INDIANAPOLIS — Some of you may have noticed some lane shifts, concrete barriers and orange construction barrels on I-465 between the I-865 interchange and Michigan Rd. on the northwest side of the city.
Roughly 1,000 feet of 465 just before the 865 interchange has seen the slight changes. INDOT said it’s for nighttime maintenance work along that stretch.
“That’s just allowing our crews to be safe as they work at night,” especially in night conditions, especially once that’s a big area where semis are going through” said Kyleigh Cramer with INDOT.
INDOT crews have been out between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. for that work for about a week now. Cramer said it’s just impacting overnight traffic.
It is not a precursor to a bigger project, but there is something in the future for that area.
“We’re trying to build up 465,” Cramer said. “We’re trying to increase the efficiency of it, we’re trying to increase the safety of it.”
In the same vein of the North Split, I-69 Finish Line and Clear Path 465 projects, the future Northwest Improvements Project will look to make I-465 better.
“The corridor you’re specifically talking about, the design is no longer favorable,” Cramer said. “So that’s why right now we’re on the environmental phase, were working on the design phase.”
The project will eventually change 8 miles of I-465 from College Ave to 86th St.
The project will address traffic flow and safety on the highway. Drivers we talked to said rush hours can be cramped and slow on that stretch.
INDOT also said almost half of the bridges on those 8 miles have less than five years of service life remaining.
INDOT crews work to elongate the lives of those bridges with maintenance, the 96th St. bridge over 465 has gotten some underneath work recently.
“It’s really working on the underneath part of the bridge and that’s why were doing some maintenance work about last week with this bridge,” Cramer said.
Nothing with the Northwest Improvements Project is fully set in stone yet, though.
“We’re not hitting construction or digging up any kind of dirt any time soon.,” Cramer said.
The loose time frame for this project is around 2024 and 2025. Cramer said the major focus for INDOT right now is its current projects.
“Our most present mind is all the projects that are going on right now with North Split and Clear Path and Finish Line,” Cramer said.
The North Split is set to reopen at the end of April, the I-69 Finish Line project will open at the end of 2024 and Clear Path 465 is set to finish at the end of 2025.