WTHR of Indianapolis (Channel 13) is reporting that the big Indiana Department of Transportation project to renovate I-69 is about to cause a lot of commuter headaches in Fishers, as a major bridge project begins this week and isn’t projected to be completed until around Thanksgiving. Anyone driving I-69 near 126th Street is going to be diverted, regardless of which direction they are going, and 126th Street will be closed to traffic sometime soon.
What’s happening?
Here, the bridge is being widened from two lanes to four lanes each way. They are also putting in a lane for bicycles, and another lane for pedestrians. (Statewide, I-69 has been the subject of a major expansion since March 2004, when the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) okayed an interstate corridor for I-69 running between Evansville and Indianapolis.)
First things first, you’ll see crews with reflective vests putting up those concrete barriers along with the orange cones and barrels — these aren’t so much to reroute traffic as protect the construction workers on the job.
Road Hazards Can Cause Worker On the Job Injuries as well as Car Accidents and Traffic Pile Ups
The I-69 / 126th Street Bridge Construction Project gives a great example of the dangers of road construction and road hazards. This highway construction project, just like any road work, will bring cars, SUVs, trucks, big rigs, and other moving vehicles, very close to highway construction workers — at times, they will be extremely closed to each other. Construction workers die every year from work zone accidents, and they are particularly vulnerable to driver distraction.
Another danger in these kinds of construction projects are road hazards that can cause car crashes. Construction sites, however well tended, can have debris on the road which drivers may have to swerve to avoid hitting, or may run over causing a loss of control of their vehicle.
Let’s be careful out there!
