GREENFIELD — North State Road 9 is slated to reopen this month, nearly five months after crews closed it for construction.
A stretch of highway between State Road 234 in northern Hancock County and U.S. 36, south of Pendleton, has been closed since the end of June as crews worked to rehab a bridge over Lick Creek.
The road should reopen to traffic by Nov. 17, said Nathan Riggs, information director for the Indiana Department of Transportation — news he knows will be welcomed by drivers along the county’s busiest north-south thoroughfare.
The bridge that needed updating is located about two miles north of Hancock County, between Madison County roads 1050S and 950S.
Much of State Road 9 has been construction-free for the duration of the project, but INDOT opted to close the entire 5.5-mile stretch of highway from State Road 234 to State Road 36 to all but local traffic.
The construction impacted thousands of drivers as some 6,000 cars travel on State Road 9 north of State Road 234 every day, according to INDOT traffic counts.
Drivers traveling north on State Road 9 have been advised to detour about 6 miles west on State Road 234 to U.S. 36, but officials say many local drivers used county roads as a detour.
Hearing the highway will reopen is welcome news for residents who live along those detours and have seen increased traffic there, as well as those who have had to drive them.
A post on the Daily Reporter’s Facebook page generated dozens of comments from readers eagerly awaiting the road’s reopening.
