Slate Run Road Phase II remains in New Albany’s transportation pipeline
New Albany’s Slate Run Road Phase II remains in Indiana’s transportation-programming pipeline, with right-of-way and construction phases listed for fiscal years 2027 and 2028 in an Indiana Department of Transportation report created July 24, 2026.
The project is identified as INDOT DES 2401854 in Floyd County. It covers Slate Run Road from Lockwood Drive to Ekin Avenue.
What Phase II would build
An INDOT request for proposals posted February 9, 2026, describes approximately 4,425 feet of improvements. The work would begin at the south end of Phase I, approximately 500 feet south of Laib Drive, and continue south to the north side of Ekin Avenue.
The proposed work includes widening the existing road, adding a bike lane and concrete sidewalks on both sides, and installing concrete curb and gutter. The project description also calls for storm-sewer upgrades, utility relocations and modular-block retaining walls where necessary to minimize impacts to adjacent properties.
Phase II is part of a larger Slate Run Road improvement. The KIPDA/INDOT amendment says construction on Phase I was completed in 2021. That establishes the relationship between the phases; it does not mean Phase II construction is underway.
What the current records establish
INDOT’s updated rural project listing identifies right-of-way and construction phases for fiscal years 2027 and 2028. A fiscal year in a transportation program indicates when a phase is planned for programming and delivery within that record. It is not, by itself, a construction notice or a guaranteed calendar-year start date.
The current listing therefore shows that Phase II remains programmed, not that crews are working on Slate Run Road. The records reviewed do not provide residents with a confirmed construction start date, traffic-closure schedule or completion date.
The earlier KIPDA/INDOT amendment gives additional planning context. It lists preliminary engineering in fiscal year 2025, right-of-way phases in fiscal years 2027 and 2028, construction engineering and construction in fiscal year 2030, and an open-to-public date of 2031 in that planning record. Those entries are not a substitute for a later bid announcement, contract award or official construction schedule.
Why the cost figures differ
The February RFP listed an estimated construction amount of $5.23 million. The RFP was issued to solicit professional services for the preliminary-engineering and right-of-way phases, and its listed work categories included environmental-document preparation, acquisition project management, surveying, title searches, roadway design, appraisals, right-of-way plan development and construction inspection.
The RFP also set a response deadline of February 24, 2026, and its selection materials do not establish that a consultant was selected or that services were awarded. An RFP is a solicitation, not proof of a completed contract.
An earlier KIPDA/INDOT amendment used a broader estimated total project cost of $7.97 million. That record separately identified preliminary engineering, right-of-way, construction engineering and construction phases, including a $5.1 million programmed construction total in its listed funding breakdown.
The two figures should not be treated as competing final prices. The RFP’s $5.23 million is an estimated construction amount at one project stage, while the $7.97 million figure is a broader estimated project cost in an earlier programming amendment. Neither is a final approved construction budget or contract price.
What New Albany readers should watch
Future milestones would include consultant selection, design completion, right-of-way actions, environmental or permitting steps, bid advertisement and an official construction schedule. Until those records appear, the clearest conclusion is that Slate Run Road Phase II remains planned for the Lockwood Drive-to-Ekin Avenue corridor, with pedestrian, bicycle, roadway, drainage and utility improvements still represented in transportation-programming records.
Sources
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