INDOT finishes work to improve safety at US31/SR10 intersection

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind. -- A dangerous Michiana intersection for notorious, even deadly crashes, is supposed to be a lot safer now. 

Last week, INDOT wrapped up work at the US31/SR10 intersection in Marshall County near Argos, installing what's called a Reduced Conflict Intersection (RCI). 

The median is now completely blocked off barring drivers from making any left turns through the intersection. 

To turn left onto SR10 from US31 southbound, drivers will be directed to continue south a little past the intersection and make the U-turn instead of the left turn through the intersection. 

The layout is similar to 'Michigan left turns' or 'J-turns'. 

There is also reduced speed limit and rumble strips on both the north and south lanes of US31 for extra caution. 

INDOT officials say it is all done to avoid crashes in what once was considered a confusing and ultimately dangerous intersection. 

It was the scene of five deadly crashes in just the second half of 2025 alone. 

While the new design may look foreign to some drivers, INDOT says it's not much different than what drivers were already doing to avoid the intersection in the past. 

"I know some people are still kind of leery of Reduced Conflict Intersections because they are just not used to them, but what we saw during construction is that it's actually a lot more of a natural movement than people realize because people were just doing this on their own anyway," explains Cassandra Bajek, INDOT Northwest Public Relations Director. "They were going up to the nearest roadway median and turning around and doing the exact movement of an RCI on their own, so I think as people get used to it, you know they'll just become more familiar with it, become more comfortable, and won't feel as foreign as it does now."  

Bajek also says that RCIs have proven to reduce crashes elsewhere in the state. 

"In 2024, INDOT studied all of the Reduced Conflict Intersections that we had installed so far in Indiana, and in doing that we discovered that there was a 53 percent reduction in severe crashes and then a 78 percent reduction in fatality and injury crashes, which is really important. We don't have a lot of safety solutions for four lane divided highways so to have something like a Reduced Conflict Intersection where we can improve safety and improve it at such a high rate is really, really important, especially at an intersection like US 31 and State Road 10 where we have had a lot of issues."   

This is only a temporary solution; INDOT is still planning a major overhaul of the intersection by installing an interchange.  

The design for that project is not set in stone yet, but they hope to get construction started in 2028.