Work is starting to ramp up on the future Smith Valley Road interchange with State Road 37.
The interchange will open in stages, with full completion later this year. Construction crews will open a new overpass bridge at Smith Valley Road in mid-July, and will simultaneously open the State Road 37 southbound on and off ramps. Northbound ramps won’t open until later this year because of the current mainline configuration, according to a weekly construction update from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Crews have completed the last new pavement on State Road 37 between County Road 144 and Smith Valley Road, and southbound traffic will shift to the permanent surface after the July 4 holiday. Workers will continue to work on the shoulder of northbound State Road 37 to install highway fencing in Morgan and Johnson County, INDOT officials say.
In Marion County, nightly single-lane restrictions will continue on eastbound Interstate 465 for trucks hauling materials to enter and exit the work zone. Eastbound I-465 lanes reopened to traffic between Interstate 70 and Interstate 65 earlier this month, and westbound lanes and interchanges between those two points will close to traffic starting July 7. The official detour for the I-465 closure follows I-70 eastbound to I-65 southbound at the South Split, INDOT officials say.
Paving work is scheduled on Southport Road west of State Road 37 later this week to complete the tie-in from the new Southport Road alignment to the existing roadway, INDOT officials say.
