THE I-69 MESS

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

WHOA - IT'S NOT OVER YET!

The I-69 project started off badly, and in the time since 08/01/2018, it has gotten much worse. There are dangerous places on the highway where crashes are more likely because safety was ignored. It takes a long time to either follow the highway or to get from one side of the highway to the other. Also, it takes emergency vehicles much longer to reach a location near the highway, and some must cross county lines to get to certain places in violation of insurance requirements.

"And they tell me, over and over and over and over again... that you can't get there. The road is under construction."

STATUS AS OF 05/21/2018:

Here is the status of the project as it was on 05/21/2018:

• Most of the highway is down to one lane in each direction from Fullerton Pike (Bloomington) to Legendary Drive (Martinsville).
• Most interchange entrance ramps have a dangerous "yield" configuration (right) with no acceleration lane, instead of a safe "merge" design.
• The new Tapp Road interchange is still closed, except for right-off-right-on turns for the east leg of Tapp Road.
• Second Street interchange has one lane in each direction and very short left turn lanes on Second Street. Traffic backs up to the hospital.
• Third Street interchange has only one westbound lane on Third Street. Traffic backs up into the downtown area.
• Vernal Pike is often down to one lane with alternating traffic because they are adding sidewalks.
• Indiana 46 has lane closures in both directions for sign and shoulder work at the interchange.
• The Arlington Road overpass is the only open road in the construction zone.
• The Kinser Pike overpass is open, but a stream bridge is out west of the highway.
• The new Sample Road interchange is still closed except for right-off-right-on turns for the west leg of Sample Road.
• The west leg of Sample Road has access to frontage roads from Connaugh Road to Crossover Road.
• An intersection gives access to the east leg of Sample Road and some frontage roads.
• There is no access between the east and west legs of Sample Road. without using U-turn sites on IN-37 north and south of Sample
• The east leg of Sample Road has access to frontage roads from Sample Road to Fox Hollow Road.
• The Chambers Pike overpass is not yet ready for traffic. An intersection provides access to Chambers Pike and Sylvan Road.
• An intersection provides access to Burma Road because the frontage road is not done.
• IN-37 northbound lanes are torn out between Bryant's Creek and Legendary Drive, with one lane in each direction on the remaining lanes.
• An intersection provides access to Turkey Track Road, which serves as the west frontage road.
• Old 37, which serves as the east frontage road south of Liberty Church Road, has no access to the highway except at Sample Road.
• The new Liberty Church Road overpass is open, but the ramps are not open.
• The new Liberty Church Road overpass connects both frontage roads north of the overpass to each other and to Turkey Track Road.
• Emergency vehicles can't reach Old 37, Pine Blvd, or Brehob Lane without leaving and re-entering Morgan County, which insurance rules forbid.

HISTORY BEHIND THE MESS:

Here is the history of the problems with the project:

1. 03/09/2012: The Monroe County government voted to construct I-69 only after INDOT threatened to remove all county project money if they didn't.
2. 01/2014: Construction starts with a completion date of 10/2016.
3. Multiple times Democrats badmouthed the bonds to finance the private constructions of I-69 Section 5. This caused bond sales to not raise enough money.
4. INDOT restricted the private design and construction companies to certain constraints:
   • Adjacent highway access points can't be closed or heavily restricted at the same time.
   • Reducing traffic on IN-37 to one lane must be kept to a minimum.
   • Entrance ramps must have acceleration lanes, not YIELD signs.
   • Old markings must be removed when lanes are shifted.
   • Detours must be published in advance and well marked.
   • No work will be done and no lanes will be closed during holiday traffic.

   - These constraints caused the project to take longer and cost more.

