Construction on State Road 37 continues

Construction on State Road 37 north of Bloomington is not scheduled for completion until Nov. 1, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. The construction, which commenced April 19, covers approximately five miles from State Road 44 to Clear Creek Road in Martinsville. This is nothing new for drivers as construction has been done previously on different parts of the road.\n"We're just basically reconstructing the road, so there won't be any changes to it," said Todd Listerman, district construction engineer for the Indiana Department of Transportation. "(S.R.) 37 was built in the 1970s, and it needs to be redone. We've been slowly moving our way toward Bloomington, smoothing out all the cracks and bumps."\nThe next leg of construction will take place on S.R. 37 just south of the present site sometime next year, Listerman said. But for right now, the normal four-lane traffic has been cut down to two lanes with one lane for each direction, while various parts of the stretch are worked on. The re-zoning of S.R. 37 has caused some delays for drivers on the go.\n"The construction slowed me down when I was driving back to Bloomington Memorial Day weekend," said senior Heather Moore who frequently takes S.R. 37 on her trips home to Carmel, Ind. "The road went down to one lane, and everyone was going 45 (mph), so it took a little longer than usual to get back."\n"I remember one time on a different trip, the traffic actually stopped for a few minutes," Moore said.\nFor those anxious drivers who don't want to risk being delayed by the construction, drivers can take State Road 39 west to State Road 67 north.\n"It should help with the traffic," Listerman said.\nJunior Rachel Viers said she has taken S.R. 37 many times from Bloomington to her hometown of Valparaiso.\n"I've been taking the detour for over a year now," she said. "It only takes about half an hour and takes me straight to (Interstate) 465. When I did take (S.R.) 37, there was more traffic with a lot of slowing down and stopping on the one-lane section. There seems to be less traffic on the detour." \nDespite any inconveniences, most agree that the road construction is necessary.\n"You need to repave roads every once and a while," Moore said. "There were a lot of pot holes that needed to be repaired. Hopefully the road will be smoothed out and in better condition when the construction is over."\n-- Contact staff writer Derek Smith at deresmit@indiana.edu .