Interstate 469

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Interstate 469
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System

Ronald Reagan Expressway
Maintained by Indiana DOT

Length:

30.83 mi^[1] (49.62 km)

Formed:

1989 (finished in 1995)

South end:

I-69/US 24/US 33 at Lafayette Center Road in rural Allen County

Major
junctions:

US 27/33 near Fort Wayne

US 30 in New Haven

US 24 in New Haven

North end:

I-69/US 27/US 30 in Fort Wayne

Indiana roads
< I-465		SR 520 >
Interstates - U.S. Routes - State Roads - Former

Interstate 469 (abbreviated I-469), also known as the Ronald Reagan Expressway, is an interstate highway in the midwestern United States. It is a bypass of parent Interstate 69 that includes U.S. Highways 30, 33 and 24 around the urban parts of Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 2004, a successful movement took place to rename all thirty-one miles of the freeway in honor of the late former U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Exit list
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Route description

I-469 carries four 12-foot travel lanes (two in each direction) with full left and right shoulders, separated by a concrete Jersey Barrier for its entire length. While the highway generally traverses through rural farmland south and east of Fort Wayne, it was designed with more of an urban profile to reduce the road's overall footprint, thereby mitigating environmental impacts.^[who?]

[edit] History

Several cross-country highways and railroads meet in Fort Wayne, making the city a regional transportation hub. The city has experienced significant growth and urban sprawl since the 1950s, and with this growth comes the influx of commuter traffic intermixing with long-distance travelers. Congestion in the city soon became a major threat to its economic survival. The first attempt at resolving Fort Wayne's traffic problems occurred with the construction of the U.S. 24/U.S. 30 Bypass (Coliseum Boulevard) around the northern edge of the city in 1952, to divert east-west traffic around the city. Originally a four-lane highway with at-grade intersections, the western part of the bypass was widened to six lanes. Coliseum Boulevard briefly provided congestion relief to Fort Wayne, but massive commercial and retail development along the bypass brought a resurgence of congestion in the 1960s. Interstate 69 opened in 1961, which provided a bypass to divert north-south traffic to the west of Fort Wayne. While traffic in downtown Fort Wayne improved, congestion along Coliseum Boulevard continued to worsen with the opening of Glenbrook Square Mall in the 1960s, and talk of a bypass to the east of Fort Wayne picked up steam in the late 1970s.

Work began at the south end of I-469 in 1986; the first 19 miles to U.S. 30 opened in 1989.

Construction was halted in 1991 when crews unearthed a lock that was once used in the Wabash and Erie Canal while constructing the interchange with U.S. 24 east of New Haven.^[2] This discovery led to a major effort to preserve the canal, resulting in the stoppage of construction on I-469 while officials wrangled over how to proceed with building the highway without disturbing the canal site. Officials opted to move the old canal lock to the Indiana State Museum, allowing construction to resume in 1992.

In 1993, an additional six miles of I-469 opened between U.S. 30 and State Road 37. The highway was completed when the remaining six miles from Indiana State Road 37 to I-69 north of Fort Wayne opened in 1995.

INDOT had originally wanted to continue I-469 west of I-69 to create a complete beltway around Fort Wayne, but has placed these plans on hold indefinitely due to higher funding priorities, including the reconstruction and widening of I-69 through Fort Wayne as well as reconfiguring and widening for U.S. 24 from I-469 to the Ohio state line.

[edit] Exit list

The entire route is in Allen County.

Location	#^[3]	Destinations^[4]	Notes
	0A-B	I-69 / US 24 west / US 33 north – Fort Wayne, Indianapolis
	1	Lafayette Center Road
	2	Indianapolis Road
	6	Bluffton Road (SR 1)	Serves Fort Wayne International Airport
	9	Winchester Road
	11	US 27 south / US 33 south – Fort Wayne	West end of US 33 overlap
	13	Marion Center Road
	15	Tillman Road
	17	Minnich Road
New Haven	19A	US 30 west (Lincoln Highway) / SR 930 – New Haven, Fort Wayne	West end of US 30 overlap
New Haven	19B	Dawkins Road
	21	US 24 east – New Haven	North end of US 24 overlap
Fort Wayne	25	SR 37 north – Fort Wayne
	29A-B	Maplecrest Road	Signed as exit 29 (north) and exits 29A-B (south)
	31A-B	I-69 / US 30 west – Indianapolis, Lansing
	31C	Auburn Road