Indiana Notes

[Revive 755]

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

At least as of a few weeks ago the reassurance shields were for IN 265.  The new mile markers in the median with I-265 shields were uncovered though.

[ITB]

Safer Driver 65, the project to add lanes and reconstruct pavement along I-65 in Clark and Scott counties is now underway. In mid-September, overnight lane closures began to allow crews to strengthen shoulders and perform culvert repairs.

In total, the project will improve about 13 miles of I-65, with 5.5 miles of that receiving a new third travel lane in each direction. Construction is currently expected to complete in 2028. A joint venture formed by E & Paving, Inc. and Milestone Contractors is the design-build team.

[tosa]

Made the round trip this weekend all the way down 65 for a wedding in Louisville. Some thoughts:

INDOT absolutely, positively must add additional travel lanes somewhere between Lowell and West Lafayette. That 62 miles spent mostly behind a line of cars in the left lane that is tuck behind a truck going 65.1 mph passing a truck in the right lane going 65.0 mph is insufferable. At the very least do the section between exits 215 and 193.

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

I-80/94 WB was backed up between I-65 and Calumet on a Saturday afternoon for no apparent reason. They need the Illiana in the worst way.

I regularly drive I-65 in both Indiana and Kentucky. Honestly, the stretch through Kentucky is so much more relaxing—lighter traffic and, more importantly, three lanes the whole way.

In Indiana, it feels completely different. My understanding is that north of Indy, I-65 is basically the only expressway option heading southeast out of Chicago, which explains all the traffic, especially the heavy truck presence.

Indiana really needs to make widening I-65 to three lanes a top priority.

[NWI_Irish96]

Made the round trip this weekend all the way down 65 for a wedding in Louisville. Some thoughts:

INDOT absolutely, positively must add additional travel lanes somewhere between Lowell and West Lafayette. That 62 miles spent mostly behind a line of cars in the left lane that is tuck behind a truck going 65.1 mph passing a truck in the right lane going 65.0 mph is insufferable. At the very least do the section between exits 215 and 193.

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

I-80/94 WB was backed up between I-65 and Calumet on a Saturday afternoon for no apparent reason. They need the Illiana in the worst way.

I regularly drive I-65 in both Indiana and Kentucky. Honestly, the stretch through Kentucky is so much more relaxing—lighter traffic and, more importantly, three lanes the whole way.

In Indiana, it feels completely different. My understanding is that north of Indy, I-65 is basically the only expressway option heading southeast out of Chicago, which explains all the traffic, especially the heavy truck presence.

Indiana really needs to make widening I-65 to three lanes a top priority.

Yes, the Chicago-Indy stretch serves as a distributor for all the truck traffic heading south and southeast out of Chicago. From Indy, you have some going east on 70 to Columbus, southeast on 74 to Cincinnati, and south on 65 to Louisville/Nashville. You now even have some continuing on 69 to Evansville.

Yet the next segment we're getting expanded is 5 miles in Clark/Scott counties.

[seicer]

A Closer Look at Indiana's Interstate 65 Safety and Efficiency Project

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of Interstate 65 in Indianapolis, Indiana, as part of the Safety and Efficiency project. The project corridor spans nearly five miles from just north of the Interstate 465 interchange to just south of the Interstate 65 and Interstate 70 overpass. The primary objectives are alleviating congestion, enhancing traffic flow, and bolstering safety along this critical stretch of highway.

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The project's key components include adding a travel lane in each direction, expanding Interstate 65 to four lanes per direction. This expansion primarily utilizes the existing inside shoulder, with the southern third of the project area widening to the outside. Bridge improvements are also central to the project: the Hanna Avenue bridge is being entirely replaced to accommodate both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, while the northbound bridges over Naomi Street, Pleasant Run Parkway, and Morris/Prospect Street are being widened to support the additional lanes. Other spans are receiving minor updates to their driving surface.

In addition to structural enhancements, the project addresses pedestrian safety through sidewalk upgrades and the installation of ADA-compliant ramps. Pavement rehabilitation or replacement is ongoing throughout the corridor, while concrete pavement replacement is scheduled for the northern segment, from just north of Fletcher Avenue to just south of the Interstate 65 and Interstate 70 overpass. Drainage structures are also being replaced. An abandoned railroad bridge near Fletcher Avenue will also be removed to facilitate smoother traffic flow.

