Indy highway construction headaches
Road construction and utility projects will pinch some of the streets and interstates leading to the West 16th Street racetrack in Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP motorcycle race.
But IMS officials, police and highway department leaders say road work will halt on race days so fans can make it to the track, even if it's through streets constricted by construction.
Interactive: Check all the projects planned for the 2010 construction season
"We will make it work, and we will do our best to make the flow in and out of the track as painless as possible," said Speedway Assistant Police Chief Chuck Upchurch. "But we are talking about major road construction. It will have an effect. But we can try to minimize it."
Construction in the Speedway area includes the $86.1 million removal and replacement of the heavily traveled interchange of I-465 with I-74 and Crawfordsville Road starting this year and continuing through 2011. Also, parts of Main Street in Speedway have been closed since last winter within blocks of the gates to the IMS for new sewers and a major redevelopment.
The projects are among hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of road and utility work that promises to cause headaches for Central Indiana motorists throughout this year's construction season.
Westside residents and businesses have become accustomed to road construction in recent years, as the state has worked to reconstruct the entire western leg of the I-465 loop.
The West 10th Street and West Washington Street interchanges have been under construction for a year or more as part of the Accelerate 465 project. Now the construction has moved to Speedway at I-465 and I-74 and to businesses in the Speedway Shopping Center.
"The biggest thing I hear from my customers is that they want to be able to find another way to get here," said Terry Davidson, general manager at the MCL Restaurant and Bakery. "We close on race days because you can't get in here anyway. But the rest of the year, this is a kind of community gathering place, so people will find a way."
IMS officials said they are pleased with the cooperation they have received from transportation officials to accommodate the travel of race fans, even though they still will be inconvenienced.
"The good news is that this (construction) will produce significant improvements," said IMS spokesman Fred Nation. "But no gain comes without some pain."
The state is requiring Walsh Construction, the primary contractor on the I-465 and Crawfordsville Road interchange, to pull work crews away on key dates, including the 500-Mile Race on May 30, the Brickyard 400 on July 25 and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP motorcycle race on Aug. 29.
Speedway's Main Street between 10th and 16th streets is still closed this week, but it is to reopen in time to be the staging area for the IndyGo buses that will transport fans on race day.
When work is completed in 2011, the Crawfordsville Road interchange will be much larger and have longer ramps, some of them extending through an area now occupied by the West Wind Apartment buildings and a Red Roof Inn, which are to be demolished.
Tunnels and walkways also have been built under I-465 for proposed hiking and biking trails.
And while the construction will inconvenience motorists, one bit of news could inspire taxpayers to do a victory lap.
Construction bids on the Accelerate 465 project have come in at $100 million less than expected, curbed by the down economy. The project, once estimated to cost $550 million, has generated final bids totaling $450 million, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. Indianapolis Star