Indiana Notes

[Revive 755]

Chicago tends to do that. Every Interstate in or out of the area is very busy with trucks. I-65, which of course feeds into I-80/94, being a prime example.

Though based on IDOT's ADT map, I-88 has a much lower volume of trucks from about the western IL 56 interchange near Sugar Grove to the DeKalb area where the truck volume seems to pick back up.

[hobsini2]

Chicago tends to do that. Every Interstate in or out of the area is very busy with trucks. I-65, which of course feeds into I-80/94, being a prime example.

Though based on IDOT's ADT map, I-88 has a much lower volume of trucks from about the western IL 56 interchange near Sugar Grove to the DeKalb area where the truck volume seems to pick back up.

Well there maybe a good reason for that. If one is going from say Moline to the south side of Elgin, I could see one using 88 to Peace Rd and then 38 East to Randall Rd over I-39 to I-90.
Google maps even suggest doing so via 88, 39, 64 and Plank Rd, 20 or 88, Peace Rd, Barber Greene Rd, County Line Rd, Ramm Rd, 47, Plato Rd, Muirhead Rd, Russell Rd, 20.

[PurdueBill]

Indiana's ambition to attract investment from the semi-conductor industry is detailed in a major New York Times' article that appeared today.

Considering how large the LEAP Innovation District is planned to be, and the potential linkage of companies that locate there to Purdue University, it seems obvious that I-65 between Lebanon and Lafayette will become increasingly important. Will we soon see a major push to widen I-65 in its entirety to three lanes in each direction between the two cities?

It would be cost prohibitive to do the section between I-465 and I-865, but other than that, there will only be 22 miles left, between IN 47 and IN 38, left to do. My guess is that segment gets done within the next 4-6 years.

I think the widening of I-65 between SR 47 and SR 38 is going to move to the forefront. Maybe not this year or next, but soon forthcoming. It's a largely rural stretch, with only one interchange, at SR 28, so it won't be outrageously expensive. Even so, at roughly $30 million a mile in present dollars, it's a $600 to 650 million project. Five years from now, it will probably be upwards of $750 million.

Even if INDOT widens the whole stretch of I-65 from Lafayette to Indy to three lanes, Purdue still sort of ends up feeling a bit disconnected from the interstate highway. It's not like those other big Midwestern universities, where they're conveniently close to the highways. Here, after you hop off I-65, you've got this whole drive through Lafayette before you can even reach the campus. So, maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to consider a shortcut — like a direct route connecting US 231 to I-65, south of Lafayette.

Getting to Camp Randall in Madison is not that easy either. After exiting the Belt Line (12-18) at John Nolen, you go up to North Shore Dr (151), then west to where it becomes Regent St to get to the stadium directly. We usually park off Broom & Johnson then walk the 9 blocks to the stadium.

Sorry for the tangent.

According to Google Maps, the trip from Camp Randall to the freeway entrance at John Nolen spans about 3.4 miles, which takes roughly 9 minutes to drive. Plus, the entire route is on a road with at least 4 lanes. Now, when we look at Purdue, the distance from Ross-Ade to the I-65 entrance on IN-26 is about 6 miles, taking around 20 minutes to drive, and portions of the route have just one lane in each direction. It's pretty clear that being a Badgers fan comes with some transportation luck.

INDOT missed the boat on the rerouting of US 52 and also on what would have been a more easily advertised route to Purdue from I-65.  Veterans Memorial Parkway, formerly CR 350S and 475E, connects to IN 38 (actually extending all the way up to IN 26 by Meijer) and makes a reasonable bypass around the south side of Lafayette to reach Purdue from I-65 NB (exit at SR 38, go west, left on Veterans Memorial, right on US 231 and up to the west side of the campus (or turn on River Road, at where 231 used to curve onto it, to get to West Lafayette proper).  This would be reasonable except development went wild on 350S such that it is congested and slow a lot of the time--but still it makes a lot more sense than taking the US 52 routing across Teal Road which brings you back down to US 231 anyway.  Why INDOT didn't route 52 across 350S I will never understand.  Advertising taking 38 to Veterans Memorial to 231 may not be worth it as Veterans Memorial gets so congested, but building a parallel bypass seems like something that may not be worth it with routes already available.

