I-465 West Widening Project

The west leg of I-465 has seen substantial traffic growth in recent years. Airport related industrial development and a housing boom in nearby Hendricks County have contributed to this growth. Additionally, this section of roadway features numerous closely spaced cloverleaf interchanges which degrade the roadway's performance. While capacity has mostly been sufficient to meet demand, there is now spot congestion at rush hour, and more serious congestion is projected for the near future.

The pavement on that section of interstate is old and is in need of replacement. Thus, INDOT is developing a reconstruction plan along an 11 mile corridor between SR 67 and I-65N that will include:

• Replacement of the pavement on the existing lanes.

• The addition of a fourth lane in each direction. A fifth lane is needed to satisfy the normal level of service criteria for the design year, but I doubt this will happen because of right of way concerns.

• Auxiliary lanes between interchanges.

• Redesigned and reconstructed interchanges throughout the corridor. See my Indianapolis interchange page for more details.

• Improved roadway geometrics to improve safety. An example is raising bridge clearance to modern minimum standards.

INDOT has let an Environmental Assessment for this project which should be complete in a year or so. Construction could come as early as 2005. Several projects have been programmed and added to the Indianapolis Long Range Transportation Plan. INDOT is exploring creative ways to design and finance the project that would allow it to be constructed on an accelerated schedule, to avoid endless years of construction.

An extensive web site is now available on this project from INDOT.

Last Updated: April 2002

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