Allisonville ramps close as construction progresses - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Attention drivers on the northeast side: An already confusing construction project became a little trickier Tuesday.  This morning, one ramp on from Allisonville Road to I-465 will close to traffic. Another will shut down later this week. 

The northwest ramp on to 465 is now closed and the southeast ramp will close Thursday.  They will remain closed for about two weeks to allow for construction of the new ramp system.  You will still be able to exit I-465 onto Allisonville. 

While the dry weather is a disaster in some industries, it's really helping with road construction. Progress is steady on the Allisonville bridge project. INDOT reports the work is right on schedule for completion in the fall, although they are just past the halfway point now.

All steel bridge girders are now installed - a sign of progress. Summer road projects in Indiana typically shut down for a few rainy days, but due to the drought, this work hasn't had a single rain delay.

"We would prefer this much more than the alternative of a very wet summer," said INDOT's Nathan Riggs. "The dry weather has really been beneficial to a lot of our projects, especially when we have so many projects in heavily-traveled areas."

The Allisonville/Castleton area normally sees around 50,000 vehicles a day, so there's definitely a push to reopen as soon as possible. INDOT predicts the current pain will be worth it. "Not only will we be increasing the capacity of the cars going through the interchange, we'll be improving the traffic flow as well," according to Riggs.

Contractor incentives for early completion amount to $20-thousand per day for every day under 110 days of work. If it takes longer, the contractor pays a $20-thousand penalty per day.

Construction is set to be complete by the end of September.