SALEM, Ind. (WDRB) -- One of the busiest intersections in Washington County, Indiana, will be shut down and reconstructed in the name of safety beginning this week.
The interchange of the Salem Bypass and State Road 60 will be transformed into a single-lane roundabout in the coming months by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The bypass will be the first to close when construction begins this week. SR 60 will close sometime in June.
"This is a very large intersection with a history of crashes," said Natalie Garrett, a spokesperson for INDOT. "Really the main point of the project is to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes."
The roundabout will be single-lane — unlike the large one at Interstate 265, Highway 62 and Port Road in Jeffersonville — and will include a 12-foot "apron" that will a semitrucks to more easily navigate the interchange.
A rendering of the proposed roundabout for the interchange of the Salem Bypass and State Road 60. The Indiana Department of Transportation expects the project to be completed by the end of July 2021.
From 2012 to 2017, authorities reported 34 crashes in the interchange. Twenty-nine were right angle crashes, where a driver pulls out in front of another.
The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of July.
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