Getting to IU used to be terrible with the signals and so forth on 37, and access from 37 to the campus slow, but I-69 will improve that.  Notre Dame has it made as far as Interstate access.  The road that they built across the tailgating White Lot leads right to straight across from the Toll Road entrance, a boon for access on game days as well as in general.  Parking near the stadium one year and in the White Lot several other years (as a visiting fan) before that road was built, the postgame traffic was much more sketchy.

[tosa]

I think eventually they are going to extend the 231 bypass up to 65. 

This project has actually been on the table for more than ten years, but INDOT has never really put the funding into it. And it's meant to extend US 231 northward, so it doesn't exactly address the Purdue-to-Indy highway link.

[tosa]

Indiana's ambition to attract investment from the semi-conductor industry is detailed in a major New York Times' article that appeared today.

Considering how large the LEAP Innovation District is planned to be, and the potential linkage of companies that locate there to Purdue University, it seems obvious that I-65 between Lebanon and Lafayette will become increasingly important. Will we soon see a major push to widen I-65 in its entirety to three lanes in each direction between the two cities?

It would be cost prohibitive to do the section between I-465 and I-865, but other than that, there will only be 22 miles left, between IN 47 and IN 38, left to do. My guess is that segment gets done within the next 4-6 years.

I think the widening of I-65 between SR 47 and SR 38 is going to move to the forefront. Maybe not this year or next, but soon forthcoming. It's a largely rural stretch, with only one interchange, at SR 28, so it won't be outrageously expensive. Even so, at roughly $30 million a mile in present dollars, it's a $600 to 650 million project. Five years from now, it will probably be upwards of $750 million.

Even if INDOT widens the whole stretch of I-65 from Lafayette to Indy to three lanes, Purdue still sort of ends up feeling a bit disconnected from the interstate highway. It's not like those other big Midwestern universities, where they're conveniently close to the highways. Here, after you hop off I-65, you've got this whole drive through Lafayette before you can even reach the campus. So, maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to consider a shortcut — like a direct route connecting US 231 to I-65, south of Lafayette.

Getting to Camp Randall in Madison is not that easy either. After exiting the Belt Line (12-18) at John Nolen, you go up to North Shore Dr (151), then west to where it becomes Regent St to get to the stadium directly. We usually park off Broom & Johnson then walk the 9 blocks to the stadium.

Sorry for the tangent.

According to Google Maps, the trip from Camp Randall to the freeway entrance at John Nolen spans about 3.4 miles, which takes roughly 9 minutes to drive. Plus, the entire route is on a road with at least 4 lanes. Now, when we look at Purdue, the distance from Ross-Ade to the I-65 entrance on IN-26 is about 6 miles, taking around 20 minutes to drive, and portions of the route have just one lane in each direction. It's pretty clear that being a Badgers fan comes with some transportation luck.

INDOT missed the boat on the rerouting of US 52 and also on what would have been a more easily advertised route to Purdue from I-65.  Veterans Memorial Parkway, formerly CR 350S and 475E, connects to IN 38 (actually extending all the way up to IN 26 by Meijer) and makes a reasonable bypass around the south side of Lafayette to reach Purdue from I-65 NB (exit at SR 38, go west, left on Veterans Memorial, right on US 231 and up to the west side of the campus (or turn on River Road, at where 231 used to curve onto it, to get to West Lafayette proper).  This would be reasonable except development went wild on 350S such that it is congested and slow a lot of the time--but still it makes a lot more sense than taking the US 52 routing across Teal Road which brings you back down to US 231 anyway.  Why INDOT didn't route 52 across 350S I will never understand.  Advertising taking 38 to Veterans Memorial to 231 may not be worth it as Veterans Memorial gets so congested, but building a parallel bypass seems like something that may not be worth it with routes already available.

Getting to IU used to be terrible with the signals and so forth on 37, and access from 37 to the campus slow, but I-69 will improve that.  Notre Dame has it made as far as Interstate access.  The road that they built across the tailgating White Lot leads right to straight across from the Toll Road entrance, a boon for access on game days as well as in general.  Parking near the stadium one year and in the White Lot several other years (as a visiting fan) before that road was built, the postgame traffic was much more sketchy.

