MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — The full closure of State Road 37 in Morgan County is underway with INDOT planning to speed up I-69 construction on the stretch of road by a full year.
Monday was the first weekday of the closure and with the number of people trying to find detours to try and get around the closure, that has traffic bringing some mixed reactions from Hoosiers in Martinsville.
The official detour for the project, as set up by INDOT, has drivers taking State Road 39 from State Road 37 to State Road 67 and then down State Road 144 back to 37 and vise versa. But, many people are choosing to go right through downtown Martinsville.
“I worry about the safety; I don’t want people flying through here,” said Rob Helms, of Martinsville to WISH-TV. “But, I think our downtown businesses will definitely embrace the traffic of people coming down here and hopefully get some of them stopping here.”
Others are just frustrated with the construction in general.
“I travel quite a bit back and forth between Bloomington and Indianapolis, and all of this construction slows things down tremendously,” said Damon Robinson. “Tensions are high; people want to get where they want to get and they are impatient.”
INDOT said the full closure makes working on the stretch of road safer. They plan to build four new bridges, install new stoplights where needed, and bring the State Road up to interstate code in preparation for when I-69 opens in Morgan County.
