Indiana Notes

[Great Lakes Roads]

New interchange and overpass coming to US 30 near the Steel-Dynamics, Inc.

"Plans for a proposed interchange at the current intersection of U.S. 30 and County Road 700 East, and an overpass at County Road 600 East are now underway, the state officials announced alongside Barry Schneider, president and chief operating officer of Steel Dynamics, Inc."

https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/11/13/holcomb-indot-announce-us-30-improvement-plans-columbia-city/

[I-55]

New interchange and overpass coming to US 30 near the Steel-Dynamics, Inc.

"Plans for a proposed interchange at the current intersection of U.S. 30 and County Road 700 East, and an overpass at County Road 600 East are now underway, the state officials announced alongside Barry Schneider, president and chief operating officer of Steel Dynamics, Inc."

https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/11/13/holcomb-indot-announce-us-30-improvement-plans-columbia-city/

Curious what the plan is for CR 800E (Co Line Rd) since that appears to remain a signalized intersection and is currently where the truck entrance to SDI is. It's also possible that SDI reconfigures traffic patterns to facilitate trucks using the entrance from the proposed interchange

[ITB]

New interchange and overpass coming to US 30 near the Steel-Dynamics, Inc.

"Plans for a proposed interchange at the current intersection of U.S. 30 and County Road 700 East, and an overpass at County Road 600 East are now underway, the state officials announced alongside Barry Schneider, president and chief operating officer of Steel Dynamics, Inc."

https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/11/13/holcomb-indot-announce-us-30-improvement-plans-columbia-city/

Curious what the plan is for CR 800E (Co Line Rd) since that appears to remain a signalized intersection and is currently where the truck entrance to SDI is. It's also possible that SDI reconfigures traffic patterns to facilitate trucks using the entrance from the proposed interchange

In a Whitley County US 30 Planning Committee report (updated August 2022), CR 800E would be sealed off and a full interchange would be built just to the east. See page 16. This idea appears to be a recommendation.

Also, a news article that reported on the gathering of community leaders in Warsaw in July to discuss US 30 noted that proposed improvements to US 30 in Allen County included an interchange at the Allen-Whitley county line.
 

[I-55]

New interchange and overpass coming to US 30 near the Steel-Dynamics, Inc.

"Plans for a proposed interchange at the current intersection of U.S. 30 and County Road 700 East, and an overpass at County Road 600 East are now underway, the state officials announced alongside Barry Schneider, president and chief operating officer of Steel Dynamics, Inc."

https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/11/13/holcomb-indot-announce-us-30-improvement-plans-columbia-city/

Curious what the plan is for CR 800E (Co Line Rd) since that appears to remain a signalized intersection and is currently where the truck entrance to SDI is. It's also possible that SDI reconfigures traffic patterns to facilitate trucks using the entrance from the proposed interchange

In a Whitley County US 30 Planning Committee report (updated August 2022), CR 800E would be sealed off and a full interchange would be built just to the east. See page 16. This idea appears to be a recommendation.

Also, a news article that reported on the gathering of community leaders in Warsaw in July to discuss US 30 noted that proposed improvements to US 30 in Allen County included an interchange at the Allen-Whitley county line.
 

I think the discussions from the news article are more likely to move forward than those from the comprehensive plan for the following reasons:

• The Whitley County Comprehensive Plan proposes 3 interchanges within 3 miles, which INDOT would never do, and their claim that an interchange at 300 E is "not feasible" lies in direct conflict with the recommendations of the PEL study
• The improvements at Co Line and Felger are more consistent with the proposed improvements on US 30 near Sweetwater and Amazon

While I don't think the Valpo-Ohio freeway will become a legitimate discussion for at least 25-50 years, I do think the local plans hold more weight and the volumes justify freeway type improvements between FW and Columbia City more than volumes west of Warsaw.

[SignGeniusPTOE]

US 30 gets more truck traffic than I-69 between Indy and Evansville will ever see. Evansville is served by two interstate routes now, and Fort Wayne is served by only one. US 30 is the only major roadway that radiates from the Chicago metro area that is not a freeway or tollway. Fort Wayne always gets the crumbs, even though it is centrally located between Indy, Chicago, Columbus, and Detroit. You can drive between Owensboro and Bowling Green on an interstate, but not Fort Wayne to Chicago, LOL.