5. 04/2014: The state made I-69 Development Partners drill and pay for test bores they were told the state already did. This increased the cost and project time.
6. 06/2014: Construction workers discovered sinkholes in the path of the project. Environmental mitigation increased the cost and project time.
7. 06/2014: Monroe County passed a noise ordinance limiting construction work noise to between 6 am and 10 pm, increasing costs, project time, and hazards.
8. 07/22/2014: INDOT sued Monroe County because the ordinance caused delays and safety hazards. A judge temporarily blocked the noise ordinance.
9. 08/11/2014: INDOT dropped the lawsuit after Monroe County amended the ordinance.
10. 2015 and 2016: Unusual multiple heavy rainfalls delayed soil compaction for the overpasses and ramps (wet soil can't be compacted).

    - This caused major delays in construction of the Vernal Pike, Fullerton Pike, and Liberty Church Road overpasses.

11. 04/13/2016: I-69 Development Partners announced that delays pushed the completion date back to 06/2017.
12. 09/07/2016: Subcontractors stopped work because they hadn't been paid because the bond sales were too low.
13. 09/07/2016: Democrat state legislators and the Democrat Bloomington mayor demanded that the state take over the project.
14. 09/22/2016: The state refused to compensate the contractors for costs caused by the state.
15. 10/22/2016: The bond rating company downgraded the I-69 bond ratings after hearing the Democrat complaints.
16. 12/14/2016: I-69 Development Partners announced that delays pushed the completion date back to 10/2017.
17. 01/19/2017: The Bloomington mayor again questioned the progress of the construction of I-69.
18. 02/13/2017: I-69 Development Partners and the state announced that delays pushed the completion date back to 05/2018.
19. 03/2016: Subcontractors stopped work because they hadn't been paid again.
20. 04/01/2017: The bond rating company downgraded the I-69 bond ratings again. This made it impossible to sell enough bonds to complete the project.
21. 06/17/2017: The state took over the project effective 07/31/2017 and announced a completion date of 08/31/2018.
22. 08/2017: Democrats demanded that the project be completed as quickly as possible.
23. 08/2017: INDOT removed the restrictions they put on the private contractors:
    • They initially closed or restricted Fullerton Pk, Tapp Rd, Second St, Third St, Vernal Pk, Kinser Pk, Sample Rd, and Liberty Church Rd simultaneously.
    • Later they closed or restricted Tapp Rd, Second St, Third St, IN-46, Kinser Pk, Sample Rd, Chambers Pk, and Liberty Church Rd simultaneously.
    • Traffic on IN-37 has been reduced to one lane in each direction most of the time.
    • Entrance ramps have been temporarily changed to the dangerous "Yield" configuration.
    • They left the YIELD signs in place whether or not acceleration lanes exist.
    • Old markings have been left in place, confusing drivers.
    • Detours kept changing daily at certain points.
    • They stopped all work, but left lanes restricted to one in each direction during the Christmas 2017 and Memorial Day 2018 holidays.

    These constricted traffic to the point that people often can't get to where they are going without hours of delay.

24. 05/25/2018: Bloomington police had to take over directing traffic at the Third Street interchange because the state did not provide enough open lanes.

    - The Third Street signals restrict westbound cars. The bridge is full when the signal turns green.

    - The bridge allows 4 cars can go, and then the signal turns red.

    - The signals were not retimed as the city promised they would be.

THE THINGS THAT REALLY WENT WRONG:

Here are the causes of some of the worst problems:

1. Democrats opposing all private funding of government projects badmouthed the bonds sold to build I-69.

   - This downgraded the bonds so not enough money was raised.

   - The Democrats got their wish. They ruined the private funding and delayed the project.

   - Democrats were against building I-69 from the beginning, but they were outvoted.

   - When they couldn't stop the project, they made rules that would cause the project to not make the completion date.

   - Democrats demanded that the state must take over the project.

   - Once the state took over, politicians demanded that the construction be finished as soon as possible, causing many closings and restrictions.

   - Where Democrats have control, they are making this project inconvenience as many people as they can.

