Some of those subcontractors are leaving the project or refusing to work until they get checks. State officials had already pushed back the expected completion date until June 2017 before the new work stoppage, which Hamilton said could push back the section’s completion to 2018.
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The I-69 leg from Bloomington to Martinsville is now stuck in the mud after contractor has failed to pay up. The private developer I-69 Development Partners is responsible for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining that portion of interstate through a public-private agreement.
Don Conard, superintendent with Crider & Crider, said the company stopped work last winter and in March over missed payment deadlines.
Christian Harper, senior vice president for corporate practice for I-69 Development Partners, issued a statement Tuesday evening saying his company “stands ready to exercise” its contractual rights with Isolux Corsan to ensure other subcontractors return to work.
They have 30 days to reply to the letter.
“That caused me to want to ask the governor who oversees INDOT and the Indiana Finance Authority and this project, what is going on with this project”, Pierce says.
State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said many people are frustrated with the traffic delays on IN 37 caused by I-69 construction and that he’s not been able to get answers from state officials or the developer. State Rep held a press conference along State Rd 37 on Wednesday asking for answers and a time frame for completion of the project.
When asked about the dispute and whether subcontractors walked off the project, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation Will Wingfield said in an email that staff from the Indiana Finance Authority saw contractors working on Section 5 Tuesday.
The Indiana Finance Authority has threatened to find I-69 Development Partners in default of its contract after a major subcontractor stopped work this week over $2.3 million in late payments.
“The road is built with tax dollars, it belongs to the public, the government has the ultimate responsibility to make sure it is built safely and efficiently”, Hamilton said. “We need to know why 100-plus workers are not, on a handsome day like today when we should be getting work done – they’re off the job”.
The money owed is more than $9 million, according to Inside Indiana Business.
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Hamilton will meet with people to talk about the delays to the construction.
