Indiana Commerce Connector | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length | 75 mi (121 km) |
| Status | Never built |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |  I-70 near Mooresville |
| |
| North end |  I-69 near Pendleton |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| Highway system | |
| |
The Indiana Commerce Connector (ICC) was a proposed partial outer beltway of Indianapolis in the US state of Indiana. It was planned to be 75 miles (121 km) long, circling Indianapolis's south and east sides. It would have intersected four Interstate highways at six different locations, as well as connecting the Indianapolis exurbs of Mooresville, Martinsville, Franklin, Shelbyville, Greenfield, and Pendleton. The corridor was intended to be built to Interstate standards, so that it could potentially become part of the Interstate Highway System with a proposed numbering of either I-269 or I-470.
Purposed Routing
editAn exact routing was never determined for the ICC, instead tracing a broad study area. The highway's proposed southwestern terminus was at I-70 someplace west of the Indianapolis International Airport near the Hendricks-Morgan County line. From there, the corridor was planned to run west of Mooresville, intersecting I-69 in the vicinity of Martinsville. The route was slated to continue through rural sections of southern Morgan and Johnson Counties between SR 44 and SR 252 before intersecting I-65 somewhere south of Franklin. The proposed routing continued northward to intersect I-74 in Shelby County west of Shelbyville and I-70 in Hancock County west of Greenfield. The proposed roadway was planned to continue roughly due northward from there, terminating at I-69 in Madison County southwest of Pendleton.
History
editThe ICC was first proposed by Governor Mitch Daniels in November 2006 as a privately built toll road. The plan received backlash from local residents and the then-Democratic controlled House of Representatives. This opposition drove Daniels to withdraw the ICC proposal on March 24, 2007.
The logistics group Connexus Indiana attempted to revive the ICC proposal in April 2014. Proponents of the proposal stated that the corridor would open another path for commercial truck traffic, reducing congestion on I-465. However, other groups expressed concern over the plan, such as the Indy Chamber (formerly the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce), which objected to the plan’s potential impact on core-city development, regional taxation, and urban sprawl.