Two Contracts, Two Published Dates
Clear Path 465 rebuilt and widened 4.5 miles of I-465 between the White River and Fall Creek, reconstructed portions of I-69 between I-465 and 82nd Street, and reconfigured the I-465/I-69 interchange on the northeast side of Indianapolis. INDOT delivered 14 new bridges and rehabilitated two.
The project reports more than 90 percent complete, with construction expected to wrap up in late 2026. The 2025 Financial Plan Annual Update carries two other dates. Substantial completion of both contracts is expected on December 31, 2026, and final completion on December 31, 2027. Substantial completion is defined as the facility open to unrestricted traffic.
A rate agreement or a group contract that names a completion date can be checked against the two dates the plan publishes. The project's public pages describe a late-2026 wrap-up.
Phasing, Letting by Letting
The project is delivered under a design-bid-build model in two contracts, split for Maintenance of Traffic phasing. A tri-venture of E&B Paving, Rieth-Riley Construction and Gradex holds both contracts. INDOT owns the project, and Parsons is the lead design firm.
Contract 1 covers the I-465 mainline, rebuilding and adding lanes across 4.5 miles between Fall Creek and the White River. INDOT awarded it in December 2021, with a bid letting on December 8, 2021 and commencement of construction on March 1, 2022.
Contract 2 covers nearly two miles of I-69 and Binford Boulevard, including the 82nd Street and I-465 interchanges. Its bid letting was December 21, 2022, and construction began on March 1, 2023.
Three ramps have reopened on published dates. The Allisonville Road ramp to eastbound I-465 opened in spring 2026, after crews opened nearly five miles of new pavement on I-465. The ramp from westbound 56th Street to northbound I-465 reopened on September 1, 2026. The ramp from northbound Binford Boulevard to westbound I-465 stays closed, and the project expects it to reopen by the end of 2026.
Milestones That Have Landed
All six new bridges at 82nd Street are complete. All eight new bridges in the I-69/I-465 interchange are complete.
The ramp and bridge from northbound I-465 to northbound I-69 opened in November 2025. The ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound I-465 opened in January 2026, and it will increase from two lanes to three lanes with a 45 mph limit once construction is complete. The ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound Binford Boulevard opened in spring 2026 and doubles capacity from one lane to two. Southbound I-69 moved into its final configuration on or after Monday, September 21, 2026.
Two movements remain. They are the new ramp from eastbound I-465 to northbound I-69 and the new ramp from northbound Binford Boulevard to westbound I-465. The project places both on track for completion by late this year.
Money and the Certification Dates
The 2025 Financial Plan Annual Update, dated November 24, 2025, estimates total project cost at $586.10 million in year-of-expenditure dollars. Construction is $491.93 million, or 84 percent. Construction engineering, administration and program costs are $24.46 million, and utility and railroad work $11.86 million. Contract 1 accounts for $273.69 million and Contract 2 for $312.41 million.
FHWA's determination letter is dated December 8, 2025. The plan attributes the increases since the Initial Financial Plan to inflation, market conditions and identified utility conflicts. It places the project at 3.7 percent of INDOT's capital program. The plan moved substantial completion to December 31, 2026, about one year later than the Initial Financial Plan.
The Utility Conflict Behind the Tail
Chapter 12 of the plan names the live risk. New utility conflicts have arisen affecting Contract 2 at 75th Street and Binford Boulevard. The owner was identified, and the Indianapolis Department of Public Works has permitted utilities at the location and is relocating them. The plan anticipates a delay to Contract 2 of up to six months.
Chapter 13 records ten utilities in those two locations serving stakeholders that include Community North hospital, local businesses, hotels and residential neighborhoods. Final completion of the conflicting utilities ran more than 12 months past the contract documents across two windows.
The Weekly Notices a Reservations Desk Uses
The closure block moves week to week. For September 23 and 24 it lists a single lane on I-465 southbound between 75th Street and Fall Creek and on I-465 northbound between Fall Creek and 75th Street, both from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. It lists the ramp from 96th Street to southbound I-69 at one lane on the night of September 23, 82nd Street at one lane in each direction under I-69 on the night of September 24, and the eastbound I-465 ramp to southbound Binford Boulevard closed that same night.
The ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound Binford Boulevard runs at one lane from mid-September through mid-October for permanent barrier wall installation. The ramp from northbound Binford Boulevard to westbound I-465 sits under a long-term closure with no reopening date.
None of the notices carries a hotel arrival instruction. A reservations desk reads them for the closed movements on an arrival night.
What the Contracts Put in the Ground
The 2025 Construction Guide counts 5,700,000 pounds of rebar, equal to 2,850 tons, and 86,680 tons of hot mix asphalt. Retaining wall runs 419,960 square feet. Noise barrier runs 28,000 square feet. Continuously reinforced concrete pavement covers 302,000 square yards.
Seven noise barrier sections will be built or relocated. They run from 350 feet along northbound I-69 past I-465 to 5,500 feet along southbound I-465 past 75th Street. The guide notes intermittent lane and ramp restrictions on I-465 and I-69 anticipated in 2026. A Finding of No Significant Impact was approved on January 15, 2021.
The Corridor the Finished Interchange Serves
The project states the finished interchange supports the future national I-69 corridor being completed in Indiana. I-69 connects Indianapolis with Fishers, Noblesville, Pendleton, Anderson and other communities.
Straight-line measures from OpenStreetMap coordinates, taken on 23 September 2026 from the I-69 alignment at Castleton, put Fishers at 4.05 miles (6.52 km), Noblesville at 9.98 miles (16.07 km) and Anderson at 24.05 miles (38.71 km). Indianapolis International Airport sits 18.34 miles (29.05 km) from the same point, and Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis sits 10.96 miles (17.65 km).
Inside the project limits the room ring is close: Hampton Inn Indianapolis NE/Castleton at 6817 East 82nd Street 0.2 miles (0.32 km), Courtyard Indianapolis Castleton at 8670 Allisonville Road 1.46 miles (2.35 km), Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel at Keystone Crossing at 8787 Commerce Crossing 3.10 miles (4.99 km) and Fort Harrison State Park Inn at 5830 North Post Road 3.69 miles (5.94 km).
Every figure is a straight-line measure. The project publishes no drive-time estimate.
Open Items for a Distribution File
The project publishes no calendar date for the two remaining ramps past late 2026. It publishes no statement on whether the 65 mph limit starts at substantial completion or at final completion. The financial plan carries a final completion date of December 31, 2027, and the project quotes late 2026 for traffic opening. A distribution file should hold both dates.