The majority of the work is anticipated to conclude by 2027.

-

The gallery below includes photos taken in August and September 2025 of work along Interstate 65.

Work on northbound Interstate 65 includes rehabilitating the bridge over Morris and Prospect Street. A potential redesign of the I-65/I-70 interchange and the Morris/Prospect interchange, studied under the ProPEL Indy project, is not part of this effort.

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Minor upgrades are planned at the Raymond Street interchange, focusing on sidewalk improvements. It is unclear whether needed ramp reconstruction will be included.

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The bridge over Southern Street is receiving light rehabilitation: the deck has been diamond ground and will be resurfaced with 1.5 inches of hot-mix asphalt to extend its service life.

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Additional work includes modifying the Keystone Avenue interchange ramps to improve sidewalk connections and provide longer turn lanes. The bridge over Keystone Avenue, along with some concrete pavement, was reconstructed in 2020-21 and will not be affected, as it was built in anticipation of a lane addition.

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The Hanna Avenue bridge is being fully replaced with a wider structure to allow an additional travel lane between the I-465/I-69 and Keystone Avenue interchanges. The new bridge will include two lanes and a multi-use path.

To date, work has included demolishing the existing bridge, excavating for new abutments, driving piles for the supports, constructing the center pier, and setting half of the new beams. The beam placement occurred on the night of Thursday, September 11.

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INDOT is also replacing smaller corrugated pipe storm drains along the median and cross drains with larger concrete tiles to improve drainage. The existing concrete pavement in this area, now nearly 30 years old, will be reconstructed with new high-performance joint-reinforced concrete pavement. Other areas will receive a milling of the asphalt pavement to the original concrete base, full-depth concrete patching, and a structural three-layer hot-mix asphalt overlay.

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[ITB]

While not specifically road related, this infrastructure tidbit may be of interest to some.

Another levee is under construction in Martinsville to help protect the city from White River flooding. Located on the city's west side, the new levee will stretch south from SR 39 to about a half mile north of the I-69/SR 39-Morton Ave interchange. Funding for the new levee, as well as upgrades to a previously built one, was provided by a $20.2 million grant from the Indiana Finance Authority. Construction is expected to complete this year.


Airbus, Landsat/Copernicus, Maxar Technologies; map data, Google
The path of the new levee is clearly visible, stretching south from SR 39.


Photo date: April 6, 2025
Earlier this year in April, flooded fields on Martinsville's west side; looking south from near the SR 39 bridge over the White River.


Photo date: April 6, 2025
Turning around, the previously-built levee northeast of SR 39.

Here's a video of the new levee's construction:

[Great Lakes Roads]

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

At least as of a few weeks ago the reassurance shields were for IN 265.  The new mile markers in the median with I-265 shields were uncovered though.

State Road to Be Renamed as an Interstate Highway

Google Maps took a car out on I-265 to see the progress of the resigning and exit renumbering in August 2025.

Eastbound
Exit 1 --> Exit 40- no progress
Exit 3 --> Exit 38- 1-mile advance sign, 1/2-mile advance sign, Indiana Univ Southeast, exit gore sign with "OLD EXIT 3"
Exit 4 --> Exit 37- exit gore sign with "OLD EXIT 4"
Exit 7 --> Exit 34- 1-mile advance sign with "OLD EXIT 7", advance exit sign with "OLD EXIT 7", exit gore sign with "OLD EXIT 7"
Exit 10 --> Exit 32- 1-mile advance sign with "OLD EXIT 10", exit gore sign with "OLD EXIT 10"

Westbound
Exit 7 --> Exit 34- 1-mile advance sign, 1/2-mile advance sign with "OLD EXIT 7", exit gore signs with "OLD EXIT 7"
Exit 4 --> Exit 37- 1/2-mile advance sign with "OLD EXIT 4", 2/3 service signs with "OLD EXIT 4"
Exit 3 --> Exit 38- Indiana Univ Southeast with "OLD EXIT 3", exit sign with "OLD EXIT 3"
Exit 1 --> Exit 40- no progress
Exit 0 --> Exit 41- 2-mile advance sign with "OLD EXIT 0"

[The Ghostbuster]

Google Maps Street View has been updated so some of the new exit numbers are shown, such as this one on Interstate 265 EB at Grant Line Rd.: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3346469,-85.8209684,3a,75y,85.47h,88.62t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMscaZLTNbwdfJX2obzDakg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D1.3750147729545574%26panoid%3DMscaZLTNbwdfJX2obzDakg%26yaw%3D85.46631529723273!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D.

