Satellites in Space Help with Summer Survey Work on State Road 37

Benefits of I-69 Section 6

You read the title correctly. The I-69 Section 6

survey crews are using satellites in space to

establish the existing rights of way of roads and

deed lines of properties adjacent to the project. This

sort of survey will provide a basis for describing any

new right of way that will be needed to construct

I-69 Section 6.

The satellites are assisting the survey crews to find

center lines and other permanent public survey

markers along the SR 37 corridor in and around

Martinsville. These center lines and markers, called

monumentation, were established through the

Public Land Survey System. You may be asking,

“What exactly is the Public Land Survey System?”

Glad you asked.

The Public Land Survey System was created to

subdivide and describe pieces of land in the United

States. The majority of Indiana was surveyed by

1834 by subdividing townships of 6 square

miles into 36 sections each a mile square. In the

1800s, the corners of individual sections were

generally monumented using 6- by 6-inch wood

posts. Over time, those posts were replaced

with stones set by county surveyors. A lot of

section corners fall within existing streets, so

the stones have been replaced with metal disks,

railroad spikes or iron pins at the road surface.

The technology used in the 1800s consisted

of compasses and steel chains that were 66

feet in length. Today, surveyors often used

Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, to perform

measurements on the Earth by communicating

with satellites in space.

Sometimes surveyors need to check private land

for section corners. Property owners might see one

or two field crew members in fluorescent yellow

vests with measuring tapes or shovels looking for

monuments. Once the monument is found, the crew

sketches up reference ties so that the monument

can be found in the future. They then locate the

monument with our surveying equipment as well.

The current survey work will last into early summer.

Indiana Department of Transportation Volume 2, Issue 2: 2nd Quarter 2017

THE SCOOPO N I - 6 9 S E C T I O N 6

*Impact to a four-county region

*

*

*

Project Manager’s Corner

Mist Netting and Monitoring

Testimonials

Bat contractors for the Indiana

Department of Transportation

(INDOT) and Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) have

been conducting mist-netting

on I-69 since 2004 and 2005.

Thereafter, select monitoring

sites have been mist-netted depending upon

construction schedules.

Mist-netting is a process to capture wild birds

and bats for banding or other research projects.

Mist nets are typically made of nylon or polyester

mesh suspended between two poles, resembling a

volleyball net.

Mist-netting occurs pre-construction, during

construction and post-construction. The process

Since the release of the DEIS this spring, the

majority of calls and visits to the I-69 Section

6 project office have been about real estate

acquisition: Is my home/business impacted,

when it will happen, what’s the process, who will

be contacting me? We’re glad you are asking,

because that’s why we are here: to answer your

questions as thoroughly as we can at this stage in

the planning process.

Many of you have asked specifically about letters

you’ve received from law firms offering their

services, saying they’ll protect you from INDOT’s

predatory real estate practices, claiming they’ll get

you top dollar when INDOT lowballs you.

First, let me assure you that we have not shared

your information with any of these firms, or any other

relocation services that you may hear from. They

have access to the public project maps, they’ve

looked at the right-of-way lines, and they have done

their homework. If you’d like to verify the impact to

your property by comparing the actual project maps

with ones you may receive with a solicitation letter,

go to the INDOT March 2017 Maps found at: http://

www.in.gov/indot/projects/i69/2345.htm. Select the

Preferred Alternative Maps.

Second, INDOT will offer fair market value for

your property should it be needed to complete

I-69 Section 6. Our fair market value offer will

be based on professional appraisals – yours and

ours – and it won’t be unreasonable. There is a

federally mandated process in place, and you have

rights within that process. If you have questions, I

encourage you to learn more about the real estate

process here: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/real_

estate/uniform_act/acquisition/real_property.cfm

We’re still on track to issue the Final Environmental

Impact Statement next spring, and we look forward

to working with all of you as we move this project

forward.

While Section 6 continues to make progress along the corridor, stakeholders are bearing witness to the

changes along the interstate. Some are foreshadowing the changes still to come to their region.

Indiana Department of Transportation I-69 Section 6 Project Office7847 Waverly Road Martinsville, IN 46151

Phone: (317) 881-6408

Email: section6pm@indot.in.gov

WWW.I69INDYEVN.ORG

Project Office HoursThe pro ject off ice is open Monday

through Fr iday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,

excluding state hol idays.

“INDOT has really gone out the way to engage members of our community, to be responsive to our questions and to

really plan the future [with us] in mind. For me, that’s exciting. We want to leave this

community in better shape.”

“As we continue to move north and south, as we work to get the bridge done as well, once that corridor is done, you’ll start to

see a lot of that commerce move off of I-65 onto I-69. And we believe that has huge

economic potential for the region.”

Chief Jeremy Pell White River Township Fire Department

Justin Groenert Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce

also occurs for five summers after completing

construction. Captured adult Indiana bats and

northern long-eared bats are fitted with radio

transmitters and tracked to identify roost trees.

To date, more than 18,000 bats have been

captured, of which Indianas bat and northern long-

eared bats are present in small numbers.

The commitment of the project also includes tree

clearing restrictions and mandatory awareness

training for contractors.