2. Federal rules require closing too many lanes:

   There must be a lane closed and filled with drum barricades or a New Jersey barrier between any moving traffic and any of the following:

   • Any men working on foot.
   • Any construction machinery being used.
   • Any objects being hoisted into the air.
   • Any pavement dropoff a wheel could fall into and catch.

   - These rules caused the dangerous on-ramp "YIELD" configuration to be used instead of the much safer "MERGE" configuration.

   - They also jammed up more traffic.

3. Lanes were not changed back to the MERGE configuration even though lanes were available for several days with no work present.

   MERGING TRAFFIC SAFELY

   They didn't want to pay workers extra for the time and labor needed to change the configuration between YIELD and MERGE entrances:

   • Saving money on these lane and sign changes was more important than motorist safety.
   • Saving money on not having a larger sign inventory was more important than motorist safety.
   • This happened even though there was no work being done in the area for over a week.
   • The workers complained about doing the same work over and over.

   - This caused the dangerous on-ramp "YIELD" configuration to be used instead of the much safer "MERGE" configuration.

   - Many contractors don't understand the safety difference between the different kinds of entrance ramp treatments.

   - Contractors use the "YIELD" configuration instead of the much safer "MERGE" configuration to save money and labor.

   - Use of the "YIELD" configurations makes selfish drivers on the freeway fail to let in entering traffic.

4. 
   Contractors want to not have to change the sign configuration when changing the ramp lane configuration.

   - The sign types are (left to right) ADDED LANE, MERGE, and YIELD. They must never be used together.

   - Contractors don't want to pay workers for labor needed to change the signs for each configuration.

   - They don't want to pay for a larger sign inventory.

   - See Merging Traffic Safely.

   • The YIELD configuration requires a YIELD on the ramp, no sign on the freeway, and no acceleration lane.
   • The MERGE configuration requires a MERGE on the freeway, no sign on the ramp, and a properly designed acceleration lane.
   • The ADDED LANE configuration requires an ADDED LANE sign on the freeway and on the ramp, and the ramp getting its own new lane.

   - None of these use the same parts. This makes changing the signs for each configuration expensive.

   - Using the YIELD configuration in merges with and without acceleration lanes makes it more dangerous.
       Drivers don't know in advance whether an acceleration lane is there or not, since all of the ramps have YIELD signs.

5. Contractors left misleading ADDED LANE, MERGE, or YIELD signs in place, even though they caused hazards:

   - Each of these signs misleads when used with the wrong configuration (right image).

   - They didn't want to pay workers extra for the time and labor needed to do it right.

   • Not paying the money for these lane and sign changes was more important than motorist safety.
   • This happened when lanes were closed when the workday started and opened when it ended, misleading drivers into danger.

   - This caused the dangerous on-ramp "YIELD" configuration to be used instead of the much safer "MERGE" configuration.

   - The misleading signs made motorists think a YIELD or MERGE maneuver was not needed when in fact it was.

   - The same signs were left in place when they changed from YIELD to MERGE or from MERGE to YIELD.

6. Contractors left other misleading signs and lines in place, even though they caused hazards:

   They didn't want to pay workers extra for the time and labor needed to do it right.

   • Information signs with directions that can no longer be followed were left in place.
   • At one point, a directional sign to a point of interest on the left was still in place next to a NO LEFT TURN sign where the road had been removed.
   • They left signs in place for detours that no longer worked.
   • They left signs in place for detours where the road the detour followed had been removed.
   • They left some of the signs in place for old detours, sending drivers to places unknown.
   • SIGNAL AHEAD signs were left in place for months after the signals were taken down.
   • They left old road markings in place that take drivers into barrels.
   • Signs telling which lanes to use are still posted while the highway is reduced down to one lane.
7. Contractors used the wrong signs and devices for the situation, misleading drivers:

   They didn't consult the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) before using the signs and devices.

