Looking for the Quickest Way to Get to Indianapolis from Evansville? Find It Here

Over the past three weeks, I've made two trips north towards our state capitol, and thanks to a recently finished new highway, the trip took less than three hours.

Until recently, you really had two decent options for getting to Indy. You could either head north on Highway 41, then head east on Interstate 70 from Terre Haute. Or, you could head east toward Louisville on Interstate 64, then take I-65 north from there. Either way you were looking at anywhere from a three hour and fifteen minute, to a three and a half hour drive. If you took the Highway 41 route, you're dealing with a lower speed limit along with stoplights in towns like Carlisle, Sullivan, and Farmersburg, and of course hitting Terre Haute at the wrong time could slow your drive to a crawl.

Take the I-64 path, and even though you can cruise at a speedy 70 miles per hour the entire way (although I have been known to set the cruise control a wee bit faster), you're adding nearly 40 miles to the trip.

Fear not! Thanks to the newly constructed Interstate 69 (go ahead and giggle, I do every time I say it), you can be in the Circle City in less than three hours time!

For as much drama surrounding the construction of the highway over the years, it really does make a difference. From Evansville, simply catch I-164 around town and take it north until it becomes I-69 (although the entire route will be renamed I-69). Ride it for 80 miles north until it ends (literally, it's not done yet so it just ends) at Highway 231. From there hop Highway 45 until you catch Highway 37 in Bloomington, and take it the rest of the way into the southwest corner of Indianapolis.

This is the path I took when my son and I went to Lucas Oil Stadium for the Colts versus Texans game. We were on the road a 4:00PM after the game, and walked through our front door at 6:45PM, and that included a stop through a drive-thru for dinner on the way.

One word of warning, since the road is so new, there's nothing on it in regards to rest stops, restaurants, or gas stations. Once you leave Evansville, you won't see a gas station until the end of I-69 when you get to the intersection of Highways 231 and 45, so get your gas, food, and bathrooms breaks in before you leave the city limits. There are exits for Jasper / Huntingburgh, and Washington, Indiana, but they're going to add extra miles to the trip.

My guess is that once I-69 is completed all the way to Indianapolis, which is still a few years out I imagine, we here in Evansville will be able to get to Indy in about two and a half hours. And that, to me, is exciting.