[SignGeniusPTOE]

Indianapolis shares plan to slow down Madison Avenue traffic, add south side bicycle path

Moments before Indianapolis city leaders spoke Monday to highlight $47 million in construction to slow down traffic and add a greenway path along Madison Avenue, first responders were still cleaning up debris from a nearby car crash on the six-lane south side thoroughfare.

[...]

Starting in spring 2025, the city will heed calls to fix the road that's outlived its use as a former expressway but still lures high-speed traffic and drag racing to the south side.
The city plans a Madison Avenue "road diet" to remove two lanes covering more than three miles of roadway from Ray Street, near Eli Lilly's corporate headquarters, down to Hanna Avenue, near the University of Indianapolis. The narrower four-lane roadway, in addition to new sidewalks and curbs, aims to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

In the section closest to downtown, one lane will be replaced with the roughly 1.3-mile start of the new Interurban Trail, a greenway path which the city eventually plans to extend south more than eight miles to Johnson County. The trail's first section will be finished by 2026, officials say, but its expansion will depend on how soon more money is available."

--

I was driving down Madison yesterday and wondered why it was excessively wide. Considering it handles a fraction of the traffic it used to have, these upgrades will improve the infrastructure. It's a shame that the depressed expressway north of Garfield Park will essentially remain.

Shared use paths are glorified sidewalks, which force bicyclists to dodge pedestrians, and stop at intersection after intersection, and get run over by right turning vehicles at the intersections, or dodge vehicles stopped over the path "crosswalk" at intersections. A total sham. Indiana is one of the worst bicycling states in the US.

[silverback1065]

US 30 gets more truck traffic than I-69 between Indy and Evansville will ever see. Evansville is served by two interstate routes now, and Fort Wayne is served by only one. US 30 is the only major roadway that radiates from the Chicago metro area that is not a freeway or tollway. Fort Wayne always gets the crumbs, even though it is centrally located between Indy, Chicago, Columbus, and Detroit. You can drive between Owensboro and Bowling Green on an interstate, but not Fort Wayne to Chicago, LOL.

FT Wayne is not a major city, its metro population isn't even half a million people, so it isn't surprising they don't get a lot of attention. I-80/90 isn't too far away so any truck traffic wanting to get to FT Wayne would use that instead of US 30.

[silverback1065]

Indianapolis shares plan to slow down Madison Avenue traffic, add south side bicycle path

Moments before Indianapolis city leaders spoke Monday to highlight $47 million in construction to slow down traffic and add a greenway path along Madison Avenue, first responders were still cleaning up debris from a nearby car crash on the six-lane south side thoroughfare.

[...]

Starting in spring 2025, the city will heed calls to fix the road that's outlived its use as a former expressway but still lures high-speed traffic and drag racing to the south side.
The city plans a Madison Avenue "road diet" to remove two lanes covering more than three miles of roadway from Ray Street, near Eli Lilly's corporate headquarters, down to Hanna Avenue, near the University of Indianapolis. The narrower four-lane roadway, in addition to new sidewalks and curbs, aims to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

In the section closest to downtown, one lane will be replaced with the roughly 1.3-mile start of the new Interurban Trail, a greenway path which the city eventually plans to extend south more than eight miles to Johnson County. The trail's first section will be finished by 2026, officials say, but its expansion will depend on how soon more money is available."

--

I was driving down Madison yesterday and wondered why it was excessively wide. Considering it handles a fraction of the traffic it used to have, these upgrades will improve the infrastructure. It's a shame that the depressed expressway north of Garfield Park will essentially remain.

Shared use paths are glorified sidewalks, which force bicyclists to dodge pedestrians, and stop at intersection after intersection, and get run over by right turning vehicles at the intersections, or dodge vehicles stopped over the path "crosswalk" at intersections. A total sham. Indiana is one of the worst bicycling states in the US.

Completely disagree, shared use paths are a god send, I refuse to bike in the road now. Shared use paths are so much safer and are plentiful in the Indy metro now. things are much safer now then in the past we have a long way to go but the city has done great work in making our streets be for multi use instead of single use. Indy is starting to realize long, wide, straight streets are the problem, if you want someone to go a speed you have to incentivize them to do so in how you design the road. this has created multiple projects to address this issue.

[Rothman]

US 30 gets more truck traffic than I-69 between Indy and Evansville will ever see. Evansville is served by two interstate routes now, and Fort Wayne is served by only one. US 30 is the only major roadway that radiates from the Chicago metro area that is not a freeway or tollway. Fort Wayne always gets the crumbs, even though it is centrally located between Indy, Chicago, Columbus, and Detroit. You can drive between Owensboro and Bowling Green on an interstate, but not Fort Wayne to Chicago, LOL.

