INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — We are finally seeing the end of a construction project that started in 2019. Lanes will be re-opening lanes and restrictions will be lifting on I-465.

As of Dec. 16, the Finish Line I-69 project is complete.

Long-term restrictions have been removed from lanes of I-465 between I-65 and I-70 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. Also the U.S. 31 SB to I-465 WB ramp, that closed in spring of 2023, is reopening.

“This milestone marks the end of major traffic disruptions on the I-69 Finish Line corridor,” said INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith.

With only minor construction changes left in the coming weeks leading to Christmas, the corridor officially opened to traffic with the opening of the new I-69/I-465 interchange in August 2024.

“We anticipate having all mainline movements open prior to Christmas, with minor construction activities occurring this week and early next”, Smith said.

The construction targeted disruptions on I-69 allowing for many openings. Harding Street, within limits of I-465 and Elper Avenue at S.R. 37, are scheduled to open by the end of the year.

There will be additional minor additions and fixes to I-69 and I-465 including guardrail and drainage installations.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis nonprofit aims to make the holidays more accessible this season.

According to the BOSMA Center for Visionary Solution, nearly 160,000 people in Indiana are blind or visually impaired.

Marsha Egan, vice president of program services at Bosma Enterprises, says the key to an accessible holiday gathering is safety.

People planning to host this winter should make sure to clear pathways of tripping hazards like loose rugs or decorations that stick out from the wall, ground or ceiling.

It’s also a good idea to close cabinets, push in chairs and keep things off of stairways.

“Those type of things are just common courtesy,” Egan said. “It can help somebody with very low vision or no vision prevent falls or (avoid) things that they might bump into. Other than that, help identify where things are.”

If a potluck or buffet is part of the plan, she suggests labeling dishes with braille and large fonts.

It’s still okay to decorate your house for the season. Egan says to think creatively and engage all of the senses when getting into the holiday spirit.

Bells and textured ornaments are a good place to start.

“Things that might be tactile for the person to experience is good,” Egan said. “The use of colored lights can be really helpful as well, because sometimes people do have some light perception. [They] may be able to see the different colors are changing along the way.”

When it comes to gifts, Egan recommends going for tangible items, like food or accessible games. The person giving the gift should, however, make sure it is easy to unwrap.

“[Any type of] audio type of engagement…there’s cards that have music.” Egan said. “Those are the things that somebody with low vision can really fully experience, along with whoever they’re celebrating with.”

BOSMA suggests labeling gifts with Braille or using a QR Code that’s linked to a voice-to-text app. This step could make gifts easier to find.

The city of Indianapolis has started tearing down eight vacant buildings at Towne and Terrace, a blighted housing complex on the far east side, and has paid to relocate a total of 120 households to allow for demolition of the entire site by early 2026.

Built in the 1960s, the townhome complex near 42nd Street and Post Road devolved into a hotbed for drug dealing and crime in recent years, in part because of mismanagement by prior homeowners association leaders, the city says. City officials began buying up the complex’s 32 buildings following a 2022 settlement that ended a nine-year legal battle with the HOA, Towne and Terrace Corp.

The city has set aside $14.4 million to buy and demolish 32 buildings and relocate about 120 households at Towne and Terrace. Demolition started Monday on eight buildings, and 23 remaining properties will come down throughout 2025, according to Aryn Schounce, senior policy adviser to Mayor Joe Hogsett. The first building was demolished in 2023.

“This demolition is more than just removing buildings,” State Sen. La Keisha Jackson, whose district includes the Towne and Terrace site, said at a press conference Monday in nearby Mt. Carmel Church. “It’s about restoring hope and assuring safety for the families who lived here.”

Once the complex is razed, Schounce told IndyStar, officials will plan the future of the site in tandem with the neighboring Oaktree Apartments, another property the city acquired and demolished. Schounce said the two sites work better together as one 38-acre mixed-use redevelopment project, rather than two separate smaller ones.

Hogsett said police have received fewer calls for service to the housing complex since the city demolished one building last year. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department also installed four surveillance cameras at the site and increased patrols of the area.

“We look forward to continued improvements in public safety as more buildings come down over the coming months,” Hogsett said.

How the city is relocating Towne and Terrace residents

Officials expect the 20 households remaining on the site to find new homes by this spring, with the help of employees in the Department of Metropolitan Development.

Under the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act, the city offered subsidies to tenants so they could pay the same monthly rent as they did at Towne and Terrace for the next three and a half years. For owner-occupants, the city had to pay the difference between the cost of any new comparable home and their home at Towne and Terrace. The city also reimbursed moving expenses.

Liz Durden, a Towne and Terrace resident since 1989 and the current HOA president, said she was reluctant to leave when the city first shared plans to raze all 32 buildings last April.

In the following months, however, Durden found a more expensive single-family home on the far east side, and the city paid for the difference. Now, the 62-year-old grandmother said she owns a better home without any monthly mortgage payments.

Although the process was stressful and she’s sad to see the place where she made so many memories destroyed, Durden has embraced the change.

“I’m real emotional about it, but it gets better and better and better,” Durden said, “because when I walk through the door of my new home, I love it.”

Email IndyStar Housing, Growth and Development Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09