Contractors for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) plan to install temporary barrier wall this week to resume final work on the Operation Indy Commute I-69 project to add lanes between 116th Street and I-465.
Rieth-Riley Construction, INDOT’s contractor for the $11 million project, will be adding auxiliary lanes along southbound I-69 to connect between ramps at 116th Street and 96thStreet as well as 96th Street and 82nd Street.
Tonight from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., contractors will restrict the right lane on southbound I-69 between 116th and 82nd streets to install temporary concrete barrier wall along the right shoulder. Weather permitting, crews will repeat the nightly right lane restrictions and complete this preliminary work in about one week. Once the barrier wall is installed, contractors will begin removing the existing shoulder and building the new lanes.
All four lanes of southbound I-69 were shifted away from the shoulder last week and will remain open during peak traffic times. All lane restrictions will be scheduled for weeknights and weekends. Weeknight lane restrictions are expected to end before 6 a.m., and the new auxiliary lanes are expected to open to traffic in June.
Last year, Rieth-Riley constructed a new southbound travel lane between 116th Street and I-465 to add capacity and improve traffic flow. The contractor also built northbound auxiliary lanes connecting interchange ramps at 82nd, 96th and 116th streets. The auxiliary lanes are intended to improve traffic flow and strategically alleviate recurring commuting bottlenecks by allowing traffic traveling from one interchange ramp to the next to avoid unnecessarily merging with mainline interstate traffic.
A separate $18 million contract made capacity and configuration improvements to the I-69 Exit 205 interchange at State Road 37 and 116th Street that are now open to traffic.
