Indiana Notes

[tdindy88]

Makes me wonder what would have happened if INDOT was still in charge of Meridian Street, Washington Street, 38th Street and other formerly commissioned highways through the city. It may not have fixed things entirely but it could have taken a little of the burden off the city.

[silverback1065]

Makes me wonder what would have happened if INDOT was still in charge of Meridian Street, Washington Street, 38th Street and other formerly commissioned highways through the city. It may not have fixed things entirely but it could have taken a little of the burden off the city.

They wouldn't be in trash shape like they are in now. INDOTs roads in the metro area are in excellent shape in comparison.

[silverback1065]

Will SR 15 still be continuous in Goshen, after the US 33 bypass is finished? Also, is SR 4 completely dead in that area?  I thought it was cut back to the city limits a few years ago, creating INDOT's favorite thing, a random end on a SR. 

[NWI_Irish96]

Will SR 15 still be continuous in Goshen, after the US 33 bypass is finished? Also, is SR 4 completely dead in that area?  I thought it was cut back to the city limits a few years ago, creating INDOT's favorite thing, a random end on a SR. 

My parents live in Goshen.  I've not heard any talk of any changes to SR 15 once US 33 is finished.  That's a lot of road that I doubt the city of Goshen is willing to give up.  SR 4 does indeed end at the city limits instead of at Main St. 

[silverback1065]

Will SR 15 still be continuous in Goshen, after the US 33 bypass is finished? Also, is SR 4 completely dead in that area?  I thought it was cut back to the city limits a few years ago, creating INDOT's favorite thing, a random end on a SR. 

My parents live in Goshen.  I've not heard any talk of any changes to SR 15 once US 33 is finished.  That's a lot of road that I doubt the city of Goshen is willing to give up.  SR 4 does indeed end at the city limits instead of at Main St.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5891765,-85.8362849,3a,73.8y,185.06h,93.5t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sb0QimP98OUNz4yfZEHEqcg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Db0QimP98OUNz4yfZEHEqcg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D6.443623%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

i hope this is just coming down due to a detour 

[silverback1065]

looks to be the case for now.  looking around on street view

[Great Lakes Roads]

Interesting article on the contractors on I-69 and its proposed law...

Article:
https://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/indianapolis/lawmakers-cite-i-69-delays-in-effort-to-change-how-state-contractors-are-selected

[silverback1065]

I called INDOT a few months ago about how US 35 isn't signed well, I just got a call back from them.  US 35 will have new signs added at the US 31 interchange and new guide signs added in the area too, so now it will be obvious that US 35 shoots east from US 31 there! 

[silverback1065]

Also, there may be a new state road connecting the port of indiana with i-265. 

[NWI_Irish96]

Also, there may be a new state road connecting the port of indiana with i-265. 

Interesting.  I hadn't heard this.  Would it be making a state highway out of Port Rd or would it be a new road?

[silverback1065]

Also, there may be a new state road connecting the port of indiana with i-265. 

Interesting.  I hadn't heard this.  Would it be making a state highway out of Port Rd or would it be a new road?

I should emphasize the MAY, INDOT is planning a "heavy hall truck corridor" to provide a connection for trucks from i-265 to the port of Indiana, it looks like it is going to happen, but it's still in the very early phases, they have a few alternatives being considered, and one is to simply upgrade port road.  I asked them via email if this means a new state road and this is what they told me:

It is too early to know for sure at this point. INDOT is working to receive federal approval for the route, which we do not have at this time, in which the public hearing and completing the environmental document are a significant part of the process. Until INDOT requests and subsequently receives federal approval for the heavy haul transportation corridor, it would not be appropriate to comment on the route numbering or signage.

[silverback1065]

here is the website: http://www.in.gov/indot/3689.htm

there is a public meeting soon for the project.

[NWI_Irish96]

IN 365 makes sense if they do designate it.  Hopefully a part of the project would be fixing the disastrous error of routing traffic from EB 265 to Port Rd though the grade-level roundabout at 10th St.  That thing is a mess.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Work is starting to ramp up again as we get close to the end of winter.

