Brownsburg studies a third I-74 interchange west of Green Street

Brownsburg has preliminary state and federal approval to continue planning a third Interstate 74 interchange, but it does not yet have a final location, design, construction timetable or announced total cost. The town identifies a possible site west of State Road 267, known locally as Green Street. Its project page says the next step is environmental review, not construction.

The approval was reported by a Hendricks County weekly newspaper on April 29, 2026. That date matters: the approval is not a new October decision. The town’s project page still described the interchange as being in planning when checked on October 28, and says the final alignment and configuration remain subject to federal design and environmental processes.

Why the town wants another exit

Green Street served as Brownsburg’s only I-74 access for decades. The Ronald Reagan Parkway interchange, roughly three miles to the east, opened in July 2008. The newspaper reported that the proposed third exit would be about 1½ miles west of Green Street. Town community-relations manager Shelby Abner told that newspaper the proposal was intended to relieve rush-hour congestion on Green Street and divert some commuter and truck trips from the town center. Those are the town’s goals, not a measured forecast of how much traffic the project would remove.

The town’s published overview of 2026 infrastructure work said design for a future I-74 interchange would begin pending federal highway approval. It also identified design work for North Green Street improvements and a roundabout at County Roads 300 and 900. Those are separate road projects; the town has not published an interchange traffic study showing how they would interact.

What the records establish

The town expects the environmental-study phase to take about a year once it begins. It says the work will examine environmental effects, noise and potential mitigation, including sound barriers if warranted. Its public page does not give a start date for that phase or name the road where new ramps would connect. The result of that review will help determine the final design.

A January 2026 town encumbrance record lists $16,811.19 carried into the 2026 budget for GAI Consultants’ I-74 interchange study work orders 2, 3 and 4, listed under the 2022 general-obligation bond construction fund. That is a remaining purchase-order balance, not the estimated price of building the interchange.

There is more evidence of how the planning work may be paid for. Town Manager Deb Cook introduced a proposed $83.4 million 2027 town and fire-territory budget on September 10. Current Publishing reported that its capital plans included environmental studies and design for the I-74 interchange. The town’s October 8 council agenda scheduled the budget for a third reading and final adoption, but the agenda alone does not establish the final vote or a project-specific appropriation. The budget proposal partly answers who would pay for the next study and design steps; it does not establish the construction cost or a funding package for the ramps.

What happens next

The key public decisions are the exact location, road connection, environmental findings, noise mitigation and financing. Each could affect nearby landowners and future development, but the available records do not establish which particular properties would be affected. Brownsburg says it is developing a more detailed schedule and will share it when available. The town describes a project of this scale as typically taking about 10 years, depending on approval and review; that is a general planning horizon, not a promised opening date.

A separate October 26 Advisory Plan Commission agenda listed an order to create a “Parkway Interchange” tax-increment-financing allocation area by moving parcels out of the North Beltway area. The supporting resolution refers to Ronald Reagan Parkway-related debt and does not identify the proposed third exit west of Green Street as a funded project. The agenda is not proof of the order’s final adoption or that this TIF area will finance the new interchange. The town should clarify whether the two efforts have any relationship.

For residents and businesses, the immediate question is not when to expect a new exit. It is when the town will release the study documents, alternatives, cost estimate and opportunities to comment. Until those appear, the responsible description is a proposed interchange moving through planning—not an approved construction project.

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