INDIANAPOLIS (AP): The price tag for clearing out homes and businesses for the Interstate 69 extension project’s final leg could top the combined cost for the five other sections through southern Indiana.

Indiana Department of Transportation officials estimate that the state might need to acquire as many as 279 homes and 96 businesses for the Martinsville-to-Indianapolis route announced last week as the sixth and final section. But department spokesman Will Wingfield tells The Indianapolis Star that the final number of properties bought is likely to be lower because the final path of the highway hasn’t been determined.

The department says the state paid $184 million for 348 properties in the project’s first five sections.

Planning for the I-69 extension, which was estimated to cost $3 billion, began 17 years ago.