Drivers encounter construction zones, heavy traffic on I-70

Interstate 70 through west-central Indiana has seen its share of traffic tragedies. It is a high-traffic thoroughfare through central Indiana, carrying a daily average of close to 32,000 vehicles just in the Terre Haute area, according to state highway statistics. Tens of thousands more pass through the Indianapolis area daily on their way through the state.

It's no wonder that the highly-traveled road needs a lot of maintenance. That has been the case for the past five summers, when repair, repaving and maintenance projects resulted in 17 contracts totaling $118.7 million. For motorists, it may have seemed at times that I-70 was just one never-ending construction zone from Illinois east to Indianapolis. At times, it seemed that way for the police who patrol the four-lane highway.

"We may not have had a construction zone in Putnam County this summer, but several times we had traffic backed up due to road work in Clay County," said Chief Deputy Tom Helmer of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department. That agency patrols a rural expanse of I-70, with roadkill such as deer, raccoons and other wildlife frequently seen along the berm and medians.

I-70 has some of the highest heavy truck traffic counts in the state, according to state highway figures. But for several years, maintenance of the road surface did not keep up with its deterioration due to declining fuel tax revenue and rising construction costs.

"INDOT is refocusing its financial resources to invest as much as possible in preservation of our existing roads and bridges, and the recent work on I-70 is an example of that," said Debbie Calder, communications director of the Crawfordsville District of the Indiana Department of Transportation. 

A statistical examination by the Tribune-Star of data in the Indiana State Police ARIES reporting system revealed details on those I-70 crashes — the deaths, injuries and primary factors — through the counties of Vigo, Clay, Putnam, Morgan and Hendricks. ARIES collects data and documents related to collisions and suspicious activity, which are contributed by incident reports from the Indiana State Police, local law enforcement agencies, Indiana Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Police reports from the past five years show that almost 2,300 accidents involving injuries, fatalities and property damage have occurred in the 69-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from its Indiana origin at the Illinois state line through five counties, where it reaches the Indianapolis metropolitan area in Marion County.

Vigo County, alone, has accounted for six of the 29 fatalities since 2010. The most recent tragedy in the Vigo stretch of I-70 occurred in October. A Terre Haute mother of two died on Halloween when her vehicle crashed into the rear of a westbound semi-tractor trailer that had slowed in traffic about three miles east of the Indiana 46 exit.

The ARIES data shows that the number of property damage-only crashes investigated has been on the rise, while the number of personal injury crashes has remained steady. For instance:

• In 2010, police agencies in all five counties investigated a total of 363 property damage accidents and 60 accidents involving injuries. One fatal crash occurred in both Vigo and Putnam counties.

• In 2011, five fatal crashes were investigated, along with 65 injury crashes and 350 property damage incidents. Hendricks and Putnam counties recorded two fatal crashes each, while Morgan County had one fatality.

• Two double-fatality accidents were recorded in Vigo and Putnam counties in 2012. That was a year when 10 fatal crashes occurred, two in each county, as construction projects blossomed on I-70 through the five-county area. Injury crashes held steady at 65 reports, and property damage accidents crept up to 371 incidents.

• In 2013, the counties of Clay, Hendricks and Putnam each recorded one fatal accident. Injury crashes dropped to 63 reports, but property damage reports grew to 413.

• For 2014 through Dec. 2 (the date that a records request was submitted by the Tribune-Star), the ARIES system has recorded seven fatal crashes — five in Putnam County and two in Vigo — as well as 66 injury crashes and 454 property damage accidents. And that was with about 29 days remaining in the year.

The five years of I-70 crash data examined by the Tribune-Star showed that Putnam County recorded at least one fatality each year, with a total of 12 deaths occurring from 11 accidents. Putnam County also has the most miles of Interstate 70 in western Indiana at 20.5. Vigo County has the first 16.5 miles of the interstate, and has recorded six deaths in five accidents since 2010.

I-70 stretches 12.5 miles through Clay County and spans a dozen miles in Hendricks County. Clay has recorded three deaths and Hendricks has had five deaths on I-70 since 2010. Morgan County, which includes 7.5 miles cutting across its northwestern corner, has recorded three deaths in five years.

The primary factors identified in each fatal crash pointed to no one specific action; however, motorists traveling at unsafe speeds, speed too fast for road conditions, and following too closely accounted for eight of the 29 fatal accidents. Weather was a factor in six fatalities. Three accidents involved motorists running off the road. One fatality was attributed to cell phone usage, and one to a sleepy driver. Two fatal accidents were attributed to animals or objects in the road. One fatality occurred when a pedestrian trying to help a stranded motorist was struck by a passing vehicle.

Four of the fatalities occurred in construction zones — one in Vigo County and three in Putnam. One of the fatalities occurred in traffic backed up due to traffic entering a construction zone.

Road construction was a factor in 27.7 percent of the accidents that occurred in 2011. Construction zones and backed-up traffic contributed to 18.8 percent of the accidents that occurred in 2012, but was a factor in only 13.8 percent of the accidents that occurred in 2013.

However, this past year, more than 17 percent of the accidents occurred in construction zones and backed-up traffic.

So far this year, 47 of the 454 property damage accidents occurring as of Dec. 2 were in construction zones, while another 22 accidents occurred in backed-up areas of the interstate. Of the 66 personal injury accidents logged, 11 accidents resulting in 15 injuries occurred in construction zones, with two people injured in two accidents in backed-up traffic. Road construction has been listed as a factor in 17.2 percent of the accidents.

The past five summers in particular have seen numerous construction zones on I-70. Since the start of the 2010 construction season through 2014, the state had contracted 17 projects on I-70 totaling $118.7 million.

And more construction work lies ahead.

INDOT's Debbie Calder said the next 18 months will see 24 projects scheduled for 2015 through 2016 in that 69-mile stretch of I-70. Most of the projects are for bridge work, such as maintenance and repair, decking, joint replacement and repair, and debris removal. The projects will have some lane restrictions under the bridges, but impact to traffic on the interstate should be minimal.