I think INDOT really focused on redirecting US 52 onto the new 231 stretch that curves around Purdue's campus. But, here's the thing: Veterans Memorial actually falls under Lafayette's jurisdiction, and the only road they officially own in that zone is Teal Road. So, for them, it was just easier to designate Teal as the new 52 instead of getting into negotiations with the city to take over VMR.

Now, talking about using VMR as the connection route, like you mentioned, there have been a lot of big developments along that route, making it supercrowded. Plus, almost half of it needs to be widened to four lanes, which includes putting in a whole new railroad overpass — a pricey affair. And even if VMR gets expanded all the way to four lanes, the road still wouldn't make for a speedy corridor from Purdue to I-65. The heavy congestion, all those traffic lights, that tight right turn onto 38, and even the left turn onto the I-65 entrance ramp would all slow things down.

So, my idea is something like the 231 extension up north. What if they built a fresh road that goes through that undeveloped southern area, keeping intersections and stop lights to a minimum? And to top it off, a new interchange in between the IN-28 and 38 interchanges, could connect it straight to I-65.

[I-55]

I think INDOT really focused on redirecting US 52 onto the new 231 stretch that curves around Purdue's campus. But, here's the thing: Veterans Memorial actually falls under Lafayette's jurisdiction, and the only road they officially own in that zone is Teal Road. So, for them, it was just easier to designate Teal as the new 52 instead of getting into negotiations with the city to take over VMR.

The fact most people miss is that Teal Rd used to be the alignment of SR 25 prior to truncating routes outside the city. When US 231 was completed, they simply kept US 52 on a route they already owned. Not to mention they would've turned over 2.5 miles of four lane highway (Sagamore Pky) to the city as well as potentially the same distance along SR 38 if it were to follow VMR.

Now, talking about using VMR as the connection route, like you mentioned, there have been a lot of big developments along that route, making it supercrowded. Plus, almost half of it needs to be widened to four lanes, which includes putting in a whole new railroad overpass — a pricey affair. And even if VMR gets expanded all the way to four lanes, the road still wouldn't make for a speedy corridor from Purdue to I-65. The heavy congestion, all those traffic lights, that tight right turn onto 38, and even the left turn onto the I-65 entrance ramp would all slow things down.

Due to the extra length of going around the south side of town, any fast route would need to be at least 55 mph to be any bit effective. Coming from the south, if you stay on I-65, the best way is without a doubt South Street, as you travel NW at 65 mph and have less city street to navigate. Coming from 52 is different, but the only parts of campus where taking 52 is quicker to Indy than I-65 are within 500' of the US 231 bypass. Anything else tries to put you on the interstate via either South Street or Main Street to SR 38 (and this applies to almost all of WL for that matter too).

So, my idea is something like the 231 extension up north. What if they built a fresh road that goes through that undeveloped southern area, keeping intersections and stop lights to a minimum? And to top it off, a new interchange in between the IN-28 and 38 interchanges, could connect it straight to I-65.

A bypass extension that swings by Harrison HS and ties into I-65 would be my dream senior design project this year. This would also take a lot of load off of the Sagamore Pky bridge (at least while River Rd is closed) and eventually some of the 2-lane routes on the north side of town.

[PurdueBill]

I think INDOT really focused on redirecting US 52 onto the new 231 stretch that curves around Purdue's campus. But, here's the thing: Veterans Memorial actually falls under Lafayette's jurisdiction, and the only road they officially own in that zone is Teal Road. So, for them, it was just easier to designate Teal as the new 52 instead of getting into negotiations with the city to take over VMR.

The fact most people miss is that Teal Rd used to be the alignment of SR 25 prior to truncating routes outside the city. When US 231 was completed, they simply kept US 52 on a route they already owned. Not to mention they would've turned over 2.5 miles of four lane highway (Sagamore Pky) to the city as well as potentially the same distance along SR 38 if it were to follow VMR.

Now, talking about using VMR as the connection route, like you mentioned, there have been a lot of big developments along that route, making it supercrowded. Plus, almost half of it needs to be widened to four lanes, which includes putting in a whole new railroad overpass — a pricey affair. And even if VMR gets expanded all the way to four lanes, the road still wouldn't make for a speedy corridor from Purdue to I-65. The heavy congestion, all those traffic lights, that tight right turn onto 38, and even the left turn onto the I-65 entrance ramp would all slow things down.

