End of the road (work)?

If you’ve grown tired of the orange barrels, closed lanes and traffic backups in your daily commute, an end is in sight.

Work is set to wrap up and all lanes will reopen on Interstate 65 as soon as Thanksgiving.

Final touches, including a final coating of asphalt and permanent road markings south of Whiteland Road, will have to wait until spring. But the interstate and the newly added lane in each direction will open Dec. 1 at the latest, Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Harry Maginity said.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Click here to purchase photos from this gallery

With weeks remaining before work is set to end for the season, crews are closing lanes and ramps to try to get work finished.

This week, that includes a 48-hour closure of the northbound I-65 off-ramp at Whiteland road, which began Tuesday, and then a 48-hour ramp closure for the southbound I-65 off-ramp at Whiteland Road, beginning Thursday.

Commuters can also expect lane closures in order to get work finished, he said.

On the list of what needs to be finished: concrete patches, pouring bridge decks over King Street in Franklin and Hurricane Creek further north and putting down asphalt on the southern portions of the project, Maginity said. Much of the work on the northern section of the project, mainly north of Whiteland Road, is nearing completion, and in Greenwood the new lanes are open to traffic. Paving on the southern portion of the project is planned to begin as soon as this week.

Often, the goal is to finish road construction projects by the beginning of December, when the weather turns colder.

That’s why the final coating of asphalt and pavement markings on I-65 will need to be completed next year, Maginity said. Crews expect the weather to turn too cold this year before the work could be done, he said.

But that cold weather also typically means the end of construction season, and the end of backups, traffic delays and slowdowns on your daily commute.

Other projects around the county are also wrapping up, including paving work on U.S. 31, which is complete, and repaving on State Road 37, set to be finished by the end of the month, Maginity said.

Local projects in Greenwood and Franklin have also recently finished, or are planned to finish by the beginning of December.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”At a glance” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Here is a look at where other projects stand:

Franklin

Jefferson Street

What: Rebuild the road and add new features between Main Street and the Admiral gas station

When: Set to be complete by the end of November

King Street

What: Rebuild the road and add new decorative features near Interstate 65

When: Expected to be finished the week before Thanksgiving

Greenwood

Worthsville Road

What: Widening the intersection and adding new stoplights at U.S. 31

When: Complete

Fry Road

What: Adding a second left turn lane onto State Road 135

When: Complete

State

U.S. 31

What: Repaving between Greenwood and Franklin

When: Final pieces being completed

State Road 37

What: Repaving between Wicker Road and County Road 144

When: Paving is complete, and shoulder work is ongoing. Work will be done at traffic signals overnight next week. Expected to be complete by the end of the month.

[sc:pullout-text-end]