   • 07/11/2018 - MUTCD Violation: Traffic is reduced to one lane at a traffic signal, but the signal still displays a green arrow and a circular red simultaneously on the same face.
   • They used the wrong types of arrow signs to go with route signs and detour signs.
   • Advance turn arrows were wrongly used with another intersection between the sign and the turn.
   • They turned a supplementary straight ahead sign sideways and secured it with only one bolt because they didn't have a left arrow sign handy.
   • Signs are the wrong shape for the type of sign.
   • Detour turn instructions were put on diamond shaped warning signs instead of rectangular guide signs.
8. Contractors did things that inconvenienced drivers for no necessary reason:
   • Contractors closed off lanes so the workers had places to park on site.
   • They shined work lights directly into drivers' eyes.
   • They used chemicals on bridges that caused cars to stall or run rough for hours when they were driven through the vapors.
   • They made the path through the barrels unclear.
   • They left old markings on the road, confusing drivers.
   • They put some signs in front of others, hiding them from drivers until the last second.
   • They aimed some changeable message signs so drivers could not see them or so they could be seen for very short times.
   • The information on some changeable message signs is old or wrong.
   • Workers drove their trucks off the worksite to eateries with their flashing warning lights still on.
   • Workers covered the arrow indications for the left turn signal for traffic from Sam's Club when they closed lanes, but they didn't change the signal cycle.

     - They didn't remove the covers when they opened the lanes again.

     - The signal wasted time by allowing only one movement to go during the southbound left turns.

   • Workers took down detour signs the city erected for a Tapp Road closure. They threw them aside to do their own work. So drivers can't follow this detour.

EVENTS AFTER 05/21/2018:

Here are the changes after 05/21/2018:

• Most of the highway is down to one lane in each direction from Fullerton Pike (Bloomington) to Legendary Drive (Martinsville).
• All interchange entrance ramps still have a dangerous "yield" signage, even though they now have acceleration lanes. The contractors don't want to have to change the signs when they have to close an acceleration lane.
  - This makes it even more dangerous, because the driver does not know in advance whether the acceleration lane is there or not.
• The new Tapp Road interchange opened on 06/01/2018.
• Second Street interchange still has one lane in each direction and very short left turn lanes on Second Street.

  - Traffic backs up to Bloomington Hospital.

• Third Street interchange still has only one westbound lane on Third Street.

  - Traffic backs up into the downtown area.

  - The traffic signals on Third Street were not retimed to alleviate this backup as promised.

• Vernal Pike is often down to one lane with alternating traffic because they are adding sidewalks.
• Indiana 46 has lane closures in both directions for drainage, sign, and shoulder work at the interchange.
• The Kinser Pike overpass is open, but a stream bridge is still out west of the highway.
• The new Sample Road interchange has three ramps and the bridge open as of 06/08/2018.

  - The northbound entrance is still closed, but traffic can use the intersection access to the east leg of Sample Road and some frontage roads.

  - The northbound entrance opened 07/14/2018.

• The west leg of Sample Road has access to frontage roads from Connaught Road to Crossover Road.
• The east leg of Sample Road has access to frontage roads from Sample Road to Fox Hollow Road.
• IN-37 northbound lanes are still torn out between Bryant's Creek and Legendary Drive, with one lane in each direction open on the remaining lanes.

  On 01/21/2018, the northbound side opened. Traffic is restricted to one lane in each direction on its own roadway.

  At the same time, the northbound ramps for Liberty Church Road opened. The southbound ramps are still closed for drainage work.

• They temporarily opened IN-45 Second Street from 06/27/2018 to 07/08/2018 to accommodate Monroe County Fair traffic.

  - But it was supposed to already be done by then.

• The new traffic signal at Second Street and the southbound ramps of IN-37 and I-69 violates the MUCTD.

