HANCOCK COUNTY — Local drivers may get caught in heavier traffic starting next week when the state plans to close down one eastbound lane at a time on Interstate 70 between Mt. Comfort and Greenfield.
The closure is part of a massive road patching project along both sides of the interstate, from Mt. Comfort Road to the Ohio state line, about 120 miles round-trip. The construction and lane restrictions begin Friday and will last through November, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Lane restrictions will occur in 10-mile stretches, but one lane will remain open in each zone. The first section, which starts Friday, will extend 10 miles from Mt. Comfort Road to just east of State Road 9 in Greenfield. Mallory Duncan, an INDOT spokeswoman, said each section will be under construction for about two weeks at a time, but that could differ depending on the amount of patch work needed.
In some instances, Duncan said crews will patch both lanes in each 10-mile stretch, flipping the lane restrictions as required. While the road work encompasses 60 miles of the interstate in each direction, Duncan said zones won’t move in consecutive incremental sections to the east and to the west, between Mt. Comfort and the state line; instead, she said crews will follow a schedule of work based on crew availability and the severity of the patch work in certain areas of the interstate. Crews will be working seven days week.
The work will entail full-depth patching, which means workers will mill down the concrete or asphalt surface a few inches, depending on how deep the crack exists, and then fill the opening, Duncan said.
INDOT will keep interstate drivers aware of each 10-mile stretch with signage before the lane restrictions occur, Duncan said. The transportation department recently put a sign alerting drivers of lane closures slated for next week beside the interstate near the Marion-Hancock county line.
Gary Pool, highway engineer for Hancock County, said when lane closures do occur on I-70, traffic typically diverts to County Road 300N or U.S. 40, typically via Mt. Comfort Road. During rush hour, Pool said, if commercial traffic interacts with commuters and local drivers, it tends to slow down traffic.
“Construction is always problematic,” Pool said. “We’re removing capacity from roads that are used to it.”
Most of the backup for drivers could start on the evening drive home on Friday. Since at least 2000, Hancock County has sent on average about 15,000 workers to Marion County every work day, according to data compiled by Indiana University’s Indiana Business Research Center.
The added traffic may be a test for the new configuration along West Main Street in Greenfield. Recently, INDOT reconfigured Main Street on the west end of Greenfield into a road diet, which converted the four-lane road to one lane in both directions with a middle turn lane. Main Street/U.S. 40 is a common detour for drivers wanting to avoid the interstate.
Greenfield Street Superintendent Tyler Rankins said the I-70 construction will also push some traffic onto State Road 9. Many Greenfield residents travel back roads to go to and from work, so Rankins predicts some of those city streets will get backed up as drivers also try to avoid the interstate.
The added traffic may also be complicated by street work on the north side of Greenfield. Crews are doing repair work along West Muskegon Drive, between Fields Boulevard and North Broadway Street, and also on Fields Boulevard, between West New Road and Muskegon. Semitrailer traffic coming from distribution centers on Muskegon has been rerouted onto Broadway and then New Road as they move toward the interstate, Rankins said. Later this year, the street department plans to resurface and redesign West New Road, between the roundabout at North Franklin Street and State Road 9.
