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Construction zones continue to permeate and I’m numb, kind of like drinking yourself sober. It’s a way of life now, it’s everywhere, it’s Indianapolis – Where the Streets Have No Lanes. I suggest we turn E. 38th St. into a gravel road instead of just closing it for road work. Why not? In addition, we’ll extend the canals through Washington St. and replace Keystone with the Oregon Trail. Maybe change out the off-ramps with zip lines. Just leave your car, hop on, whatever. You can’t turn left without upending an INDOT sign, or most recently, demolishing a pothole. 

There’s Purple Line construction to discuss and I’m done whining. For the uninitiated, the Purple Line is the next “branch” of the IndyGo electric bus system, running from downtown to Lawrence to Ft. Ben, and could be done at the end of 2024. The Red Line – which runs from University of Indianapolis through Broad Ripple – is completed and funtional. 

THIS WEEK

E. 38th St. is closing from Fall Creek Pkwy. to Orchard Ave on Thursday, March 10th for ten days – or until March 20th. Once the ten days are up, westbound 38th St. will reopen. Eastbound 38th St. will remain closed from Fall Creek Pkwy. to Keystone Ave. for 130 days, placing our reopening date somewhere around July 29th. Again, just the eastbound lanes will be affected on or after March 20th.

38th St. Closure

Photo Credit: IndyGo

A combination of Keystone/Fall Creek, College Ave., and E. 46th St. will move you safely around the closure area. The reroute will be congested, especially during rush hour, and College Ave. is one lane in each direction north of 38th St. because of the aforementioned Red Line.

Prepare thyself. 

NORTH SPLIT

East End Open Closed

Green = OPEN. Red = CLOSED. Map maker is part time.

I’m unusually cynical today. It’s likely related to North Split construction displacing every bird left in Indianapolis, who then enacted vengeance by crapping on the traffic guy’s balcony. Every. Single. Bird. You haven’t been humbled until you’ve scrapped frozen bird stuff off of your exterior windows. ***Author’s note. My whole apartment is an exterior window.

It probably wasn’t the construction, but I’m going to blame it regardless. 

Quick refresher. The north split is the second busiest interchange in Indiana and it’s closed, specifically I-65/70 from the north split to Washington St. (and vice versa). I-65/70 runs north and south between downtown and the east side, resulting in intermittent closures of the main east/west corridors that connect the two. At the moment, E. 10th St. and Michigan St. are both closed, making “crossing over” from downtown to the east side feel like a corn maze, and even more so when the near east side train gets stuck. 

Train Stopped

This again?

It’s a fluid situation. New York St. and St. Clair St. recently reopened, and the closures on Michigan St. and E. 10th St. should expire by the end of the month. Take a look:

East End Reopen Dates

The human body is comprised of sixty-percent water and forty-percent construction dust.

We’ll get Michigan St. – a westbound one way – back on March 14th (hopefully), and then 10th St. on March 25th (hopefully). We need one or the other to go from downtown to the east side in a westerly type way without having to slog north to E. 16th or south to Washington St. And if you can help it, don’t pick Washington St. Taxiing to Washington St. means a trip to East St. – a southbound one way – which is a mosh pit. Lots of semi traffic, which is peculiar since the Michigan St. exit ramp has a thirteen ton weight limit. It’s almost like they should have used I-465, according to the law or something. Weird.

Closure and reopening dates are all a bit flimsy because of the weather. I’ll be patient if you are.

The whole north split rebuild should be done by Thanksgiving. Until then, stay current on closures and other restrictions by following @WIBCTraffic or @MattINTraffic

We’ll talk about the northeast side’s I-465 next time. 

2022 baby! They said it’d be fun!

-Bair

Matt Bair is the new voice of Indianapolis traffic and can be followed on Twitter @WIBCTraffic. Fans of Facebook can “like” WIBC Traffic for the latest traffic happenings. Tips? Call direct at (317) 684-8134 or the 93 WIBC Newsroom at (317) 637-6397.