State officials today gathered near Odon, Indiana to officially open the newest completed section of Interstate 69 – running from the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center to just south of Bloomington.

Fellow Indiana Public Broadcasting station WNIN broadcast live from the ribbon-cutting and talked with officials.  Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke called the new section a “Christmas gift for the region” and one that’s been on wish lists for a while.

Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Will Wingfield says using the extended I-69 to travel from Evansville to Bloomington will cut about 18 minutes off the trip.  Governor Mike Pence told the crowd that extending Interstate 69 through all of Indiana is critical to economic development.

The last planned expansion from Martinsville to Indianapolis hasn’t yet been funded, and Pence did not give a source or date for acquiring those funds.  Meanwhile, INDOT says the next new section of I-69 running from Bloomington to Martinsville will be finished in 2016 or early 2017.