Indiana Department of Transportation and E&B Paving will host a public information session to provide updates on the ongoing construction project adding lanes on I-65 between Seymour and Columbus.
The meeting will be from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Hampton Inn Seymour, 247 N. Sandy Creek Drive.
The three-year, $143 million project will make I-65 three lanes in each direction between U.S. Highway 50 and State Road 58 and resurface the roadway between State Road 58 to the exit at State Road 46 in Columbus, according to a statement by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2020, said Scott Manning, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation. The project is now in its second construction phase.
The layout of the construction zone has raised questions over safety, especially after a traffic accident involving multiple fatalities last month.
On Feb. 14, three people were killed when five vehicles collided in the southbound lanes of the construction zone. Investigators said a tractor trailer ran into the back of a recreational vehicle, causing a chain reaction accident, according to state police. Some of the vehicles involved in the accident caught fire.
Those killed in the wreck, reported shortly after 10 a.m. near the 54-mile-marker just south of the Jonesville exit, were Glenn E. Cardelli, 57, and his wife, Kathryn L. Cardelli, 57, both of Minocqua, Wisconsin, and John W. Mumma, 67, of Philo, Illinois.
Police said the accident included a recreational vehicle driven by Cardelli and semitrailers driven by Roger E. Woody, 46, of Mooresboro, North Carolina, and Anatoliy M. Petrov, 43, of Park Ridge, Illinois.
The accident created major traffic problems, as southbound I-65 was closed for nearly 11 hours for cleanup, according to Sgt. Stephen Wheeles with the Indiana State Police Versailles Post. Northbound lanes were closed for about two hours after the accident.
Though Manning said Thursday’s meeting will provide “a general recap of what’s been done so far,” safety measures at the construction site also will be discussed.
“Certainly we’ll give an update on what safety measures are in place out there,” he said.
The project is part of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Indiana’s Next Level Roads initiative, which seeks to improve transportation infrastructure, including roads, bridges, across the state to boost the state’s freight and logistics capacity, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. Holcomb’s initiative will receive $30 billion in funding over the next 20 years.
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What: Public information meeting for I-65 added lanes project between Seymour and Columbus
When: 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Hampton Inn Seymour, 247 N. Sandy Creek Drive
For more information: 855-463-6848
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