BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY, Ind. — All lanes of Interstate 65 were shut down for multiple hours Tuesday due to downed power lines that caused crashes on the highway.
According to Indiana State Police, all northbound and southbound lanes of I-65 were closed in Bartholomew County just north of exit 76 near Taylorsville.
Just before 1 p.m., downed power lines caused multiple semis to crash on I-65. Authorities urged the public to avoid the area saying "this may be a lengthy closure."
By 2:20 p.m. police were able to temporarily open one northbound and one southbound lane to clear out the traffic that had been stopped since the incident first began.
Xfinity was working to repair the line as quickly as possible.
At around 2:45 p.m., ISP said all southbound lanes were still closed and that traffic was being diverted at the 80 mile-marker to State Road 252. The left northbound lane was still closed. However, the right northbound lane was open.
The crash caused the main power line for the city of Columbus to go down. ISP said authorities will need to raise and reset the power line on the pole and that "clean up time will be extensive."