State Road 145 to close near Birdseye for culvert replacements in May

Commuters, farm traffic and school buses that use State Road 145 near Birdseye will be pushed onto a long detour starting on or around Friday, May 15, when INDOT closes the highway between County Road West 900 South and East Borden Hill Road to replace three box culverts. The shutdown is expected to last through the beginning of November, weather permitting, making this one of the longer road disruptions on the county’s northwest side this year.

The posted detour sends drivers to Interstate 64, then State Road 37 and State Road 64. INDOT says local traffic will still have access up to the point where the closure begins, but anyone trying to move through the closed stretch will have to turn off SR 145 and follow the signed route around the work zone. State officials are also warning motorists to slow down, use extra caution and avoid distractions near the project.

INDOT says the three culvert replacements will be handled one at a time so residents can keep reaching homes and properties up to the active closure point while crews work. The agency’s environmental documents show the state has already been studying small-structure work on SR 145 in the Birdseye area, including projects about 3.01 miles and 3.33 miles north of I-64. One of those documents says the work was needed because of deterioration of the existing structure, and an April 16, 2024 culvert inspection report described one site as being in poor condition, with spalling and exposed reinforcement.

That history matters for Birdseye drivers because SR 145 has already been shut down for structure work in the same corridor. In 2024, another closure near Birdseye over the Anderson River used a detour that also relied on SR 145, SR 64, SR 37 and I-64, showing how often aging drainage structures have interrupted travel in this part of Dubois County.

For the people who live and work along the route, the immediate change is simple: a routine trip to and from Birdseye will take more time, and the longest delays will fall on drivers who have no easy alternate back road around the closure.