As move-in time is approaching rapidly, those coming from OOS (especially Chicago area) and all areas north of Bloomiington should be aware of two road construction issues. I-65 is closed for the next month or so between Lafayette and Lebanon. Those in the Chicago area may want to look at the alternatives before heading back.
Also 37 North and South (the main highway between Bloommington and Indy) is under construction and down to one lane between Bloomington and Martinsville. I’ve read about large back-ups on 37 in that stretch. You might want to map out a couple of alternates. If you’re coming from the north or east of Indy, may want to try 65 to Columbus and then west on 46 to Bloomington. Those coming from west of Bloomington might want to look into driving down 67 to Spencer and then east on 46 into Bloomington. Currenlty there are no plans to open it back up for IU move-in or football games, but that could change. These routes will take a bit longer, but at least the time is known. Better than an unknown amount of time stuck in a back-up on 37.
I-65 is only closed northbound due to the bridge issue. The detour is murder but thats usual for any travel on I65.
Heading north to Chitown after drop off try this to avoid I65: get to I74 west -》RTE 41 north, then pick your favorite crossover to I57 in Illinois. This only added a few miles/minutes last week.
We will be leaving Bloomington on Sunday morning (tomorrow) heading back to the Chicago area. For those of you who already made the trip this week, how did you go and how much extra time did it take? We’re leaning toward taking the posted detour.
I suggest not taking the posted detour! I drove home from IU this past Thursday and figured the detour was best. What a mistake! My car navigation was worthless, but the google maps on my I phone was better because it was updated on the construction. I should have listened to it. I believe the detour is designed for trucks to stay out of the small towns along the route. We snaked along many two lane roads at a snails pace! With that being said, take 74 west or use your google maps if you exit further north in Lebanon. Good luck!
I drove home to the Chicago Tuesday evening. I took 74 W to 63 N to 80 W. It added 30 miles to the trip but I didn’t have any issues. FYI, 63 N has two lanes and moved along nicely. At some point it becomes 41 and about 15 miles south of 80 there are a lot of lights. But no major traffic jams…would think a Sunday morning would be pretty quiet on the road.
Thank you both for the good advice. We took IN-39 N to I-74 W to US-41 N to 294 N. Added about 25 minutes but we moved the entire time. Wouldn’t want to do thosew winding 2-lane roads at night or heavy rain though.