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I-465 on southwest side to shut down this summer

The video showing the I-465 summer closures was provided courtesy of INDOT.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana Department of Transportation announced on May 8 that closures are planned for Interstate 465 on Indianapolis’ southwest side for June and July.

These closures come as part of improvements to add additional travel lanes to the highway, and are also a part of the larger I-69 Finish Line project.

On Wednesday, INDOT released a video map detailing the closures. The video also includes information on what ramps will be affected and suggested detours.

Some people tell News 8 that these changes bring some major concerns.

“With I-65 and that ongoing project, which has also created a lot of problems and it has been for a long time it’s just going to add to the problem here,” Mario Crim, said.

“By closing each direction of I-465 we’re removing the traffic. Therefore, making it safer for both drivers and the construction crews that are out on the roadways completing this work,” the strategic communications director of INDOT, Natalie Garrett, said.

INDOT says there will be hundreds of crews on site to make sure construction stays on track.

“Working 24 hours a day, seven days a week during those three-week closures. We’ll be working fast and furious, get in, get out, get done what we need to get done to move forward with the project,” Garrett said.

Garrett says there’s a lot of work ahead for crews as they work to complete the Interstate 69 connection between Evansville and Indianapolis, which starts in Martinsville.

“We’ll be completing some deck overlays, so essentially resurfacing the deck, the top deck of the bridges, so the driving surface, and there will be some other miscellaneous bridge work going on. Installing some drainage structures where they actually have to cut open the roadway, put those drainage structures in, and then rebuild on top,” Garrett said.

But some drivers say they are fed up with the construction.

“It’s going to create a lot of problems for the western side of the city. It’s going to divert traffic into areas that maybe that traffic shouldn’t be,” Crim said.

The eastbound closures of I-465 are expected to last from June 2 – 21, and westbound closures are expected from July 7 – 29.