A holiday gift for motorists: Relief from road construction on the way

By the end of today, a key route through downtown Franklin will reopen.

And in the next week, traffic will begin returning to normal on Interstate 65.

Annually, Thanksgiving is the tipping point for construction crews to hurriedly finish projects or for the season before the weather turns too cold for crews.

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This year is no exception.

In the coming days, motorists will notice crews wrapping up their work for the year, moving out orange barrels and equipment and reopening routes and lanes that have been closed for months.

Here is what you need to know:

Jefferson Street

After a two-block section has been closed for about three months, a key route through downtown Franklin is set to reopen by the end of today, city officials said.Jefferson Street will reopen from Main Street to the gas station, so traffic can once again continue to and from U.S. 31. But some work will still need to be finished in the next few weeks, Franklin city engineer Travis Underhill said.

Crews will need to finish work on a sidewalk ramp at the intersection of Jefferson and Jackson streets, which will require brief, daytime closures on Jackson Street, he said.

Permanent stoplights will be installed in early to mid-December, due to the supplier of the historic-looking poles facing a materials shortage, Underhill said.

That will require a temporary traffic light at the intersection of Jefferson and Main streets, and stop signs at the intersection of Jefferson and Jackson streets, he said. The intersection at Jackson Street does not have enough room for the equipment needed for a temporary traffic light, he said.

Work to install the permanent stoplights is expected to be complete in mid-December, he said.

Crews will also finish the final asphalt surface, permanent pavement markings, trees and landscaping next year. That work will be done as phases two through four, which will be from U.S. 31 to the gas station, from Main Street to Home Avenue and Home Avenue to the railroad crossing, are completed, according to an update from the contractor.

The other end of the project, King Street near I-65, also is set to reopen all lanes to traffic by tonight, though crews will need to do some striping work, Underhill said.

Interstate 65

By early next week, traffic will be returned to the southbound side of I-65, as crews finish a project that has already stretched on for two construction seasons.On Monday or Tuesday, officials expect to return all traffic to the southbound side of the interstate, between Whiteland and south of Franklin, where one lane has been moved to the other side of the interstate, Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Harry Maginity said.

The following week, the third northbound lane is set to open around Dec. 6, and the third southbound lane is set to open Dec. 10, he said.

Before then, crews will be working to finish paving in the southern portion of the project and put down striping, he said.

With all six lanes open, that will be the end of a project that began last year to widen the interstate to three lanes in each direction between Greenwood and Franklin.

Some final work will still need to be completed next year, including a final asphalt surface and pavement markings and some ramp work, Maginity said.

All work is set to be done by the end of June, but drivers likely won’t notice the difference in the road surface before the work is finished, he said.

State Road 37

Work is mostly finished to repave State Road 37, between the Marion County line and County Road 144 in Johnson County.

Paving is finished, along with striping, but crews are finishing a few final items, Maginity said.

The work is one of the final major projects to finish in Johnson County this year.

Along with ongoing work on I-65, the state also repaved U.S. 31 from Greenwood to Franklin this year. That raised concerns with drivers when the paving project on State Road 37 was announced, since three of the four major north-south routes for commuters was under construction this year.

State officials decided not to start work on State Road 37 until the paving on U.S. 31 was finished.

Work on State Road 37 has been wrapping up in the last few weeks.