Rising interstate construction costs push up INDOT per‑mile averages

Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) said the average cost to build a centerline mile of interstate in the 2026 state fiscal year rose sharply and was, the article says, nearly 450% higher than the 2015 average. INDOT’s FY2026 average included two particularly complicated projects: Revive I‑70 and Safer Drive 65.

The article says the cost figures were shown on a slide shared at a late‑August State Budget Committee meeting; the 2026 state fiscal year ended in June. INDOT officials and industry sources cited inflation, material and supply‑chain shortages, pandemic effects, competition with data centers and rising steel/concrete/asphalt prices; the Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index rose more than 60% from 2020 through 2025, the story reports. Senator Fady Qaddoura is quoted reacting, “That’s unbelievable.”

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