  Are These Protected/Permissive Left Turn Signals Allowed (with one left turn lane and two thru lanes)?
  NO  - Circular green over left turn lane	YES - Circular green over left thru lane	YES - Flashing Yellow Arrows

  - The traffic signal at Second Street and the southbound ramps of IN-37 and I-69 has circular greens over the left turn lanes (as in left diagram).

  - A circular green is not allowed to be in a signal face placed over or in front of an exclusive left turn lane (should be as in center diagram).

  - Traffic signals at Second Street and Liberty Drive and at Second Street and Basswood Drive also have circular greens over exclusive left turn lanes that violate the MUTCD.

  - Traffic signals on Third Street at Gates Drive, at Wynndale Drive, and at the southbound IN-37 ramps also have circular greens over exclusive left turn lanes.

  - UPDATE 08/08/2018: The signal at Second Street and Basswood Drive now has Flashing Yellow Arrows. Only the temporary construction signals violated the MUTCD.

  - UPDATE 08/10/2018: The signals at the six intersections with the wrong 5-section faces now have Flashing Yellow Arrows.
      The temporary construction signals violated the MUTCD to reduce the amount of labor needed to convert them.

  - UPDATE 08/13/2018: The signal on the Sam's Club driveway on the Second Street interchange has a flashing yellow arrow face and two 3-section thru signal faces.
      This violates the MUTCD because there is only one lane open and the left green arrow shows with circular red on a single-lane approach.

• They are not changing the markings as the lane positions change because the final markings are in place. They are using only the barrel placements to guide motorists through the construction area. This confuses many drivers.
• The permanent markings now on I-69 show that the state skimped on the final design.

  - They removed the originally promised auxillary lanes between Second Street and Third Street and also the northbound lane between Fullerton Pike and Tapp Road.

  - The already existing auxillary lanes between Second and Third were removed.
      -- This is going to be a nuisance for drivers who in the past used the auxillary lanes to connect between Second and Third.
      -- If the auxillary lanes had been deemed necessary before the construction, why aren't they necessary now?

• 08/20/2018: The changeable message sign on westbound Second Street just before the interchange says:

    AUTION
  TAUTION
  PAUTION

      NEW    
  TRAFFIC
  PATTERN

  The left column of letters is not changing with the rest of the sign.

  It was fixed, but a week later, it said:

  CAUTION
  CAUTION
  CAUTION

  C  NEW    
  CRAFFIC
  CATTERN

  These patterns have appeared, and then were fixed over and over again.

• Somebody stole one of the big nighttime work lights from the construction site.
• INDOT announced on 08/08/2018 that I-69 will not be fully open before IU-move-in day, and probably will not be fully open before 09/01/2018 as planned.

EVENTS AFTER 09/01/2018:

Here are the changes after 09/01/2018:

• All interchange entrance ramps still have a dangerous "yield" signage, even though they now have acceleration lanes. The contractors don't want to have to change the signs when they have to close an acceleration lane.
  - This makes it even more dangerous, because the driver does not know in advance whether the acceleration lane is there or not.
• They temporarily opened all I-69 lanes for Labor Day weekend to accommodate holiday traffic.

  - But it was supposed to already be done by then.

• 09/15/2018: I-69 is still not fully open. They did put up the I-69 route markers and mileposts south of IN-46.

  - I-69 still has lane closures in the Bloomington area, and is still only one lane in each direction north of Sample Road.

  - The vehicle detectors for the Second Street and Third Street interchanges have not yet been installed, and signals are still pretimed.

  - The right turn arrows for the turn out of the Sam's Club are not connected yet.

• 09/17/2018: I-69 Section 5 was accepted as an Interstate Highway by the US Federal Highway Administration. It is still not fully done.

  - Lane closures continue.

  - I-69 route markers and mileposts are being placed and I-69 shields on direction signs are being uncovered.

  - I-69 is still only one lane in each direction north of Sample Road.

  - The vehicle detectors for the Second Street and Third Street interchanges have not yet been installed, and signals are still pretimed.