Due to the extra length of going around the south side of town, any fast route would need to be at least 55 mph to be any bit effective. Coming from the south, if you stay on I-65, the best way is without a doubt South Street, as you travel NW at 65 mph and have less city street to navigate. Coming from 52 is different, but the only parts of campus where taking 52 is quicker to Indy than I-65 are within 500' of the US 231 bypass. Anything else tries to put you on the interstate via either South Street or Main Street to SR 38 (and this applies to almost all of WL for that matter too).

So, my idea is something like the 231 extension up north. What if they built a fresh road that goes through that undeveloped southern area, keeping intersections and stop lights to a minimum? And to top it off, a new interchange in between the IN-28 and 38 interchanges, could connect it straight to I-65.

A bypass extension that swings by Harrison HS and ties into I-65 would be my dream senior design project this year. This would also take a lot of load off of the Sagamore Pky bridge (at least while River Rd is closed) and eventually some of the 2-lane routes on the north side of town.

Indeed, Teal was previously 25 (as it was when I lived there) so it was easier to keep under INDOT's control, but Lordy is it silly to route 52 over it.  No one would actually follow 52 as signed unless they were bound to follow signed state/US routes.  Veterans Memorial used to be out in the county; 350S was once a two-lane county road that moved fast.  In no time, with Lafayette annexing to the south and sprawl extending down there, Veterans Memorial became as congested as Sagamore and 26 (I mean, now South Street). 

An advantage of coming in via 231 despite the longer distance during lower-traffic times where Veterans actually moves along is not having to deal with the very slow State Street in West Lafayette.  While the city wanted to get rid of thru traffic with the deletion of 26 through there, they almost overdid it to where the traffic hardly moves at any time of day--it's like they are saying "go away!"  38 to Main Street dumps you onto Columbia Street just as South Street would, which is fine unless you need to go up State Street to Purdue which stinks now.  Union Street and Harrison Bridge are still better as far as moving; when I lived on the south side of Lafayette in the late 90s I would take 18th Street to Union and over the Harrison Bridge, which moved much better and still seems to.
(A windswept day with flurries in December 2000, I was on the Harrison Bridge as they stopped traffic for a few minutes so a crane parked on the eastbound side and a bucket truck could position the horizontal part of the sign bridge for the River Road exit from the westbound side...it was amazing watching them do that in the wind, and I wish back then I had a camera on me at all times.)

[ITB]

Eventually, at some point a major bypass on the south side of Lafayette will be needed. The Greater Lafayette region has been growing steadily and is now one of Indiana's economic bright spots. While the entire area is seeing growth, development seems more concentrated on the north side of West Lafayette, and on the south side of Lafayette. And, now, with Purdue positioned to play a major factor in the LEAP Innovation District, growth is only likely to accelerate.

Preferably, to me at least, a southern bypass would be a limited access highway, having only two or three intersections (roundabouts?) between I-65 and US 231. Taking future growth into consideration, it seems the interchange at I-65 is best placed well south of the SR 38 interchange, perhaps as far south as County Road 900S. As such, the bypass would curve in a northwesterly direction toward 231 and West Lafayette.

If built, this bypass would probably quickly become the preferred route for travelers from the Indianapolis region to West Lafayette. Bear in mind, too, the movers and shakers of Greater Lafayette, and particularly Purdue, are striving to bring back commercial air service to Purdue University Airport. Since US231/US52 is the main road providing access to the airport, a southern bypass would further enhance airport connectivity, particularly from points south. And, as any airport planner will tell you, better access to the airport is, well, important.

It seems it's only a matter of time, not an if, before a push emerges for a southern bypass around Lafayette.

[The Ghostbuster]

I believe the US 52/US 231 Lafayette Bypass should have had a direct connection to Interstate 65 to begin with, like the IN 25 expressway does. Maybe US 52 should have remained on Sagamore Pkwy. since Teal Rd. is a narrow two-lane roadway that is unupgradable.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Big heads up for any of you regularly traveling from NW Indiana to Chicago.

