Indiana Notes

[silverback1065]

Southbound and westbound I-465 on the southeast side opened up last night, completeing the planned construction along that stretch. I drove through there late at night and I guess the roadway feels fine, probably the same as it did before but I'll take their word that the road's in good shape for the winter.

I noticed that all the road signs were redone, even though in my opinion they really didn't have to. While the majority of signs are still looking good I saw the northbound I-465 signs for the I-70 interchange on the east side and they do not look good. It's hard to describe without pictures but they changed a series of perfectly good road signs and...screwed up the positioning of the control destinations for the I-70 exit. The signs are probably now Indiana's leading candidate for "Worst of Road Signs."

It's a shame too since they didn't need to be changed at all. Meanwhile I-65 from I-465 to the South Split still has button copy signage that has been there for many years and despite that roadway being closed at certain points this summer they were not changed at all. Of course if you like button copy that's probably a good thing.

Meanwhile there's still lots of outstanding paving and line markings to be put on various interstates around the city but we should be done with full closures at this point.

they didnt do the north split because that reconstruction project starts next fall. i wish they'd put us 421 on the i-74 exit 49 sign.

[jhuntin1]

Southbound and westbound I-465 on the southeast side opened up last night, completeing the planned construction along that stretch. I drove through there late at night and I guess the roadway feels fine, probably the same as it did before but I'll take their word that the road's in good shape for the winter.

INDOT did an enormous amount of concrete patching on I-465 and the on/off ramps during the closure. And for as much as I complained about the Southeastern Ave. ramps being closed, they did amazing work on patching them and the road itself. If you have a chance to drive it during the day, you'll notice all the new concrete. It looks like they did way more on the westbound lanes than the eastbound lanes from the previous closure.

[tdindy88]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

[silverback1065]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

They fucked those signs up !

[MNHighwayMan]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

Indiana now trying to compete with Oklahoma for awfulness.

[sprjus4]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

Someone needs to be fired... 

Does anybody know what "centering" is?

[SSR_317]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

Someone needs to be fired... 

Does anybody know what "centering" is?

Here in Indiana, apparently they now think that centering is a "liburl plot"!

[tdindy88]

The reality is that the vast majority of Indiana signs are actually good. See the recent I-69 construction around Bloomington and US 31 through Carmel and Westfield. The standards are quite good all things considering. But this particular job was just done bad and ultimately just unnecessary. The only changes that were actually made was the font size of the cardinal directions and a brighter tint of yellow in the "exit only" tabs. Nothing that required messing up the rest of the sign. All the I-70 sign at the Washington Street exit needed was a newer looking I-70 shield, you did not need to change the positioning of the destinations at all. And now since the state hates having to go back and change things we probably have to look at this for the next 20 years. Ugh. 

[Interstate 69 Fan]

I went ahead and took a few pictures this morning of some of the "improved" signs approaching I-70 on I-465 on the east side.

They've done that on the south side too.

[paulthemapguy]

The reality is that the vast majority of Indiana signs are actually good. See the recent I-69 construction around Bloomington and US 31 through Carmel and Westfield. The standards are quite good all things considering. But this particular job was just done bad and ultimately just unnecessary. The only changes that were actually made was the font size of the cardinal directions and a brighter tint of yellow in the "exit only" tabs. Nothing that required messing up the rest of the sign. All the I-70 sign at the Washington Street exit needed was a newer looking I-70 shield, you did not need to change the positioning of the destinations at all. And now since the state hates having to go back and change things we probably have to look at this for the next 20 years. Ugh.

So an array of brand-new installs is not a basis for judging a state's signage quality overall LOL.  That's like if I judged a car company's performance by only looking at the cars produced just this past year.  Wow!  You mean all their 2019 models are still doing well?  Sounds like a stellar company!

[sprjus4]

The centering is way off in some of those signs, but at least it follows a uniform, standard setup overall.

Here in Chesapeake, VA, they think the distance goes in the exit tab - https://www.google.com/maps/@36.7522062,-76.2774593,3a,37.5y,251.82h,86.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8dTyrcscRdu32lWp0tJlyw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

This highway was recently widened from a 2-lane road into a 4-lane freeway, and most of the signs they used on it are horrendous, and definitely not uniform. Centered, but worse overall than these examples IMO.

[silverback1065]

Anyone in the northern part of the state know anything about the SR 912 Bridge Replacement project status? 

[Beltway]

Anyone in the northern part of the state know anything about the SR 912 Bridge Replacement project status? 

Substructure fully complete, and superstructure maybe 20% complete, when I rode thru the project in July.

[silverback1065]

Anyone in the northern part of the state know anything about the SR 912 Bridge Replacement project status? 

Substructure fully complete, and superstructure maybe 20%, when I rode thru the project in July.

Will this be a 4 lane limited access facility?

