I-65 exit perilous, say Whitestown, Zionsville officials

Traffic zooming down the interstate at 65 miles per hour or faster jolted to a halt during rush hour last month off the I-65 Whitestown exit.

In seconds, cars slowed to 10 or 15 miles per hour to avoid hitting a backup of downtown commuters taking exit 130.

Some stopped completely.

“I’ve had trucks just barely miss me,” said Larry Gibson, a 53-year-old Zionsville resident. “You’ve got trucks running 65 miles an hour right next to you. It’s kind of scary.”

The situation is severe enough, Whitestown and Zionsville city officials say, that the towns sent a formal request to the Indiana Department of Transportation last month asking for help.

But there’s no plan for construction on the exit in the next five years, and it’s unclear whether discussions with the state will lead to action.

“Our understanding right now is that it isn’t very high on the priorities list,” Zionsville Town Council President Jeff Papa said. “So we think it’s a dangerous situation they might not be aware of fully.”

On average, 46,000 to 67,000 vehicles travel the few miles of interstate south of exit 130 every day, one of the highest traffic flows in the state, according to INDOT.

Locals say traffic is worst during the holiday rush, when Amazon pulls in additional employees to work at the company’s Whitestown warehouse.

Nine collisions and one injury occurred by mile marker 130 last year, according to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Since an additional lane was added in 2011, motorists have been involved in 35 accidents and nine injuries, including five collisions so far this year.

“It’s just traffic crashes and property damage,” Whitestown police Chief Dennis Anderson said. “There are very few personal injuries.”

Anderson said a plan to create an interchange at I-865 and Cooper Road — shot down by the Zionsville Town Council in 2012 — could have helped ease congestion.

Residents concerned that the interchange would disrupt quiet life off Cooper Road lobbied against the proposal, and support among council members disintegrated, Papa said.

Spokeswoman Debbie Calder said INDOT has completed several projects to alleviate congestion off exit 130.

INDOT finished construction on added travel lanes last year. A slip ramp from I-65 northbound to Albert S. White Drive at exit 133 opened to traffic in November, and the department added traffic signals at I-65 and State Road 267.

Papa said that improved conditions off the exit, but led to traffic backups farther down Whitestown Parkway.

That traffic could hinder future economic development in the area, Whitestown Town Manager Dax Norton said. He warned that another large retail outlet could overwhelm traffic.

But it’s unclear whether INDOT is ready to take on another project.

“We are more than willing to meet with both Whitestown and Zionsville officials to hear their ideas and suggestions on the infrastructure improvements at that interchange,” Calder said in a statement.

Norton takes that as a positive sign. He hopes to walk away with a plan to fix the exit in the next two years.