Operation Indy Commute was an initiative by INDOT to strategically open up recurring commuting bottlenecks at the I-465 and I-65 interchange on the city’s south side, and on I-69 in Marion and Hamilton counties between the I-465 interchange and 116th Street/S.R. 37 exits
Prior transportation planning and programming efforts have assumed that urban commuting bottlenecks cannot be fixed without massive widening and reconfiguration of urban highway corridors. These projects typically require time-consuming planning, design and environmental studies, followed by than millions of dollars in construction spread across several years.
Project Areas
- I-70 east of Indianapolis between Post Road and State Road 9 in Greenfield was widened and/or rebuilt in phases. I-70 will be three lanes in each direction between Post Road and Mt. Comfort Road, and will remain two lanes in each direction between Mt. Comfort and S.R. 9.
- I-70 near I-465 on the city’s west side was improved as part of Accelerate 465 construction. Rebuilt ramps connect I-465 with a widened I-70 near the Indianapolis International Airport.
- The I-74/Crawfordsville Road and Sam Jones Expressway interchanges were reconfigured, in addition to I-70, as a part of Accelerate 465 on the city’s west side. New ramps removed tight merges and bottlenecks that led to crashes and congestion.
- I-65 northwest of Indianapolis was widened to three lanes in each direction between I-865 and Lebanon.
- U.S. 31 in Hamilton County was upgraded in phases to interstate standards from I-465 to State Road 38 through Carmel and Westfield. Construction began in 2011 and, with an accelerated schedule, the entire corridor was completed in 2016.