One person was injured and a part of Interstate 65 was shut down for hours after an accident in a construction zone.
The accident Thursday morning was the latest in a series of crashes in construction zones along I-65 this year.
Sections of the interstate from Southport Road to Edinburgh have been under construction for the past year. This summer, multiple crashes — some serious enough to shut down the interstate — have been reported in those construction zones.
At least four people have been killed in accidents in the past six months, and several others were injured.
In Thursday’s accident, a driver was injured and had to be taken to a hospital on a medical helicopter. Police did not release names of the drivers involved or the seriousness of the driver’s injuries.
The accident happened in a construction zone in the southbound lanes of I-65 between Franklin and Edinburgh at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Four vehicles, including a dump truck were involved. Traffic had stopped in the construction zone and the dump truck was not able to stop, according to a news release from Indiana State Police.
The truck hit a car that was stopped in traffic, pushing it into another vehicle and debris from the crash struck a third vehicle, the release said. The impact of the crash caused the car to spin around and face the opposite direction, Indiana State Police Trooper John Perrine said.
State police initially closed both southbound lanes to the highway, but reopened one of the lanes within an hour. Both lanes were reopened by 12:30 p.m., Perrine said.
The crash happened in the right lane, which is separated by a median due to construction. That lane is on the southbound side of traffic, and the second lane is on the northbound side of traffic. The right lane remained closed for at least another hour during investigation and cleanup of the crash.
Construction has finished on parts of I-65 recently, including on a new interchange at Worthsville Road in Greenwood and to add a new lane to the interstate between Southport Road and Main Street in Greenwood. But work is continuing to add a new lane between Greenwood and Franklin. Workers currently are patching parts of the interstate, and bridge work will continue this winter, state officials have said.
Construction also is wrapping up for the season on the section of the interstate between Franklin and Edinburgh, where Thursday’s crash happened. Workers have been repairing and rebuilding the interstate surface and bridges and are expecting to have work on three of the four lanes done this year.