One of the bigger trouble spots will be on Indiana 51 (Ripley Street) at the Burns Ditch bridge in Lake Station (for reference, that's immediately north of the Borman/Toll Road interchange.) Starting March 5, lane shifts and restrictions will be in place. Southbound traffic will be down to one lane, sharing one side of the bridge with northbound traffic, which will maintain two lanes. Old Hobart Road will be closed at the intersection with Indiana 51 for the duration of the project. No ramps nearby will be affected. However, it is strongly recommended to use Indiana 249 if you need a gas stop or access to the beaches (I-65 to US 12 is another option if you plan to go to Miller or West Beach). This project is slated for October completion.

Two sets of bridges on the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/90) will be (or already are) under construction. The first set will be the CSX bridge located just east of the Lake Station interchange, and the other set will be the pair over Indiana 149. The latter will require a complete closure of Indiana 149 for a few months. Because of the Indiana 51 work mentioned above, the official detour will require US 20, Indiana 49, and US 6.

I-65 widening work between US 30 and Indiana 2 is set to begin again. This time around, there will be work on the concrete section between US 231 and US 30 (barrels are in place this time around). The original plan to shift all lanes toward the inner shoulder to allow for placement of an extra lane and a new outer shoulder will still be implemented. However, I read somewhere that when that is done, traffic will be shifted onto the new pavement so that crews can complete any necessary repairs to the present lanes.

Further south at the Kankakee River bridge, a new traffic pattern will be in place this season. Northbound traffic will shift to share traffic with the newly re-decked southbound bridge as a new northbound deck will be built. All work is still on target to end before November 2018.

[silverback1065]

thursday 3/22/18 there will be a public meeting on the 65 widening from SR 2 to US 30, at Crown Point High School, to update the public on the progress of the project.  It's from 5-7pm

[silverback1065]

Just saw a presentation on the 69/465 NE side interchange. They have selected a modified alternative c for design.  Check it out here: http://www.in.gov/indot/3654.htm

Basic thing they're doing is separating all local and interstate to interstate movements.

Expect them to start blowing stuff up in March of 2020. Can't wait to see this done, worst bottleneck in the city!

[mgk920]

Just saw a presentation on the 69/465 NE side interchange. They have selected a modified alternative c for design.  Check it out here: http://www.in.gov/indot/3654.htm

Basic thing they're doing is separating all local and interstate to interstate movements.

Expect them to start blowing stuff up in March of 2020. Can't wait to see this done, worst bottleneck in the city!

What is/are the modification(s) in alternative 'C' from what is shown in that linked site?

I do agree that alternative 'C' is the best option with there being little likelihood of any substantial upgrades being made in the Binfield corridor 'in' from I-465 within the planning period.

Mike

[silverback1065]

Just saw a presentation on the 69/465 NE side interchange. They have selected a modified alternative c for design.  Check it out here: http://www.in.gov/indot/3654.htm

Basic thing they're doing is separating all local and interstate to interstate movements.

Expect them to start blowing stuff up in March of 2020. Can't wait to see this done, worst bottleneck in the city!

What is/are the modification(s) in alternative 'C' from what is shown in that linked site?

I do agree that alternative 'C' is the best option with there being little likelihood of any substantial upgrades being made in the Binfield corridor 'in' from I-465 within the planning period.

Mike

Apologies, the Alternative C seen there is the unmodified version, the one i saw has the South 69 to Binford being moved way over to the left going west of the massive fly around 69 South uses to get to South 465.  After listening to their presentation, this interchange is insanely complicated, there are so many movements to consider.  They said that the key is to separate interstate to interstate movements from local movements (interstate to any of the surface streets nearby)  the signal is there for South Binford to slow people down for the left turn many use at 75th.  The other alternatives required 3 level bridge crossings.  The death loop replacement will be a flyunder ramp that is 2 lanes wide, and will have a 45 mph design speed (wish it were higher).  Death loop stays but will just go to 82nd, it will be reconstructed, but won't change in design speed radius, etc.  there will be 2 lanes going to Allisonville from east and westbound, with one being exclusive, and the other being a straight or exit lane (called a decision lane).  465 will be between 10-12 lanes wide, with 8 of them being though lanes.  Likely will see some 1 arrow per lane signs in the area.

