INDIANAPOLIS — Drivers on Indy’s west side can expect lane closures on Rockville Road beginning this month.
It’s a part of the Modern Rockville Road improvement project.
Anna Peay has lived in the area for 23 years.
She’s a part of the organization Rockville High School Girls School Neighborhood Association or RHGNA, which is critical of the project.
“They have total disregard for any of these things, the bad, the running down of the property values. They don’t care. All they care about is making these three lanes to 465," Peay said.
Modern Rockville Road will address traffic congestion on U.S. 36 due to having just four travel lanes, crash conflict points with left-turning vehicles, poor drainage in shoulders, and lack of sidewalks for pedestrians.
The project has been controversial for years.
WRTV spoke to neighbors at a public hearing on the project in March 2023.
Indiana Department of Transportation Spokesperson Blake Dollier says the project will bring added capacity to roads, bridges and storm drains.
“We talk mobility, we talk safety and at that point, safety becomes the top priority in that area," Dollier said.
WATCH | Modern Rockville Road project met with backlash at public hearing
The majority of work happening now until December 2025 will be between Raceway Road and Girls School Road.
The lane closures on the three-mile corridor are in both eastbound and westbound directions.
“We’re getting a lot of the utility work, some of the early stages of this project out of the way to hopefully be able to minimize the impacts for the traveling public when we have some of the more major construction that will start here in 2026, 2027," he said.
For neighbors like Peay, the list of concerns is ongoing: noise, increased traffic, houses being landlocked, decreased property values and more.
“I don’t see how they don’t have any consideration for the people living here on Rockville," she said.
INDOT encourages drivers to use caution while traveling in and around all work zones.
For an in-depth overview of the project, frequently asked questions, and project key points, click here.