[mukade]

Made the round trip this weekend all the way down 65 for a wedding in Louisville. Some thoughts:

INDOT absolutely, positively must add additional travel lanes somewhere between Lowell and West Lafayette. That 62 miles spent mostly behind a line of cars in the left lane that is tuck behind a truck going 65.1 mph passing a truck in the right lane going 65.0 mph is insufferable. At the very least do the section between exits 215 and 193.

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

I-80/94 WB was backed up between I-65 and Calumet on a Saturday afternoon for no apparent reason. They need the Illiana in the worst way.

I regularly drive I-65 in both Indiana and Kentucky. Honestly, the stretch through Kentucky is so much more relaxing—lighter traffic and, more importantly, three lanes the whole way.

In Indiana, it feels completely different. My understanding is that north of Indy, I-65 is basically the only expressway option heading southeast out of Chicago, which explains all the traffic, especially the heavy truck presence.

Indiana really needs to make widening I-65 to three lanes a top priority.

Yes, the Chicago-Indy stretch serves as a distributor for all the truck traffic heading south and southeast out of Chicago. From Indy, you have some going east on 70 to Columbus, southeast on 74 to Cincinnati, and south on 65 to Louisville/Nashville. You now even have some continuing on 69 to Evansville.

Yet the next segment we're getting expanded is 5 miles in Clark/Scott counties.

I think everyone agrees all of I-65 should be 6+ lanes thru Indiana, but given we live in the real world with limited funds and not every driver drives I-65, we need to look at some objective data in order to prioritize work. And I don't think the Indy to Chicago section is quite as busy as people think, and the high growth suburbs of Indy are on all of the freeways - mainly US 31, but also I-65N, I-69N, I-70E and W, and I-74E and W.

The table below shows the busiest four lane freeway sections in the state (excluding active widening projects).

I-265	Grant Line Rd to Charlestown Rd	64,870
I-265	Charlestown Rd to I-65	64,036
I-265	State St to Grant Line Rd	63,111
I-265	I-65 to SR 62	59,466
I-65	71st St to I-865	58,853
I-64	SR 64 to US 150	55,698
I-65	SR 160 to SR 56	55,562
I-74	I-465 to Post Rd	54,377
I-65	US 31 to SR 252	52,285
I-69	SR 1 to Union Chapel Rd	51,662
I-65	SR 252 to SR 44	51,311
I-70	SR 39 to SR 267	51,012
I-65	SR 47 to SR 28	49,779
I-74	Post Rd to Acton Rd	49,014
I-74	Pleasant View Rd  to London Rd	48,977
I-65	SR 28 to SR 38	47,645
I-69	SR 9 to SR 67	47,496
SR 37	At 141st St	47,324
US 31	SR 32 to 191st St	47,025
I-65	Memphis Rd to SR 160	46,926
I-74	Ronald Reagan Pkwy to I-465	46,078
I-469	I-69 to Maplecrest Rd	46,382
SR 37	At 131st St	45,597
I-65	SR 10 to SR 2	45,196
SR 37	I-69 to 126th St	44,590
I-70	SR 9 to SR 109	44,333
SR 912	I-80/94 to 169th Ave	43,904
I-69	Union Chapel Rd to CR 11A	42,241
I-74	SR 9/Riley Hwy to SR 44	41,938
I-65	SR 14 to SR 10	41,698
I-69	Airport Expy to US 24	41,433
US 31	191st St to SR 38	40,968
I-74	London Rd to CR 400N	40,963
I-74	CR 400N to Michigan Rd	40,899
I-69	CR 11A to  SR 8	40,706
I-65	SR 46 to US 31	40,698
I-65	SR 114 to SR 14	40,685
I-70	SR 109 to SR 3	40,577
I-74	US 52 to Ohio line	40,346

[NWI_Irish96]

Made the round trip this weekend all the way down 65 for a wedding in Louisville. Some thoughts:

INDOT absolutely, positively must add additional travel lanes somewhere between Lowell and West Lafayette. That 62 miles spent mostly behind a line of cars in the left lane that is tuck behind a truck going 65.1 mph passing a truck in the right lane going 65.0 mph is insufferable. At the very least do the section between exits 215 and 193.

