The elevated highway ramps carrying Interstate 69 toward the Ohio River in Evansville are nearly finished, with construction crews wrapping up concrete deck pours across all three approach bridges this summer. The milestone marks a major step toward the long-awaited I-69 Ohio River Crossing, a project meant to finally link Indiana and Kentucky with a modern four-lane interstate bridge.
As of August 2026, the Indiana approach known as Section 3 reached roughly 85% completion, according to KCRG. Crews have poured concrete decks across all three approach bridges, spanning a combined 7,250 linear feet and relying on nearly 200 precast concrete beams, some stretching up to 188 feet long, per project updates from I-69 Ohio River Crossing.
The work is being built under a $202 million design-build contract that the Indiana Department of Transportation awarded to ORX Constructors, a joint venture of Walsh Construction and Traylor Bros, according to ENR. Building the approach early serves a practical purpose beyond just getting ahead of schedule: the structures sit in a flood-prone stretch of the Ohio River floodplain, and finishing them first gives construction crews elevated, all-weather access roads they'll need to move heavy equipment once work begins on the main river bridge itself, the outlet reports.
Kentucky's Side Already Open, Main Bridge Still to Come
Across the river, Kentucky has already finished its portion of the land-side work. Section 1, a $193.5 million approach that extended I-69 more than six miles through Henderson with new interchanges at US 41 and US 60, reached substantial completion and opened to traffic in late 2025, the same project updates note. That leaves Section 2, the actual four-lane bridge spanning the Ohio River between Evansville and Henderson, as the last and most complex piece still to be built.
The contract for that river bridge is scheduled to be awarded in late 2026, with main construction expected to begin in spring 2027 and continue until 2031, per the same source. Once finished, the entire I-69 Ohio River Crossing will represent 11.2 miles of interstate improvements, including 8.4 miles of brand-new terrain alignment, with total construction costs estimated between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion shared equally by Indiana and Kentucky.
Tolls Set, But an Alternative Stays Free
Commuters already know roughly what crossing the new bridge will cost them once it opens. In March 2026, the newly formed bi-state ORX Tolling Body approved initial rates that will take effect when the main span opens, which is scheduled for 2031, while tolling is expected to begin by January 1, 2032. Passenger vehicles will pay $3.14 per crossing with a transponder and prepaid account, $4.70 without a transponder, and $6.25 for pay-by-mail billing, according to Inside INdiana Business. Those rates are set to climb annually by at least 2.5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher.
Freight haulers will pay considerably more. Under the approved schedule, five-axle commercial trucks will be charged between $15.49 and $18.62 per crossing depending on transponder and account status, and unpaid toll bills can carry collection fees of up to $30, according to CDLLife. The initial rates were modeled after existing toll structures used on Ohio River bridges in Louisville, the trade publication notes.
Local commuters worried about losing a free way to cross the river got a guarantee from federal highway officials, who selected an option called Central Alternative 1B Modified for the overall project. That choice ensures one of the existing US 41 Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges will stay open as a non-tolled alternative between Evansville and Henderson, addressing a concern regional advocacy groups had pushed hard on throughout planning.
Closing the Last Gap in a Decades-Long Highway
The Ohio River Crossing will connect Indiana and Kentucky as part of a broader Canada-to-Mexico freight corridor, according to the Daily Journal. Broader plans for I-69 nationally envision an eventual connection stretching from Canada to the Mexican border.
Once complete, the new bridge and its approaches are engineered to carry an estimated 24,000 vehicles a day, easing pressure on the narrow, aging US 41 twin bridges that currently handle river crossings between the two states. Those older spans are dated and narrow, a gap the new four-lane bridge is intended to close as construction moves from Evansville's nearly finished approach ramps toward the harder work still waiting in the middle of the river.