FT Wayne is not a major city, its metro population isn't even half a million people, so it isn't surprising they don't get a lot of attention. I-80/90 isn't too far away so any truck traffic wanting to get to FT Wayne would use that instead of US 30.

I disagree that it isn't a major city, but the lack of a direct interstate connection to Chicago really isn't that surprising.  The fact that IN prioritized I-69 to Evansville rather than some fluffy idea about connecting the larger Fort Wayne to Chicago speaks volumes.

[JREwing78]

Fort Wayne may not have had the exponential growth of Columbus or Madison, but it has grown substantially compared to other cities such as South Bend, Toledo, or Grand Rapids.

Indiana and Ohio have responded with extensive 4-laning of the US-24 and US-30 corridors. Indiana's initial efforts with US-30 and US-31 came fairly early on, before they realized the importance of proper access management for both roadways. Meanwhile, later builds have acknowledged future needs for freeway conversion and were built out accordingly.

There was also that desire to keep truck traffic on the Toll Road that may have been a factor. But with the lease of the Toll Road in place, and no explicit restrictions on upgrades of US-30 east of Valparaiso, InDOT is free to upgrade US-30 as it sees fit.

Evansville may have had 4-lane access, but it was not a direct link to Indianapolis. It was a missing spoke of the hub-and-spoke highways feeding Indianapolis from the rest of the state.

[seicer]

Indianapolis shares plan to slow down Madison Avenue traffic, add south side bicycle path

Moments before Indianapolis city leaders spoke Monday to highlight $47 million in construction to slow down traffic and add a greenway path along Madison Avenue, first responders were still cleaning up debris from a nearby car crash on the six-lane south side thoroughfare.

[...]

Starting in spring 2025, the city will heed calls to fix the road that's outlived its use as a former expressway but still lures high-speed traffic and drag racing to the south side.
The city plans a Madison Avenue "road diet" to remove two lanes covering more than three miles of roadway from Ray Street, near Eli Lilly's corporate headquarters, down to Hanna Avenue, near the University of Indianapolis. The narrower four-lane roadway, in addition to new sidewalks and curbs, aims to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

In the section closest to downtown, one lane will be replaced with the roughly 1.3-mile start of the new Interurban Trail, a greenway path which the city eventually plans to extend south more than eight miles to Johnson County. The trail's first section will be finished by 2026, officials say, but its expansion will depend on how soon more money is available."

--

I was driving down Madison yesterday and wondered why it was excessively wide. Considering it handles a fraction of the traffic it used to have, these upgrades will improve the infrastructure. It's a shame that the depressed expressway north of Garfield Park will essentially remain.

Shared use paths are glorified sidewalks, which force bicyclists to dodge pedestrians, and stop at intersection after intersection, and get run over by right turning vehicles at the intersections, or dodge vehicles stopped over the path "crosswalk" at intersections. A total sham. Indiana is one of the worst bicycling states in the US.

Completely disagree, shared use paths are a god send, I refuse to bike in the road now. Shared use paths are so much safer and are plentiful in the Indy metro now. things are much safer now then in the past we have a long way to go but the city has done great work in making our streets be for multi use instead of single use. Indy is starting to realize long, wide, straight streets are the problem, if you want someone to go a speed you have to incentivize them to do so in how you design the road. this has created multiple projects to address this issue.

Exactly. Indy has a very high accident/death rate for pedestrians and cyclists—especially for a city of its size. The idea that bicyclists (of which I am one) can share the road with motorists who are increasingly driving more erratically and faster with cars outsized for their use and practicality is silly and outdated. There is a reason I see so many cyclists commuting and enjoying the city—it's easy to get around where the paths are convenient and accessible.

Some paths are better than others. The paths around Fountain Square are set for a major upgrade next year when significant stormwater sewer improvements begin. They are flush with the roadway, with only a tiny curb delineating them from motorists. The upgrades will bring them at grade with the sidewalk, and there will be a larger vegetated divider between the road and path. I wish there were more than a bike lane south of there—and a path at Garfield Park, but that's currently in the early planning stages.