Starting as early as September 5, and lasting up to three weeks, the ramp connecting I-65 north to I-80/94 west in Gary will be CLOSED to traffic as one of the final steps of the ongoing concrete restoration project. The scope and intensity of work was enough for INDOT to justify a full closure, versus keeping one lane open for traffic. They felt this was the safest and quickest way to get the work done in a smaller time window.

With that said, the official detour calls for I-65 northbound traffic to head to US 12/20 west and return to I-80/94 west via Cline. If you're willing to spend a decent chunk of change and heading to Chicago, it may be best to use the Indiana Toll Road/Chicago Skyway, even with the bridge restoration work still in progress west of Cline.

Any of you coming from Indianapolis-Lafayette should strongly consider using US 24 west to I-57 for Chicago and points west, since there will be major backups on the arterials in the immediate area.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Big heads up for any of you regularly traveling from NW Indiana to Chicago.

Starting as early as September 5, and lasting up to three weeks, the ramp connecting I-65 north to I-80/94 west in Gary will be CLOSED to traffic as one of the final steps of the ongoing concrete restoration project. The scope and intensity of work was enough for INDOT to justify a full closure, versus keeping one lane open for traffic. They felt this was the safest and quickest way to get the work done in a smaller time window.

With that said, the official detour calls for I-65 northbound traffic to head to US 12/20 west and return to I-80/94 west via Cline. If you're willing to spend a decent chunk of change and heading to Chicago, it may be best to use the Indiana Toll Road/Chicago Skyway, even with the bridge restoration work still in progress west of Cline.

Any of you coming from Indianapolis-Lafayette should strongly consider using US 24 west to I-57 for Chicago and points west, since there will be major backups on the arterials in the immediate area.

Definitely a good move by INDOT! 

[tosa]

My big dream for the Lafayette bypass would be an interstate 665 (since 265, 465, and 865 are already taken in Indiana) that stretches across the southern, western, and northern parts of Greater Lafayette. Back when they were initially planning the new 231, I recall there was a consideration for an elevated section with interchanges at 25, 26, and 52. However, that idea was eventually dropped, likely due to cost and challenges in connecting the areas that the road would have separated.

[74/171FAN]

^I-655 would have to be part of a very long Illiana Tollway.     (yes, I understand that it is a typo for I-665)

[tosa]

^I-655 would have to be part of a very long Illiana Tollway.     (yes, I understand that it is a typo for I-665)

Ah, my bad.

[silverback1065]

I believe there is a state law that says all bypasses must be limited access now. this appears to be mostly true as all the bypasses I have seen INDOT do in the past few years have been or have had very limited access points. i wish 52 stayed where it was. originally though teal was supposed to be 52/26/25, but this was dropped and only 52 remains.

[Revive 755]

Any of you coming from Indianapolis-Lafayette should strongly consider using US 24 west to I-57 for Chicago and points west, since there will be major backups on the arterials in the immediate area.

Maybe if there is nothing messing up I-57 around Kankakee.  Given the lack of good alternates around Kankakee I would try using US 41 and some east-west roadways a little farther north than US  24.

[NWI_Irish96]

Any of you coming from Indianapolis-Lafayette should strongly consider using US 24 west to I-57 for Chicago and points west, since there will be major backups on the arterials in the immediate area.

Maybe if there is nothing messing up I-57 around Kankakee.  Given the lack of good alternates around Kankakee I would try using US 41 and some east-west roadways a little farther north than US  24.

I've found the best Indy-Chicago alternative to be 74 -> 41 -> 109th Ave -> Calumet Ave -> 101st Ave/Exchange Ave -> 394

[SSR_317]

I believe there is a state law that says all bypasses must be limited access now. this appears to be mostly true as all the bypasses I have seen INDOT do in the past few years have been or have had very limited access points. i wish 52 stayed where it was. originally though teal was supposed to be 52/26/25, but this was dropped and only 52 remains.

