Road work around Indianapolis

[Retlaw]

Just as a heads up to people who will be driving in for Gencon.

I-70 east bound on the west side of Indianapolis (near airport): They are re-doing the I-70/I-465 interchange and some of the ramps are closed. If you are going straight through, you will be fine. There are some lane shifts/closures, but as long as you don't hit rush hour, there usually isn't a problem. Assuming you are going straight though (i.e., don't want to get on I-465), it is best to stay in the left lane through the construction zone. The merge areas for the on/off ramps from I-70/I-465 are very short due to construction and the right lane sometimes backs up due to this.

I-74/I-465 interchange on west side of Indianapolis: They are re-doing this interchange also. You can still get on and off of I-74 to I-465, but the ramp to Crawfordsville road is closed. Same situation as above -- the area for the on/off ramps to merge is short due to the construction, so if you are on I-465 try to stay in the center or left lanes (they are smoother also since the right lane is really the shoulder lane).

I-465 on the west side of Indianapolis between I-74 and IN-67 is under construction. They have 3 lanes open in both directions, so unless you hit it at rush hour, it isn't too bad. Same as above, center or left lane is better than right lane due to short merge areas for on/off ramps and rough pavement due to the right lane really being the shoulder lane.

NOTE: If you are on I-465 on the west side of Indianapolis heading southbond, the exit to I-70 east is closed (you may be traveling this way if you come in on I-74 from the west and take I-465 south to I-70 to get downtown). You can still get to I-70 east bound (downtown), but you will need to use the Sam Jones Expressway exit fron I-465.

On the south side of Indianapolis, they are working on some of the on/off ramps at US 31, so there may be some closures there depending on the work being done.

It also seems like there is always some construction on I-465 on the north side of Indianapolis, but as long as you don't hit it during rush hour, you should be fine. I made a lot of trips up to US-31 on the north side this last week (from west side of town) -- traffic was good up to US-31. There is construction east of US-31 and on one night traffic was backed up, but the rest of the nights it was moving, just at construction zone speeds instead of "normal" speeds.

I don't travel the northeast or east side of Indianpolis very much, so if anyone has any more to add, let me know -- or just add it.

One more update. I was up in Lake County IN (near Chicago) this weekend and coming back I-65 to Indy, there is construction from Lebanon to Zionsville. They have two lanes open in both directions, but traffic did slow down considerably through the construction zone (which it should since it is a 45 mph work zone). There really isn't a quick way around this, so if you are coming that way, just expect a little slow down.

[Hendal]

thanks for the heads up

[Worseley]

Yeah, I really appreciate getting info like this so I can plan around it.

[Retlaw]

Added some updates to first post.