Building What Matters
Working Together to Create a Safe and Connected Community
By Stephanie Terry
When I talk about the progress we are making in Evansville, I often come back to one word: partnership. The work of building a stronger city does not belong to one person, administration, or one organization. It takes all of us; residents, businesses, neighborhood leaders, nonprofits, and our partners at the state and federal levels.
We are seeing that spirit in the work happening across our city. From removing blighted properties and creating new housing opportunities to investing in our parks, improving public safety and finding better ways to connect residents with their local government. Each partnership may look different, but they have something important in common: a willingness to work together today to create a stronger Evansville tomorrow.
The story of the Lloyd Expressway improvements offers a powerful example of what partnership can accomplish.
What is now the Lloyd4U project grew from a corridor study conducted by INDOT and the Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization, bringing together local and state representatives to identify ways to improve safety and mobility along one of our most important transportation corridors.
That study became the foundation for more than a dozen improvements and a more than $150 million dollar investment in the Lloyd Expressway. The lesson is bigger than transportation: when we bring the right partners to the table, share a vision and stay committed over time, we can turn challenges into opportunities and create momentum that benefits generations of Evansville residents.
My tenure as mayor parallels the Lloyd4U project – and with both, I hope everyone sees firsthand the progress being delivered.
The Lloyd is a work of the state, but its modernization is compatible with all we’re trying to accomplish in the city.
In Evansville, we are applying the same commitment to our own streets. We doubled the number of miles paved last year, filled more than 17,000 potholes and increased our road-maintenance budget. We are also preparing a new 311 app that will make it easier for residents to report problems and track progress.
Whether it is a neighborhood alley or a six-lane expressway, safe and reliable roads are not extras. They are part of the standard our residents should be able to count on.
At the same time, we know the funding landscape is changing, making it more difficult for cities to keep pace with the cost of maintaining the roads and infrastructure our community depends on. We have to be thoughtful about how we invest limited resources and continue working with our state and regional partners to make sure Evansville has the resources it needs.
Access to transportation is about much more than getting from one place to another. It connects people to jobs, businesses to customers and communities to opportunity. When we invest in our roads, we are investing in the foundation of Evansville’s economy and in the opportunities available to every resident.
I am especially proud that the Lloyd4U is a local investment in more ways than one. This project was designed by Evansville businesses with people from our own community, and local businesses are helping build it.
Every time a local employee goes to work on this project, a local family benefits. Every time a local business earns a contract, those dollars have an opportunity to circulate through our community. And the taxes generated through that economic activity help support the services we all rely on. To me, that is what makes an investment like Lloyd4U so meaningful, it is not just about improving the road. It is about investing in the people, businesses and families that make Evansville home.
The Lloyd4U is scheduled to continue through the end of 2027, which also coincides with the end of my first term as mayor. By the time this transformation is complete in early 2028, we will be marking another important milestone: 40 years since the entire Lloyd Expressway opened to traffic.
I think about the generations of Evansville residents who have relied on the Lloyd to get to work, raise their families, build businesses and connect our community to the region and beyond. Four decades after that first ribbon-cutting, we are giving the Lloyd a new chapter. I am grateful to be part of that story and excited about what these improvements will mean for Evansville for generations to come.
Stephanie Terry, elected in 2023, is the 35th mayor of Evansville.