[silverback1065]

Indianapolis shares plan to slow down Madison Avenue traffic, add south side bicycle path

Moments before Indianapolis city leaders spoke Monday to highlight $47 million in construction to slow down traffic and add a greenway path along Madison Avenue, first responders were still cleaning up debris from a nearby car crash on the six-lane south side thoroughfare.

[...]

Starting in spring 2025, the city will heed calls to fix the road that's outlived its use as a former expressway but still lures high-speed traffic and drag racing to the south side.
The city plans a Madison Avenue "road diet" to remove two lanes covering more than three miles of roadway from Ray Street, near Eli Lilly's corporate headquarters, down to Hanna Avenue, near the University of Indianapolis. The narrower four-lane roadway, in addition to new sidewalks and curbs, aims to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

In the section closest to downtown, one lane will be replaced with the roughly 1.3-mile start of the new Interurban Trail, a greenway path which the city eventually plans to extend south more than eight miles to Johnson County. The trail's first section will be finished by 2026, officials say, but its expansion will depend on how soon more money is available."

--

I was driving down Madison yesterday and wondered why it was excessively wide. Considering it handles a fraction of the traffic it used to have, these upgrades will improve the infrastructure. It's a shame that the depressed expressway north of Garfield Park will essentially remain.

Shared use paths are glorified sidewalks, which force bicyclists to dodge pedestrians, and stop at intersection after intersection, and get run over by right turning vehicles at the intersections, or dodge vehicles stopped over the path "crosswalk" at intersections. A total sham. Indiana is one of the worst bicycling states in the US.

Completely disagree, shared use paths are a god send, I refuse to bike in the road now. Shared use paths are so much safer and are plentiful in the Indy metro now. things are much safer now then in the past we have a long way to go but the city has done great work in making our streets be for multi use instead of single use. Indy is starting to realize long, wide, straight streets are the problem, if you want someone to go a speed you have to incentivize them to do so in how you design the road. this has created multiple projects to address this issue.

Exactly. Indy has a very high accident/death rate for pedestrians and cyclists—especially for a city of its size. The idea that bicyclists (of which I am one) can share the road with motorists who are increasingly driving more erratically and faster with cars outsized for their use and practicality is silly and outdated. There is a reason I see so many cyclists commuting and enjoying the city—it's easy to get around where the paths are convenient and accessible.

Some paths are better than others. The paths around Fountain Square are set for a major upgrade next year when significant stormwater sewer improvements begin. They are flush with the roadway, with only a tiny curb delineating them from motorists. The upgrades will bring them at grade with the sidewalk, and there will be a larger vegetated divider between the road and path. I wish there were more than a bike lane south of there—and a path at Garfield Park, but that's currently in the early planning stages.

Unfortunately the south side always gets the shaft in Indy. I remember reading an article in the Star about it.

[jhuntin1]

<snip>

Unfortunately the south side always gets the shaft in Indy. I remember reading an article in the Star about it.

No kidding. I'm not sure about Decatur Township since I rarely travel there, but the explosive growth that has taken place in Franklin Township and to a lesser extent in Perry Township has not been accompanied by any real infrastructure improvements. Most of the major arterials need repaving and would benefit from widening. Other than roundabouts at some major intersections (which have helped tremendously) and four-laning Emerson Ave. down to County Line Road, there has been little done to combat the great increase in traffic.

[ITB]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Another study has ranked Indiana among the top five states for best roads. Minnesota was ranked first, followed by Delaware, with Utah third. New Mexico and Louisiana were at the bottom.

[silverback1065]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Another study has ranked Indiana among the top five states for best roads. Minnesota was ranked first, followed by Delaware, with Utah third. New Mexico and Louisiana were at the bottom.

with as much construction here we better be at the top! 

[Rothman]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Another study has ranked Indiana among the top five states for best roads. Minnesota was ranked first, followed by Delaware, with Utah third. New Mexico and Louisiana were at the bottom.

That link is pretty wild...

[Echostatic]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Another study has ranked Indiana among the top five states for best roads. Minnesota was ranked first, followed by Delaware, with Utah third. New Mexico and Louisiana were at the bottom.

I agree with ranking Indiana highly and sticking Louisiana near the bottom, but having moved from TX to MN this year, I really wouldn't put Minnesota in first. Using the article's methodology, sure. But the amount of extremely short merges, left exits/entrances, and cloverleaves (again with very short or no space to merge) is a problem in the Twin Cities.

