The state is closing two Boone County thoroughfares in June that will complicate commutes in Dover and Zionsville.
U.S. 421 will be closed north of Zionsville for work on a bridge over Eagle Creek. The closure is expected to last through early August but depends on cooperation from the weather.
The official detour follows U.S. 421 to Ind. 32 to U.S. 31 to Interstate 465 and returning to U.S. 421, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced.
Ind. 75 will be closed for work on a bridge over Wolf Creek south of Thorntown and between County Roads 500 N. and 400 N.
INDOT is waiting to start until Western Boone Schools let out for the summer to minimize conflicts with local motorists and buses.
Work is expected to last through mid-August. Classes resume Aug. 6.
The official detour around the closure follows Ind. 47 to U.S. 52 to Interstate 65 to Ind. 39 to Interstate 74 and back to Ind. 75.
But local traffic is expected to use C.R. 650 N. to circumvent the work, Boone County Highway Department Director Nick Parr told Boone County Commissioners earlier this week.
INDOT invites commissioners to choose an unofficial detour for local traffic and will pay to mitigate damage done to that route during construction.
Commissioners chose C.R. 650 N. Parr said the state will pay for chemicals to be sprayed onto the gravel to mitigate dust for homeowners who are unused to more than 100 cars per day along their quiet road.
In other road news, homeowners along C.R. 375 N. between Witt Road and Ind. 39 have complained to Parr about traffic associated with the Eli Lilly construction project to the west.
A study found that speeding is not a great problem there, but the traffic volume is significantly increased, especially compared to the period before the project.
Commissioners reduced the speed limit from 40 to 35 miles per hour on Witt Road north of the work site after construction began. The section of Witt Road from Lilly to Ind. 47 is a main route for Lilly employee and construction vehicles.
Lilly paid to install two electronic speed monitoring signs that display vehicles’ speeds to motorists in real time on N. Witt Road.
Commissioners in June will consider reducing the speed limit on C.R. 375 N. between Witt Road and Ind. 39 from 40 to 35 mph and accepting a gift from Lilly of two more electronic signs for that road. The two signs will cost about $18,000, which will all be paid by Lilly and not from tax money, Parr said.
That stretch of road is also a main route for Lilly’s construction traffic.