  - The right turn arrows for the turn out of the Sam's Club are not connected yet.

• 10/01/2018: They put a lane drop on southbound I-69 just south of IN-46 with no warning signs. They just squeezed the lane down to nothing with barrels.

  - This is dangerous.

  - Similar unsigned lane drops appeared on Second Street.

  - There was a notice in the newspaper for lane drops on Second Street, but this does not warn strangers to the area.

• 10/01/2018: They have put some loop detectors on Third Street, and they are installing the hand holes (junction boxes) for detectors on Second Street. But all of the intersections are still operating with pretimed signals.
• They have not done anything to fix the left-turn backups that occur on eastbound Third Street at Franklin Road. During the evening rush hour, people trying to get to restaurants on Franklin back up into the interchange. This was a problem before the construction started.
• 10/29/2018: The Indiana Department of Transportation announced that I-69 Section 5 is "substantially complete". All paving is complete in the mainline, all ramps are open, and only a few items (e.g. landscaping) need to be finished.

  - Some ramp lanes are still closed.

  - Some traffic signals are still not fully actuated.

  - Some rebuilding of the IN-46 interchange is scheduled for spring 2019.

• 11/05/2018: The speed limit on I-69 was raised to 70 mph on the rural parts.

  - Thanks to legislative stupidity, trucks over 13 tons are restricted to 65 mph. This causes more passing conflicts and reduces highway capacity.

  - Thanks to the former stupid political power of Ted Kennedy, urban parts are 55 mph. This is a political speed limit, not a necessary speed limit.

  - Some of the speed limit signs in the rural area have been lowered to 55 mph.

• 11/06/2018: The news said that most of the barrels and cones have been removed from the mainline of I-69. But they are still there and still being used to close lanes.
• 11/23/2018: The Tapp Road and Rockport Road intersection reopened after being closed since 06/11/2018. This removed some of the congestion from Second Street and Fullerton Pike.

EVENTS AFTER 12/01/2018:

Here are the changes after 12/01/2018:

• Work still needs to be done on the span ends of the IN-46 bridge in March 2019.
• Most of the barrels and cones are still there and still being used to close lanes.
• Some interchange entrance ramps still have a dangerous "yield" signage, even though they now have acceleration lanes. The contractors don't want to have to change the signs when they have to close an acceleration lane.
• 12/03/2018: The post lights and lighted signs on the overpass side faces were turned on for the Second Street and Third Street overpasses.
• 12/07/2018: Most of the traffic signals are now fully functioning with detectors fully operating.
• 12/17-18/2018: Ramps will be closed on the IN-46 interchange while they erect the new tall floodlights.
• 12/24/2018: All barrels and traffic barriers were removed from IN-45 and IN-48 on their interchanges with I-69. But barrels remain on the on-ramps and on I-69.
• 12/2018: The page author just noticed that the large directional sign cluster just west of the I-69 interchange on eastbound IN-46 has no mention of I-69.

  - The sign panels had not yet been changed.

  - The panels were changed before 12/31/2018 when the page author saw the new panels.

• 02/01/2019: Both lanes of the IN-45 southbound ramp from IN-46 to I-69 are open.
• 02/01/2019: Most of the barrels were gone from the mainline except for a few places where landscaping work is being done.

  Many ramps still have barrels along one side.

• 02/01/2019: The streetlights on the north side of the Tapp Rd bridge light, but the ones on the south side do not light.

EVENTS AFTER 03/18/2019:

Here are the changes after 03/18/2019:

• Work still needs to be done on the span ends of the IN-46 bridge.
• Most of the barrels and cones are gone now. Some are in use where men are working.
• All of the dangerous "yield" signage is gone. But some of the entrance ramp locations have the wrong mainline signs, with "merge" signs and "added lane" signs at the wrong type of ramp. Others have no sign at all.
• The post lights and lighted signs on the overpass side faces are all working.
• The traffic signals are now fully functioning with detectors fully operating.
• Ramps were closed on the IN-46 interchange while they erected new tall floodlights and removed the old ones.
• The large directional sign cluster just west of the I-69 interchange on eastbound IN-46 now has all of the I-69 directions.
• All ramp lanes are now open.

