Interstate 70 (I-70) in the US state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

travels east–west across the state passing through the capital of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. I-70 crosses from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

into Indiana near

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

and departs into

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

. It covers in Indiana, paralleling U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), the old

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

(except for the first approximately in which the two routes overlap).

Route description

The Indiana portion of I-70 begins at the

state line west of

. Heading east, I-70 crosses the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

soon after entering the state. The Interstate crosses through the south side of Terre Haute, where it has an interchange with US 41/ US 150. Just outside the city to the east, I-70 passes near

Terre Haute Regional Airport Terre Haute Regional Airport is a civil-military public airport in Terre Haute, in Vigo County, Indiana, east of the city center. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' fa ...

, where US 40 leaves the Interstate before continuing onward to the east-northeast through rural lands toward

. This stretch of I-70 does not have any interchanges with any significant cities until it reaches the

Indianapolis metropolitan area Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson or Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Central Indiana, within t ...

, but it does pass within proximity of Greencastle. I-70 and Terminal sign in Indianapolis

Entering the Indianapolis area, I-70 passes through the southern reaches of Plainfield in

Hendricks County Hendricks County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 145,448. The county seat is the town of Danville. Hendricks County is the third largest county in the Indianapolis- Carmel- An ...

, home to many

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, tow ...

companies. Shortly thereafter, it enters Marion County and the city of Indianapolis, passing just to the south of the

Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis International Airport is an international airport located seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The ...

, where the freeway now serves as the passenger terminal's main vehicular access point. At the far southeast corner of the airport, I-70 has an interchange with the

I-465 Interstate 465 (I-465), also known as the USS ''Indianapolis'' Memorial Highway, is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately . It lies almost compl ...

circumferential for the first of two times at exit 73; however, motorists heading to the west or south legs of I-465 (or to the concurrent

I-74 } Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa ( Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interch ...

) from eastbound I-70 must exit onto a parallel collector–distributor roadway nearly prior (at exit 69) to reaching the actual crossing of the beltway. Once beyond the airport, I-70 curves first to the northeast, then to the east, before eventually crossing the White River and passing just to the south of

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium wa ...

Downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Ma ...

, and the corporate headquarters campus of pharmaceutical giant

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...

before reaching

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

Turning north, the next section of I-70 along the east side of Downtown Indianapolis travels concurrent with I-65. The two major interchanges at either end of this concurrency are often referred to as the "North Split" and the "South Split", forming the eastern leg of a section of freeways and surface streets locally known as the "Inner Loop" (around the Indianapolis central business district as opposed to the "Outer Loop" of the I-465 beltway). The north split is also called the " Spaghetti Bowl" due to the visual complexity of the overlapping freeways, ghost ramps, and overpasses that were originally intended as a connection to a never-built portion of

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

. Access to I-69 requires using I-465. The "North Split" was closed for reconstruction in early 2021 and is expected to reopen to traffic in late 2022. As part of that reconstruction, the old ramps are being replaced with ones that will eliminate the lane switching that drivers originally had to perform to stay on I-70 eastbound and I-65 northbound. Upon leaving I-65 at the north split, I-70 reaches a maximum width of 10 lanes (five in each direction) as it departs Downtown Indianapolis toward the east-northeast. On the east side of the city, I-70 again intersects with the I-465 beltway at another complex interchange before departing the city, county, and metro area in a nearly due-east direction toward Ohio. Interstate 70 near Richmond Indiana

The portion of I-70 east of Indianapolis has been designated as the "Anton Tony Hulman, Jr. Memorial Way".

Tony Hulman Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. (February 11, 1901 – October 27, 1977) was an American businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana, who bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and brought racing back to the famous race course after a four-year hiatus ...

is most known for rescuing the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United Sta ...

in 1945 and making the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

popular. This stretch of I-70 does not have any interchanges with any significant cities until it reaches

, but it does pass within proximity of both

Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

and New Castle. On the northwest side of Richmond, US 35 joins I-70 and remains on the freeway as both routes jointly cross into

. It also has an interchange with US 27 providing access to Richmond south of the Interstate. On the east side of Richmond, US 40 intersects with I-70 immediately to the west of the Ohio state line.

History

Initial construction

Like all Interstate Highways in Indiana, I-70 was constructed in segments which, when all were complete, make up the route as it is today. There were three large segments in the western portion of the route between the Illinois border and

, and five more in the eastern portion connecting the east side of Indianapolis to Ohio. The urban portions through the capital city itself within I-465 were mostly deferred until the end of the Interstate construction process in the early to mid-1970s.Ripple, David Alan. "History of the Interstate System in Indiana",

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

, 1975. The first section of I-70 to be built in Indiana was the portion around

east of the Centerville exit, which opened to traffic on September 17, 1961. The final portion outside of I-465 to be completed was the middle of the three western segments, located between State Road 46 (SR 46) near

and SR 59, which opened on October 20, 1969. Within I-465, the short section between Shadeland Avenue (then SR 100) and the I-465 interchange had opened along with the rest of I-70 from that point east to SR 9 near

on December 2, 1968. Another section of I-70 on the southwest side of Indianapolis between the I-465 beltway and Holt Road had been completed and opened by December 10, 1969. But the remainder of the I-70 mileage through the heart of the city was not finished and open to traffic until around 1974.

Subsequent improvements

Between 2003 and 2005, I-70 was rebuilt about south of its original alignment on the western edge of Indianapolis. This reconstruction was done to allow expansion of runways at

and to facilitate development of access roads from I-70 to the site of the new midfield Col. H. Weir Cook Passenger Terminal Building (which opened in 2008) at the airport.

Exit list

References

External links

Indiana Highway Ends: Interstate 70
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 70 In Indiana Indiana 70 Transportation in Indianapolis Transportation in Vigo County, Indiana Transportation in Clay County, Indiana Transportation in Putnam County, Indiana Transportation in Morgan County, Indiana Transportation in Hendricks County, Indiana Transportation in Marion County, Indiana Transportation in Hancock County, Indiana Transportation in Henry County, Indiana Transportation in Wayne County, Indiana