That requirement stemmed from the US 30 Bypass debacle in Fort Wayne. When originally built along the Beuter Road and California Road alignments in the 1950s, the Bypass (later named Coliseum Boulevard) was not built with full access control. Speculation back then was the politicians had bought up all the land on either side and stood to profit massively from development, which was inevitable. And they wanted direct access to those properties from the new road. Of course that roadway quickly became busier than the thru-town routing of US 30 that it replaced. When I-469 was built nearer the end of the century, it became the REAL (if a bit out-of-the way) bypass of the Summit City. But INDOT finally learned its lesson and started building all new bypasses with full access control.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://i65safetyandefficiency.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I-65-Safety-and-Efficiency_Presentation.pdf

Here's an update on the I-65 Safety and Efficiency project south of Indy between I-465 and I-70.

[Great Lakes Roads]

So it looks like the new exit at CR 300 N will replace the existing US 52 interchange and will have 52 be rerouted to this new exit to get back onto its old alignment.

https://iedc.in.gov/leap-lebanon

Check that link for a map. Kind of weird if you ask me, but I think it's to provide a full access interchange which the current one does not do.

SR 32 will also be realigned to be way south of where it is now.

The map shows the current NB entrance and SB exit ramps will be kept. It doesn't make sense to me, why not remove all the ramps and build an overpass?

https://www.52at65.com/public-involvement

And the new interchange will be...  a DIVERGING DIAMOND (DDI)! Also, has INDOT built a green T intersection somewhere in the state?

[silverback1065]

INDOT Loves diverging diamonds 

[Great Lakes Roads]

INDOT Loves diverging diamonds 

And roundabouts too! 

[ilpt4u]

So it looks like the new exit at CR 300 N will replace the existing US 52 interchange and will have 52 be rerouted to this new exit to get back onto its old alignment.

https://iedc.in.gov/leap-lebanon

Check that link for a map. Kind of weird if you ask me, but I think it's to provide a full access interchange which the current one does not do.

SR 32 will also be realigned to be way south of where it is now.

The map shows the current NB entrance and SB exit ramps will be kept. It doesn't make sense to me, why not remove all the ramps and build an overpass?

https://www.52at65.com/public-involvement

And the new interchange will be...  a DIVERGING DIAMOND (DDI)! Also, has INDOT built a green T intersection somewhere in the state?

Don't know if they have built/opened one, but they made a Facebook post about them back in July: https://www.facebook.com/100064643293491/posts/649481747216596

[nwi_navigator_1181]

With construction work suspended for the Labor Day Weekend, here's where we stand with ongoing projects in NW Indiana...

Work on I-65 between I-80/94 and 61st Avenue is wrapping up on the mainline, but two major ramps are currently or will be affected for the next few weeks. As mentioned above, work on the ramp from I-65 north to I-80/94 westbound begins as early as this Tuesday, resulting in a complete closure of the ramp for three weeks. I erred when I mentioned the official detour last time I mentioned this; the actual detour requires traffic to use US 12/20 EAST to Indiana 51 south, entering I-80/94 west from that interchange. I still contend that the Toll Road will be faster to Chicago if you have money in the till, or if you're coming from a long range, find a faraway entry point into the city, whether it's I-57 or US 41.

Unrelated to this project, the ramp from I-65 south to I-80/94 west is closed for emergency repairs to the Mechanically Stabilized Earth wall adjacent to the ramp. No date is set for reopen, but INDOT vows to get the ramp opened as quickly as possible.

I-65 from US 231 to US 30 remains under construction. No southbound entry to I-65 from 109th Avenue or southbound exit to US 231, but all other movements are open.

On I-80/94, work continues between Cline Avenue and I-65, with two chute "express"  lanes (no exit until I-65 northbound/Central Avenue) and two "local"  lanes configured for eastbound traffic. When completed, traffic will be driving on diamond ground concrete.

One thing that you may have noticed on the completed sections of these freeways: INDOT has adopted the practice of adding black stripes to the white stripes in the driving lanes, which will enhance safety during rainy conditions. Also, they have fully embraced the practice of using shortened dashed lines to warn of a terminiating/exiting lane.

[silverback1065]

Drove 32 through Muncie and noticed some things:

SR 32 is still signed through Muncie, as soon as you hit the Welcome to Muncie Sign it says "END SR 32" but driving the old route all the signs now have a "TO" plate slapped above it. I like this, you can still easily follow 32 through the city as originally signed.

Unsure why the Muncie bypass is still 55 mph and not at least 60 mph.

Anyone know when the muncie bypass was built?