Make wishtv.com your home page

I-69 construction means longer drives for school buses

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Ongoing construction on the Interstate 69 extension near Bloomington is causing headaches for some local school bus drivers.

Drivers for the Monroe County Community School Corp. have had to improvise routes because of detours around construction zones. The Herald-Times reports four contract bus drivers who pay for gas out of pocket have had their pay increased, and one driver got $152 in back pay.

The district’s transportation director says it’s hard to estimate how much more fuel they’re using because of the construction detours.

The I-69 extension is slated to eventually run from Evansville to Indianapolis, but it’s currently only about half-built and runs from Evansville to an area near Bloomington.

Construction work is currently under way on the section that will run from the Bloomington area to Martinsville.