Commuters beware: Part of a busy southside Interstate 65 exit will be closed this week for construction.
The on-ramp from eastbound County Line Road to southbound I-65 is planned to be closed Wednesday, and the ramp from westbound County Line Road to northbound I-65 will be closed Thursday. They are expected to be closed for a week, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The ramps are being closed as part of the $35 million project to add a lane in each direction to I-65 between Southport Road and Main Street in Greenwood. Work on the project began this spring. Lanes have been shifted and narrowed, construction walls have been put up, and now lanes will be closed for some of the work.
During the ramp closure, workers will rebuild part of the ramp to make it connect with a widened I-65.
Motorists are seeing orange barrels and construction zones all along I-65 in Johnson County. In addition to the widening, workers are building an interchange at Worthsville Road and rebuilding and repaving the highway between Franklin and the State Road 252 exit.
Last week, officials planned to meet to discuss the next widening project, when workers will add a lane to the interstate between Main Street in Greenwood and the Franklin exit. Work is expected to begin on that project later this year.
Much of the most significant work, requiring lanes to be closed or traffic to be shifted, is being done at night. Workers have been building lanes for traffic to cross over the median on the southern end of the project. That work has required the left lanes in both directions of the interstate to be closed at night.
But this week, workers will begin paving soutbound I-65 between Southport Road and Main Street, which will require the right lane to be closed.
For this week, the right lane will be closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. But starting next week, workers will pave day and night, and the right lane will need to remain closed.
Construction along I-65 is expected to continue through much of this year.
