A Little Construction Project

So, this pictures depicts my front yard for the next two months.

Okay, so it was actually a little worse last week... this would've been all semis instead of cars in gridlock last week. They've since directed the semis to 'the shortest route' through, which doesn't include Fletcher Ave. in front of my house. But last week it sounded like I lived at a truck stop!! There were trucks going through 24/7!

So what the hell am I talking about? The I-65/I-70 connector through downtown is CLOSED for reconstruction of a few areas. Specifically, it's through the south split, where trucks kept hitting bridges (they somehow were only about 13' in clearance). So INDOT, in all their wise glory, thought all this semis would follow the detour around on I-465, because all truckers follow signage like that, especially when their in a time crunch. Yeah, right. Because who completely closes an interstate, right?

So how did this happen - why were trucks 'suddenly' hitting these bridges so often? Yes, it is more than one, though there's one in particular that appear to have been hit far more than others... Well, I don't think it was 'all of the sudden' that this was happening. INDOT just happened to put a camera on one of the bridges after one of the big hits that closed a good portion of north bound lands to repair the bridge. Then they saw how many trucks hit it that DIDN'T cause closure. Lots of sparks and debris was flying, though! Check out this video...



Anyway... they closed down the interstate last week. They're going to lower the road through this section where there were problems. And last week was actually quite a bit worst than this week in my front yard. But now, at least, it's mostly cars. Not that I'm happy with that additional traffic, either, but most of them are, at least, locals. I actually saw one trucker lean out his window and ask for directions from the car stopped next to him last week. Not what I want to see.

Back to these low bridges... it is completely my opinion (though I think some other agree) that INDOT actually f'ed up when they did the FULL connector reconstruction about 8 years ago... I'm talking full depth reconstruction - it was closed for like 90 days or something. I didn't work or live downtown yet, so it really didn't affect me AT ALL. But I don't think they paid enough attention to clearances, as they were more concerned with drainage and the pavement themselves. So while it may not have started immediately, trucks have probably been hitting some of these bridges for years! But that's just my opinion.

So this lovely construction zone just blocks from my home will be around for the next two months, including the detour through my front yard. I can only hope the weather holds out and they get done early, because quite frankly, it sucks!