents are bearing the brunt of the problems, are growing impatient with the state.

“The longer you have this project going on, the more likely people are to get injured or even killed,” said state Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. “That’s pretty serious stuff, let alone the other issues of people being frustrated about being stuck in traffic, or people not wanting to come to Bloomington.”

When asked about the increase in traffic accidents, a spokesman for Indiana Department of Transportation pointed out that crash statistics are rising nationally, Ind. 37 traffic has been increasing and rear-end collisions generally increase in construction zones.

As both INDOT and Indiana State Police pointed out, any time there is construction, accidents typically increase.

“That’s the nature of our job to be concerned about the safety of our public when such a significant construction project comes through the area,” said Sgt. Curt Durnil, the ISP Bloomington press officer. “There's just a lot of obstacles. It’s not just the construction, it’s the lane shifting and speed zones that change back and forth.”

Stephanie McFarland, a spokeswoman for the IFA, did not respond to questions concerning the increase in traffic accidents.

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton, a Democrat, said there are costs that go beyond dollars and cents.

“We've had fatalities on the road,” Hamilton said. “We've had serious injuries on the road … those are real costs.”

Apart from public safety, Hamilton and other officials brought up the everyday frustration the construction delays bring the 80,000 Bloomington residents and two million visitors the mayor said Bloomington has each year.

“Anybody who works anywhere who is using this transportation corridor to do their job faces costs in delays. Time is money,” Hamilton said. “Now you have to leave earlier; you give up time. You have visitors who are deterred from making the trip just because it’s frustrating.” 

During construction blastings, entire portions of the road have been closed for 20 minutes. At other times, the one-lane traffic slows down cars passing through the area.

Small towns south of Bloomington too are feeling the negative impacts of the nearly two year delay on section 5. 

While construction is already complete on the portion of the interstate south of Bloomington, small towns in the area aren't getting enough traffic to attract more commercial business directly off the interstate. Washington Mayor Joe Wellman blames the delayed construction, which forces people to consider other routes.

Washington, population 12,000, has supported the project from the beginning but hasn't seen the economic development they were promised.

“It’s now two years behind originally what it was going to be. We’d be two years further down the road as far as development would go if it was completed," Wellman said. "It seems like for a variety of reasons the state has lost its urgency, and I would like for that urgency to come back.”

Indiana University, the largest employer in the Bloomington area, has to consistently update fans attending its football and basketball games about traffic. Once again this season, IU will have a text alert service dedicated to game-day traffic.

The football team's season opener is Aug. 31 in Bloomington against Ohio State University, which has a history of bringing a large contingent of fans. The last time the Buckeyes played at IU, the game was a sellout. IU associate athletic director Jeremy Gray said traffic will be a concern.

As he usually does on game day, Gray will be warning fans to leave early.

“I would be absolutely confident that every fan coming from north of Martinsville, Indiana, that has to deal with (construction) is ready for it to be over, and I can promise you as communicator for the athletic department I cannot wait for the day where I don’t have to talk about possible traffic delays coming to games,” Gray said.

“I think we’re all ready for it to be over.”

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin L. Lange at (812) 549-1429. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

Call IndyStar reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him on Twitter: @markalesia.