[silverback1065]

465 north to 69 north will be 3 lanes, 69 south to 465 south will be 3 lanes, not sure if the merge or die will go away.  Project is just about to hit stage 1 (20%) complete.  Allisonville Road bridge will not be touched. There will be a narrower center median shoulder in that area.

[theline]

If I interpreted the maps correctly, it seems that this reworking of the interchange will provide a bonus for I-69 traffic. Once 69 is completed from Bloomington to Indy and it's signed along 465, southbound I-69 will be the "through" movement throughout the interchange. All other movements (82nd St, I-465 West, and Binford Blvd.) will be right exits off the mainline, the ramp that continues on to merge with 465 south.

BTW, does anybody have a count on how many times this intersection has undergone major reconstructions since the original construction? I've been driving through the intersection on a semi-regular basis for about 50 years. Non living in the city, I'm not too familiar with the history, but my experience leads me to believe it's been reworked several times.

[Beltway]

I was always under the impression that I-74 was planned to go through the city, with how the original cloverleaf interchanges at I-465 were laid out feeding directly into major surface streets 'in' from I-465 and how the downtown area has that neat-looking incomplete freeway rectangle.  Have I-74 connect into it from the east at the south I-65/70 split and from the west at the I-65 curve by 11th/California.
Mike

How about the unbuilt west leg of the inner loop freeway around the downtown, wasn't that originally planned as I-265?

[tdindy88]

BTW, does anybody have a count on how many times this intersection has undergone major reconstructions since the original construction? I've been driving through the intersection on a semi-regular basis for about 50 years. Non living in the city, I'm not too familiar with the history, but my experience leads me to believe it's been reworked several times.

Going by aerial photography from the City of Indianapolis is appears that the interchange has not changed its configuration at all since first being constructed. There was a project about ten years ago that changed the lane configuration along I-69 just north of the I-465 interchange which allowed for slightly better merging going north and configured the southbound approach so that there were two lanes going onto WB 465 as well as SB 465. As others might mention the reconstruction of the interchange with the local-express set up was original proposed when they rebuilt I-465 from US 31 past Keystone and toward Allisonville but scrapped for budget reasons or whatever. So they are simply doing something they had promised to do ten years ago now. But other than the aforementioned lane changes along I-69 there has been little change to the interchange itself, this would be the first radical change in design ever.

[captkirk_4]

Drove US 231 from Crawfordsville to Lafayette on Thursday afternoon and it was completely over capacity for a two lane highway. Both directions were non-stop columns of cars, not a single gap ever occurred in which one could do a safe pass. I felt sorry for some car waiting in a rural driveway down in a creek bed where the winding road and rising terrain had no more that 200 feet visibility in either direction. They were waiting for how long for any gap in the traffic to make a desperate turn onto the road which may have 60mph traffic coming around the trees at any second. Lafayette has absolutely terrible road access to westbound I-74 for freight and passenger vehicles. Hoosier Heartland Highway is sort of a road to nowhere, it dumps you right in Lafayette with no easy access through the city on to a further southwest movement. It's almost easier to continue on US24 from Logansport all the way to I-57. Not a well thought out regional highway plan.

[Revive 755]

How about the unbuilt west leg of the inner loop freeway around the downtown, wasn't that originally planned as I-265?

First I've heard about an I-265 for Indianapolis.

On a related note - I found this 1958 CBD plan online today, which has a map showing some of the downtown Indianapolis loop.

[Beltway]

How about the unbuilt west leg of the inner loop freeway around the downtown, wasn't that originally planned as I-265?

First I've heard about an I-265 for Indianapolis.
On a related note - I found this 1958 CBD plan online today, which has a map showing some of the downtown Indianapolis loop.

That has maps showing a west leg of the inner loop.  Maybe it was I-270 or I-165, I don't recall exactly.