[Revive 755]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Study seems off:

• Indiana still has a lot of lower quality pavement.
• Lots of congestion issues that need to be resolved still (particularly in the NW corner of the state.  This is something IMHO that should not be omitted from a study.  A higher quality system would have better options to the Borman.  It doesn't even seem like there is a decent arterial system developing in the growth south of US 30.
• The non-state roadways in Indiana are generally subpar compared to Iowa.  A county highway in Iowa can be greater or equal in quality to a state highway, whereas most county roadways in Indiana never seem to have been upgraded.  Is there even a county highway posted at 55 in Indiana?  Even Illinois seems to have more higher quality county roads than I seem to have found in Indiana.
  
• The growing number of nonsensical gaps in Indiana's state highway system.
• The growing lack of rest areas for passenger vehicles.
• Signal coordination generally seems to be lacking in Indiana.

[I-55]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Study seems off:

• Indiana still has a lot of lower quality pavement.
• Lots of congestion issues that need to be resolved still (particularly in the NW corner of the state.  This is something IMHO that should not be omitted from a study.  A higher quality system would have better options to the Borman.  It doesn't even seem like there is a decent arterial system developing in the growth south of US 30.
• The non-state roadways in Indiana are generally subpar compared to Iowa.  A county highway in Iowa can be greater or equal in quality to a state highway, whereas most county roadways in Indiana never seem to have been upgraded.  Is there even a county highway posted at 55 in Indiana?  Even Illinois seems to have more higher quality county roads than I seem to have found in Indiana.
  
• The growing number of nonsensical gaps in Indiana's state highway system.
• The growing lack of rest areas for passenger vehicles.
• Signal coordination generally seems to be lacking in Indiana.

Much of our pavement isn't that great, though compared to IL/MI it's a lot better. OH/KY blow us out of the water though, look at any border crossing into Ohio and you'll immediately be able to tell.

Most congestion right now that's not in NWI is a product of I-465 construction; Finish Line is wrapping up and Clear Path is about halfway through. As for Northwest Indiana, part of the problem is that in order to alleviate congestion on interstates entering Illinois, one must also build in Illinois (which due to budgetary reasons has halted non-tollway projects to my understanding).

County routes vary wildly by county, as we don't really "systemize" our county roads. There are only a few instances I can think of where a county road would be better than an INDOT facility (CR 17 in Elkhart Co, CR 900 N in Huntington Co). County roads default to 55 mph and some counties post the limit more frequently than others (usually small counties don't).

The way INDOT is creating gaps drives me and everyone else here nuts. I understand wanting to relinquish mileage but some of their "solutions" have been poorly thought out.

As someone who cannonball's most in state trips I don't frequent rest areas, but the reduction in those facilities has been noticeable (as well as operability of weigh stations).

Signal coordination is hit or miss. SR 3 in Fort Wayne is immaculate, but US 24 in Wabash sucks (I've only gotten 3/3 green lights 3 times in over 40 trips). A lot depends on which roads INDOT controls vs city.


Something that has been peculiar is the increased rate of accidents in work zones lately. I-69 in the Fort Wayne area has been an interesting story with recent accidents. For instance, there have been more fatal accidents in the last 3 months between exits 317-326 than there were between exits 278-286 in the last five years (4 crashes, similar AADT). I-69 has been completely closed between 317-326 five times in the past month, including three times in one week for accident clean up. When I-69 was doing a concrete rehab project between 302-311, there would be a crash blocking the northbound roadway twice a week for three months. Not normal for these things to be happening around here, just an odd observation.

[silverback1065]

you all are reading way to much into the study. it's just about condition and bridge and pavement quality. operationally that's a different story. Louisiana's road and bridge quality is terrible seems like all their bridges are rusty messes that need replacing yesterday.

[thefarmerchris]

Study ranks Indiana #4 among States for best roads

Study seems off:

• Indiana still has a lot of lower quality pavement.
• Lots of congestion issues that need to be resolved still (particularly in the NW corner of the state.  This is something IMHO that should not be omitted from a study.  A higher quality system would have better options to the Borman.  It doesn't even seem like there is a decent arterial system developing in the growth south of US 30.
• The non-state roadways in Indiana are generally subpar compared to Iowa.  A county highway in Iowa can be greater or equal in quality to a state highway, whereas most county roadways in Indiana never seem to have been upgraded.  Is there even a county highway posted at 55 in Indiana?  Even Illinois seems to have more higher quality county roads than I seem to have found in Indiana.
  
