INDIANA – The week before Labor Day was one of monumental progress across two counties for the I-69 Finish Line project.
In Morgan County, southbound State Road 37 traffic should expect the lane closure to resume following the holiday weekend travels from Henderson Ford Road to Teeters Road.
Crews are installing median cable barrier, painting the new overpasses, removing temporary driveways, paving and striping. Roadwork is ongoing to build the new sections of Bobby Helms Boulevard and Bills Boulevard in Artesian Square Shopping Center.
Expect to see paving begin this week and the access road to open in late September. The new Ohio Street traffic signal at the Ruth Rusie Way entrance will be active after the paving work is completed.
Night crews poured a significant amount of concrete for one of the largest bridges on the I-69 corridor at Southport Road. Daytime crews lifted concrete bridge beams into place over the future I-69 southbound lanes at Smith Valley Road. About two miles of State Road 37 was also shifted onto new pavement north of S.R. 144.
Governor Eric Holcomb recorded a Labor Day thank you video to the skilled Hoosier men and women working hard to drive our state and economy forward.
Epler Avenue and Belmont Avenue west of S.R. 37 are expected to close for the rest of the year after utility work is completed this month. The detour for local traffic will follow Concord Street, Banta Road, and Harding Street. Motorists can see new noise barriers going up along the highway near Southport Road.
Watch for paving crews this week on Huggin Hollow Road between Old S.R. 37 and S.R. 144.
Drivers should expect flaggers and short delays. S.R. 144 traffic is expected to shift onto the new bridge over the future I-69 next week, removing another stoplight for S.R. 37.
The southbound exit ramp and the northbound on-ramp are expected to open at that time. The traffic shift will close northbound S.R. 37 access to S.R. 144 and S.R. 144 access to southbound S.R. 37 for about three months as crews complete interchange construction.
The official detour will follow S.R. 37 to the County Line Road interchange.
The actual starting date and duration for work and any closures may be adjusted if inclement weather or other unforeseen activities occur.