INDOT to close State Road 545 near Tell City for chip seal work

Drivers around Tell City should expect another round of roadwork as State Road 545 closes for chip seal maintenance in Perry County, with local traffic still allowed to enter and leave the work zone. The closure is set to begin around June 23, and motorists using the state highway should plan for delays while crews treat the pavement.

INDOT Southwest said the work is part of its pavement preservation program, a lower-cost maintenance approach meant to seal cracks, help prevent potholes and improve safety and ride quality. INDOT says that kind of preservation delivers greater value and lower taxpayer cost than waiting for a road to fail and then rebuilding it later.

For Perry County residents, the practical impact is straightforward: through traffic on SR 545 will be slowed or pushed around active work, while people who live, work or need to reach properties inside the closure area will retain access. Chip seal work also tends to leave loose gravel on the surface for a short time, so drivers should reduce speed, avoid sudden steering or braking and expect a rougher ride until the treatment settles.

The closure lands during a busy stretch of summer maintenance across southwest Indiana. Local reporting on INDOT’s 2026 chip-and-seal schedule said temporary closures and delays were expected on state highways through July 21, with timing dependent on weather. INDOT’s own restrictions and closings pages, along with TrafficWise, are the agency’s main tools for checking road conditions, active construction and traffic disruptions before heading out.

Perry County has already seen similar interruptions this year. State Road 237 was closed from State Road 66 to State Road 37 from June 1-4 for chip and seal work, and earlier lane closures hit westbound State Road 66 in Tell City beginning around April 6. A prior INDOT maintenance project also closed State Road 545 near Troy in 2025, underscoring how often the corridor has been touched by preservation work.

After chip sealing, crews typically allow a curing period before returning for fog sealing and pavement markings under flagging operations. For Tell City-area drivers, that means the inconvenience is temporary, but the payoff is a longer-lasting roadway that should need fewer expensive repairs later.