• The growing number of nonsensical gaps in Indiana's state highway system.
• The growing lack of rest areas for passenger vehicles.
• Signal coordination generally seems to be lacking in Indiana.

Much of our pavement isn't that great, though compared to IL/MI it's a lot better. OH/KY blow us out of the water though, look at any border crossing into Ohio and you'll immediately be able to tell.

Most congestion right now that's not in NWI is a product of I-465 construction; Finish Line is wrapping up and Clear Path is about halfway through. As for Northwest Indiana, part of the problem is that in order to alleviate congestion on interstates entering Illinois, one must also build in Illinois (which due to budgetary reasons has halted non-tollway projects to my understanding).

County routes vary wildly by county, as we don't really "systemize" our county roads. There are only a few instances I can think of where a county road would be better than an INDOT facility (CR 17 in Elkhart Co, CR 900 N in Huntington Co). County roads default to 55 mph and some counties post the limit more frequently than others (usually small counties don't).

The way INDOT is creating gaps drives me and everyone else here nuts. I understand wanting to relinquish mileage but some of their "solutions" have been poorly thought out.

As someone who cannonball's most in state trips I don't frequent rest areas, but the reduction in those facilities has been noticeable (as well as operability of weigh stations).

Signal coordination is hit or miss. SR 3 in Fort Wayne is immaculate, but US 24 in Wabash sucks (I've only gotten 3/3 green lights 3 times in over 40 trips). A lot depends on which roads INDOT controls vs city.


Something that has been peculiar is the increased rate of accidents in work zones lately. I-69 in the Fort Wayne area has been an interesting story with recent accidents. For instance, there have been more fatal accidents in the last 3 months between exits 317-326 than there were between exits 278-286 in the last five years (4 crashes, similar AADT). I-69 has been completely closed between 317-326 five times in the past month, including three times in one week for accident clean up. When I-69 was doing a concrete rehab project between 302-311, there would be a crash blocking the northbound roadway twice a week for three months. Not normal for these things to be happening around here, just an odd observation.

Most days, Lima Rd in Fort Wayne (US-27/IN-3) would be better served if it was freeway from IN-930 to IN-205. Congestion seems to be getting worse with more people moving out to the NW side of the city/county. Signal coordination, althought great for now, won't be the best option in 10+ years.

[silverback1065]

INDOT would likely never do that. they would do something like on the Lloyd and place displaced lefts and RCI's.

[Life in Paradise]

INDOT would likely never do that. they would do something like on the Lloyd and place displaced lefts and RCI's.

And if that doesn't work, spend more money to redo the same intersections numerous times.

[jnewkirk77]

INDOT would likely never do that. they would do something like on the Lloyd and place displaced lefts and RCI's.

And if that doesn't work, spend more money to redo the same intersections numerous times.

Which INDOT has done and will continue to do as long as I'm alive.  The Lloyd was "completed" in 1988, but I swear I can count on one hand (with fingers left over) the number of years in which there wasn't some kind of construction SOMEWHERE along that route.

[hobsini2]

US 30 gets more truck traffic than I-69 between Indy and Evansville will ever see. Evansville is served by two interstate routes now, and Fort Wayne is served by only one. US 30 is the only major roadway that radiates from the Chicago metro area that is not a freeway or tollway. Fort Wayne always gets the crumbs, even though it is centrally located between Indy, Chicago, Columbus, and Detroit. You can drive between Owensboro and Bowling Green on an interstate, but not Fort Wayne to Chicago, LOL.

FT Wayne is not a major city, its metro population isn't even half a million people, so it isn't surprising they don't get a lot of attention. I-80/90 isn't too far away so any truck traffic wanting to get to FT Wayne would use that instead of US 30.

I disagree that it isn't a major city, but the lack of a direct interstate connection to Chicago really isn't that surprising.  The fact that IN prioritized I-69 to Evansville rather than some fluffy idea about connecting the larger Fort Wayne to Chicago speaks volumes.

Well, I think one driving force on going to Evansville with I-69 was the fact that Bloomington had a major university with no interstate connection prior to I-69. All the other major universities in Indiana outside of Indy (Notre Dame, Purdue and Ball State) at least had an interstate nearby. Come to think of it, there are very few major universities in the country that don't have an interstate serving the city. Washington St, Idaho, Oregon St, Texas A&M, Clemson, Liberty, Virginia Tech and U Conn are the only ones that come to mind.