Indiana Department of Transportation officials met with contractors, subcontractors, design engineers, utility company representatives and local government personnel at Seymour District offices Oct. 6 to launch the $16 million “diverging diamond” interchange project on Interstate 65 at C.R. 750 North/Worthsville Road in Johnson County.

E & B Paving and Gradex are the state’s prime contractors acting as a joint venture to build this new-design interchange to be located in Pleasant Township between C.R. 600N/Tracy Road and Greenwood’s East Main Street. The contract calls for contractors to have the interchange open to traffic by the end of next construction season.

Earlier plans to construct the project “under traffic” over a 2-year period were set aside in favor of an expedited schedule. The city of Greenwood, Johnson County, Clark Pleasant schools and local emergency services agreed with INDOT officials that convenience to the motoring public would be better served by detouring motorists from Worthsville Road to the Tracy Road bridge at I-65 in order to cut the construction timeline in half.

Work Begins Soon

Phase I realigns C.R. 200E/Graham Road located on the west side of I-65. C.R. 200E’s intersection with Worthsville Road is to be moved approximately 800 ft. (243 m) to the west. INDOT’s contractor plans to work from south to north. Once relocated C.R. 200E reaches its junction with Worthsville Road, the road will close for up to 10 days. This closure should take place in mid-November.

Phase II relocates C.R. 200E/Graham Road on the east side of I-65 to approximately 800 ft. (243 m) north of its current position.

INDOT anticipates demolition of the existing Worthsville Road bridge at I-65 to occur during winter months — along with activities to begin building the new 246-ft. (75 m) 2-span concrete beam structure over the interstate. Initial bridge-building activities require significant excavation, grading and dirt hauling at the construction site.

Next spring, contractors and subcontractors will fully mobilized to complete the interchange and bridge replacement project on or before the contract’s intermediate completion date of Nov. 20, 2015. At that time, motorists will experience a new, but proven, interchange design for better access and improved safety — the first-of-its-kind to be built start-to-finish in Indiana.

This project responds to growing safety and traffic congestion concerns. By adding I-65 access in Johnson County, traffic should moderate at the Main Street and Whiteland Road interchanges — and crash rates on I-65 and nearby access routes should decrease.

For more information, visit www.Facebook.com/INDOTSoutheast and Twitter @INDOTSoutheast.

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