After years of anticipation, the final section of I-69 started to open up through Martinsville about four years ago. The 26-mile stretch of interstate through Morgan County was the last leg of construction connecting Evansville in the south to Indianapolis.
The I-465 interchange on the southwest side of Indianapolis opened in August 2024, marking the interstate extension in southern Indiana complete.
Construction and plans for I-69 have caused headaches for Morgan County’s county seat for years: waiting for the section in Monroe County to finish, opposition from landowners and farmers, and then traffic diverted through the city while a section of State Road 37 closed.
Read more: I-69 closure in Martinsville on track to open in January
But the road was coming. Morgan County Commissioner Bryan Collier was elected to his position in 1998. He thinks of I-69 as a lump of clay that local officials need to use for the area’s benefit.
“I was encouraging people that we were not going to stop this construction and it was up to us to get involved and try to shape it,” Collier said. “…Or you can complain, leave it there, let it harden, and you just have a big lump of clay.”
He said since I-69 opened up, Morgan County and Martinsville have started to see changes, especially in housing developments.
Read more: I-69 Frontage Road Cuts Through Middle Of Monroe Co. Farm
Just off of I-69 in the southeast part of Martinsville, construction is underway for a more than 200 unit housing development. It’s some of the most significant home construction the area has seen in years.
Michelle Chandler has worked as a realtor in Martinsville for more than 20 years.
In the last three years, she said the area’s seen a jump in new home construction and people moving to Martinsville.
“Five to 10 years ago, it was a lot of Martinsville people moving around in Martinsville.”
Another existing neighborhood is being built out across the street. Chandler attributes the development largely to I-69’s opening.
May’s median monthly home price in Morgan County went up four percent compared to last year. Indiana’s realtor report says Morgan County’s year over year change in home sales was 30 percent from May 2024 to May 2025. By comparison, Johnson County’s was seven percent and Monroe County’s was -16 percent.
While people value rural life in Morgan County, some growth is needed, according to Morgan County Economic Development Corporation Director Mike Dellinger.
“But we do want to see a population gain that's more than one half of a percent each year,” he said.
Only counting births and deaths, Morgan County’s population dropped from 2023 to 2024 by 132. Migration into the county boosted its population slightly.
Morgan County’s population is at just over 73,000. Dellinger said Morgan County wants to preserve its natural scenery and to increase density in its metropolitan areas.
“If we grew at about 3 percent a year, it would still take us in the range of 12 to 15 years, to become a county of 100,000 people,” he said.
Right now, people are moving to Morgan County and commuting to Bloomington or Indianapolis. But with I-69, Dellinger said the county can attract higher paying jobs, like life sciences and micro-electronics.
“If we use our transportation corridors wisely and the ground that's around them for commerce wisely, we can create more opportunities locally,” he said.
Morgan County is one of the last surrounding Indianapolis to invest in new economic and infrastructure development, Collier said.
Morgan County’s courthouse was built in 1859 and needs to be renovated. Collier said putting off infrastructure projects has made them a costly but necessary endeavor, to meet current and future community needs. Construction is underway for a $72 million justice center.
He’s from the area and doesn’t want to see the cost of living get so expensive that it burdens his parents.
Not all of these initiatives were popular. Collier doesn’t want to see the cost of living get so expensive that it burdens his older residents, like his parents. But he said the county needs to plan for growth to keep its property tax rate down.
He wants Morgan County to be a place where his kids can return to raise families.
“And if we don't make some changes and get some amenities for the next generation, if we don't invest in ourselves, why would you want your children to come back at all?”
People are noticing Morgan County and Martinsville now, Chandler said. She sees people from out of state interested in moving, drawn by cheaper living costs and the rolling hills.
She doesn’t expect home sales prices to increase at the same rate as last year. She does expect to see more young people from Martinsville move back or stay to raise families.
“So we're seeing a lot of traffic coming to Martinsville,” she said. “But part of that is because of I-69. We're like the center corridor for Bloomington, Indianapolis, Johnson, and Hendricks County. We used to be the best kept secret. Now we're the worst kept secret.”
