West I-70 Interchanges and Widening

INDOT now has its own web page devoted to this project, so I will allow them to speak for themselves on it. My page will remain here to provide historical information on the development of this project.

There is a seven mile stretch of I-70 west between I-465 and SR 267 which is six lanes, but has no interchanges. This was identified as a deficiency long ago. Various studies looked at this, but nothing was done. This changed recently due to a number of factors:

• United Airlines built a large maintenance facility at the Indianapolis airport. Currently the only access to that facility is off Washington St., which cannot handle the projected traffic load. This base was originally supposed to employ 7,200 people, but has fallen far short of its goals to date. Still, it is a major employer.

• The Indianapolis Airport Authority is relocating its passenger terminal (which cannot be expanded in its current location) to a new midfield location on the west side of the airport. This will require a new interchange on I-70.

• FedEx has its second largest package sorting hub at the Indianapolis airport. The current facility is landlocked with no room for expansion. Relocation of the freeway to the south would enable FedEx to grow and add in excess of 1,000 jobs.

• There is no north-south through route linking I-70 with I-74 and I-65 between I-465 and SR 267. This was projected to cause substantial traffic problems because of massive residential growth in eastern Hendricks County. Thus the Hendricks County Commissioners developed a plan to build a new four lane limited access arterial to link I-70 and I-74, roughly following the route of CR 1000E, CR 1050E, and Six Points Rd. This road would need to connect to both I-70 and I-74.

• Large industrial parks are under development in Plainfield. There is a large amount of vacant land between Plainfield and the airport that cannot be developed for residential due to noise problems, so the town wants to use it for light industrial purposes. However, much of this land is located too far from an interstate interchange to make it attractive to developers.

• This section of I-70 is in need of rehabilitation. Substantial funds will need to be devoted to this route in the near future whether or not it is improved.

INDOT hired American Consulting Engineers to study this roadway. They proposed a combination of capacity expansion projects that would satisfy all of these needs. This project will cost approximately $150 million (including some costs to upgrade Six Points Rd. but excluding the cost to upgrade the I-70 West/I-465 interchange). Project elements include:

• Widening and realigning Six Points Rd. This route will be widened to four lanes north of I-70 with a continuous two way left turn lane (TWLTL) median. Just north of I-70, the road will curve eastward to cross I-70 at a 90 degree angle and continue southeasterly to a new terminus at Kentucky Ave. This section will be six lanes with a TWLTL median.

• New interchange construction at Six Points Rd. This will be an enhanced cloverleaf with flyover ramps from outbound I-70 to southbound Six Points and from southbound Six Points to inbound I-70. There will also be a C/D system interconnected with the a new Airport interchange.

• New Airport spur off I-70 to serve a new midfield terminal. This will include dual lane ramps connecting the airport with inbound I-70. Braided ramps will connect with the adjacent Six Points Rd. interchange.

• Widening I-70 to four lanes each way between Six Points Rd. and I-465 with a new barrier median. A section of the roadway will also be relocated to the south and depressed in order to allow two new aircraft taxiways to be constructed over I-70. (A land swap with a developer preserved land south of I-70 needed for a third runway).

• Removal of existing overpasses at old Six Points Rd., Hanna Ave., and Bridgeport Rd.

• Improvement of the I-70 West/I-465 interchange to create a dual lane ramp from I-465 south to outbound I-70. And replacing the loop ramp from inbound I-70 to northbound I-465 with a new flyover ramp.

There are substantial environmental impacts from this project. A portion of White Lick Creek will need to be relocated. This is a habitat for the endangered Indiana bat (or some other endangered species. I do not remember sure). So there will need to be extensive environmental mitigation. To date I am not aware of any real opposition to this project from environmental groups. This is a bit surprising given the amount of impact this project has, plus the fact that it could be considered a classic sprawl inducer. (Indeed, one of the explicit goals of the project is to open up vacant land on the urban fringes to development).

A more serious barrier is funding. Here is a cost breakdown for the various portions of the project:

Description	Cost
Six Points Rd. (north of I-70 to Washington St.)	7,900,000
Six Points Rd. (south of I-70 to Kentucky Ave.)	7,000,000
Six Points Rd. interchange	62,000,000
Airport interchange	39,000,000
I-70 widening/relocation	33,000,000
I-70 West/I-465 interchange	N/A

While there is funding included for this project in the long range plan, it is all "special" funding, meaning it is not budgeted out of normally available funds. Some money was authorized as part of the TEA-21 bill, but I don't believe anything has actually been appropriated. INDOT has $10 million budgeted to rehab I-70, and I hear they reached a deal with the City of Indianapolis to pay half of the cost of the relocation of I-70 to accomodate a FedEx expansion. (The deal was actually a no cash transaction. Indianapolis simply agreed to take over the short section of Shadeland Ave. that was signed as SR 100 and the state credited them with $10 million towards the project). Hendricks County has been frustrated in its efforts to get federal funding for a section of the North-South Corridor futher north that it is trying to build.

INDOT recently issued an RFP (350K PDF Format) for a consultant to being work on this project. This project had previously been bogged down for some unknown reason, but with the Airport Authority voting to proceed with a new midfield terminal to open in 2007, INDOT has put this project on the fast track. Contracts are to be let in mid-2003 with an opening of the entire segment by December 2004. This may include only a scaled down version of the Six Points Rd. interchange, however. The estimated cost is $125,000,000. Subsequent to this RFP, I spoke with an INDOT employee who confirmed that this project is moving along.

Last Update: January 2003

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