[Beltway]

The project announcements said 2 lanes.

[silverback1065]

The project announcements said 2 lanes.

Geeze that's crazy. But it's no longer a state road. Which is also crazy.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/tentative-timeline-set-for-high-tech-upgrades-on-i-69-and-i-469/

Good news from INDOT for the NE side of the state! The ITS system will be installed/expanded along I-69 between S.R. 26 in Grant County (MM 256) towards the Michigan state line and along the whole length of I-469 in Allen County. To be completed by 2024 and will include closed circuit cameras at interchanges, speed and traffic volume sensors at interchanges, and dynamic message boards at various locations.

Once that is done, there will be 4 major areas with ITS system installed within the state: NW Indiana, Indianapolis, NE Indiana, and Louisville with the minor area being Seymour/Columbus.

[ibthebigd]

What is an ITS system is that cable barriers?

SM-G950U

[silverback1065]

What is an ITS system is that cable barriers?

SM-G950U

It stands for "intelligent transportation system" it's used to get travel time info and traffic camera data. Those blue "current travel time to" signs are one use of the system. Also the vms boards

[westerninterloper]

What is an ITS system is that cable barriers?

SM-G950U

It stands for "intelligent transportation system" it's used to get travel time info and traffic camera data. Those blue "current travel time to" signs are one use of the system. Also the vms boards

That's good news for me, I travel I-69 and 469 regularly, and those systems are a good early warning of stopped traffic, without checking online 

[NWI_Irish96]

The project announcements said 2 lanes.

Geeze that's crazy. But it's no longer a state road. Which is also crazy.

No longer a state road because the state is not building the bridge.  It's being financed privately and paid via tolls.  What I am assuming but haven't seen stated by either INDOT or the bridge owner, is that it will not be signed as IN 912 since INDOT doesn't sign roads they don't maintain.  So it seems as though we will have two separate IN 912 4-lane freeways linked by a two-lane, unsigned bridge.

Side note: one very weird thing about IN 912 is that, since the old bridge got demolished, the freeway is closed EB between Calumet and Riley but open WB, making it a rather unique one-way only state highway.

[silverback1065]

The project announcements said 2 lanes.

Geeze that's crazy. But it's no longer a state road. Which is also crazy.

No longer a state road because the state is not building the bridge.  It's being financed privately and paid via tolls.  What I am assuming but haven't seen stated by either INDOT or the bridge owner, is that it will not be signed as IN 912 since INDOT doesn't sign roads they don't maintain.  So it seems as though we will have two separate IN 912 4-lane freeways linked by a two-lane, unsigned bridge.

Side note: one very weird thing about IN 912 is that, since the old bridge got demolished, the freeway is closed EB between Calumet and Riley but open WB, making it a rather unique one-way only state highway.

912 is probably the weirdest state highway Indiana has. Honestly all of the 900 series highways are weird in their own part. 900 basically means indot really doesn't want it, but the locals refuse to take possession. 912 could have been i-x90/80/94

[Rothman]

That whole situation sounds nuts.

[NWI_Irish96]

The project announcements said 2 lanes.

Geeze that's crazy. But it's no longer a state road. Which is also crazy.

No longer a state road because the state is not building the bridge.  It's being financed privately and paid via tolls.  What I am assuming but haven't seen stated by either INDOT or the bridge owner, is that it will not be signed as IN 912 since INDOT doesn't sign roads they don't maintain.  So it seems as though we will have two separate IN 912 4-lane freeways linked by a two-lane, unsigned bridge.

Side note: one very weird thing about IN 912 is that, since the old bridge got demolished, the freeway is closed EB between Calumet and Riley but open WB, making it a rather unique one-way only state highway.

912 is probably the weirdest state highway Indiana has. Honestly all of the 900 series highways are weird in their own part. 900 basically means indot really doesn't want it, but the locals refuse to take possession. 912 could have been i-x90/80/94

930, 931 and 933 are earlier routings of US 30, 31 and 33 that were bypassed within the last 30 years, and yes, INDOT would probably prefer that the local jurisdictions take them over.

912, however, has been around for a long time.  A 1958 map of Lake County shows IN 912, running from Indianapolis/129th, along 129th, Dickey, Michigan (EC), Guthrie, Cline, Michigan (H), and Kennedy until ending at Kennedy/Ridge.

I don't know the origin of choosing a 900 series for the road, but it long predates the other 900 series routes.

[silverback1065]

933 is hanging on by a thread. Its current routing after the South Bend construction is very weird and not signed well. 931 in St Joseph county is also supposed to be given over to local control (I swear I read this somewhere last yr). 931 in Kokomo I've read didn't turn over because Kokomo wanted a ton of money to Carmelize it (keystone parkway). 930 is just kind of there, indot likes to pretend it doesn't exist.