EVENTS AFTER 06/01/2019 - IN-45 / IN-46 Ramp Closures:

Here are the changes after 06/01/2019:

• The pavement on the entire west IN-46 overpass approaches at I-69 will be totally replaced.

  The project was to run from 06/01/2019 to 11/21/2019.

• Note that they posted no detours at all for IN-45, which turns at the interchange and uses the closed ramps.
• The north bridge closed on 06/03/2019. This closed the following ramps:
  1. Entrance ramp to northbound I-69 - Detour: go south on I-69, exit at IN-48, and enter northbound I-69 there.
  2. Entrance ramp from westbound IN-46 and for IN-45 to southbound I-69 - Detour: make U-turn at Curry Pike and then turn south on I-69.
  3. Both exit ramps from I-69 to westbound IN-46 - Detour: turn west on IN-48 and go to Spencer on IN-48 and IN-43 (official detour*).

     - Note: An unofficial detour is to use Curry Pike instead of going to Spencer.

     - Note: An unofficial detour is to go east on IN-46 and make a U-turn at Kinser Pike.

• On 08/15/2019, the north bridge opened and the south bridge closed. But they left one lane open for the southbound exit, and a separate section was left open for both entrances to eastbound IN-46. This closed the following ramps:
  1. Left turn to entrance ramp to southbound I-69 - Detour: make U-turn at Curry Pike and then turn south on I-69.

     - Note: They finally marked the IN-45 detour.

  2. Entrance ramp from eastbound IN-46 to northbound I-69 - Detour go south on I-69, exit at IN-48, and enter northbound I-69 there.

     - Note: An unofficial detour is to go east on IN-46 and make a U-turn at Kinser Pike, and then take the northbound ramp.

     - Note: An unofficial detour is to use Curry Pike and IN 48 for any movement.

• Sometime in September 2019, the section left open for entrances to eastbound IN-46 was closed. This resulted in all of these ramps being closed:
  1. Left turn to entrance ramp to southbound I-69 - Detour: make U-turn at Curry Pike and then turn south on I-69.
  2. Entrance ramp from eastbound IN-46 to northbound I-69 - Detour go south on I-69, exit at IN-48, and enter northbound I-69 there.

     - Note: An unofficial detour is to go east on IN-46 and make a U-turn at Kinser Pike, and then take the northbound ramp.

  3. Exit ramps from both directions of I-69 to eastbound IN-46 and IN-45 - Detour by taking a ramp to westbound IN-46 and make a U-turn at Curry Pike.
  4. Note: An unofficial detour is to use Curry Pike and IN 48 for any movement.
• Sometime in October 2019, both bridges opened one lane each and the southbound I-69 ramp from IN 45 / IN 46 was closed.
  1. Closing this ramp makes the detour for IN 45 and southbound traffic go north to Sample Road to turn around.
  2. Eastbound IN 46 traffic must U-turn at Kinser Pike before going north.
  3. Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by using Curry Pike and IN-48.
• During the final two weeks of the project in November, various ramps are closed and opened repeatedly as they work on the ramps.
  1. The various detours listed above apply again.
  2. Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by using Curry Pike and IN-48.
• In late November, both bridges are expected to fully open.
• It's not done yet! Ramps will be closed again starting 12/06/2019.
  1. They have been closing ramps and bridge lanes in a seemingly random fashion.
  2. The page author has not yet seen anyone working there as he passed through during the closures.
  3. The barricades and barrels remain on the sides of the roads when nothing is closed.

* Official detours must use actual state and US highways, not other surface streets. Turnbacks at Interchanges are an exception.