Did not drive on any of the new section of I-265 to see whether or not it's been signed yet, but the Exit 6 on I-65 still signs the EB exit as IN 265 and not I-265.

I-80/94 WB was backed up between I-65 and Calumet on a Saturday afternoon for no apparent reason. They need the Illiana in the worst way.

I regularly drive I-65 in both Indiana and Kentucky. Honestly, the stretch through Kentucky is so much more relaxing—lighter traffic and, more importantly, three lanes the whole way.

In Indiana, it feels completely different. My understanding is that north of Indy, I-65 is basically the only expressway option heading southeast out of Chicago, which explains all the traffic, especially the heavy truck presence.

Indiana really needs to make widening I-65 to three lanes a top priority.

Yes, the Chicago-Indy stretch serves as a distributor for all the truck traffic heading south and southeast out of Chicago. From Indy, you have some going east on 70 to Columbus, southeast on 74 to Cincinnati, and south on 65 to Louisville/Nashville. You now even have some continuing on 69 to Evansville.

Yet the next segment we're getting expanded is 5 miles in Clark/Scott counties.

I think everyone agrees all of I-65 should be 6+ lanes thru Indiana, but given we live in the real world with limited funds and not every driver drives I-65, we need to look at some objective data in order to prioritize work. And I don't think the Indy to Chicago section is quite as busy as people think, and the high growth suburbs of Indy are on all of the freeways - mainly US 31, but also I-65N, I-69N, I-70E and W, and I-74E and W.

The table below shows the busiest four lane freeway sections in the state (excluding active widening projects).

I-265	Grant Line Rd to Charlestown Rd	64,870
I-265	Charlestown Rd to I-65	64,036
I-265	State St to Grant Line Rd	63,111
I-265	I-65 to SR 62	59,466
I-65	71st St to I-865	58,853
I-64	SR 64 to US 150	55,698
I-65	SR 160 to SR 56	55,562
I-74	I-465 to Post Rd	54,377
I-65	US 31 to SR 252	52,285
I-69	SR 1 to Union Chapel Rd	51,662
I-65	SR 252 to SR 44	51,311
I-70	SR 39 to SR 267	51,012
I-74	Post Rd to Acton Rd	49,014
I-74	Pleasant View Rd  to London Rd	48,977
I-69	SR 9 to SR 67	47,496
SR 37	At 141st St	47,324
US 31	SR 32 to 191st St	47,025
I-65	Memphis Rd to SR 160	46,926
I-74	Ronald Reagan Pkwy to I-465	46,078
SR 37	At 131st St	45,597
I-65	SR 10 to SR 2	45,196
SR 37	I-69 to 126th St	44,590
I-70	SR 9 to SR 109	44,333
SR 912	I-80/94 to 169th Ave	43,904
I-69	Union Chapel Rd to CR 11A	42,241
I-74	SR 9/Riley Hwy to SR 44	41,938
I-65	SR 14 to SR 10	41,698
I-69	Airport Expy to US 24	41,433
US 31	191st St to SR 38	40,968
I-74	London Rd to CR 400N	40,963
I-74	CR 400N to Michigan Rd	40,899
I-69	CR 11A to  SR 8	40,706
I-65	SR 114 to SR 14	40,685
I-70	SR 109 to SR 3	40,577
I-74	US 52 to Ohio line	40,346

That data doesn't tell the whole story. The combination of a high volume of truck traffic and being such a long stretch of 4 lanes is what makes it worse.

[mukade]

It is a set of objective data points. I think you will find that I-69 and I-70 also have a high volume of truck traffic, but please find that data and post it here.

The other thing that must factor in, is that I-65 carries a pretty high volume of out-of-state traffic. INDOT wants to keep all motorists happy, but making sure voters don't feel overlooked is also pretty important. I-69 goes through the four largest cities in the state and comes within two miles of the fifth largest city. I-65 goes through three of the four largest metros, but obviously Chicago and Louisville have many more non-Hoosiers than Hoosiers.

[silverback1065]

the truck traffic justify the widening not the car traffic. that is why 65 from indy to chicago is the high priority.