BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP): State officials are expecting construction work to start next year on another phase of the Interstate 69 extension through southern Indiana.

The state highway department is planning to select a contractor in March for work on a 21-mile section of the highway that will generally follow the current Indiana 37 corridor from south of Bloomington to the southern edge of Martinsville.

Highway department spokesman Will Wingfield says much of the work will involve building interchanges and overpasses as the route is transformed to interstate standards. He says the completion target is the end of 2016.

The new I-69 opened last year from near Evansville to near the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center southwest of Bloomington. The section between Bloomington and Crane could open in late 2014.