Heavy rains and flooding on roads built over fragile bedrock and sandy soil recently caused two embankment slides on Indiana roads leading to two casinos.
INDOT crews narrowed lanes on Indiana State Road 111 which takes gamblers to the Horseshoe Southern Indiana riverboat casino in Harrison County. INDOT warned that if the slide increases, it may have to impose more restrictions.
Later a second slide shut down lanes in both directions on Indiana State Road 156 along the Ohio River, which takes players to Belterra Casino in Switzerland County. INDOT set up a 10-mile detour along Indiana State Roads 250 and 56. Officials said 156 may be reopened to alternating single-lane traffic using temporary signals on both sides of the slide.
Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana Gaming Insight, said, “Any closure of, or restrictions along, a principal access route are never a good thing for a casino. Horseshoe saw this with the Sherman Minton Bridge shutdown, and with recent 111 flooding. Casinos face a major challenge in keeping visitors informed about traffic issues and in getting them to change long-held travel preferences. Many of the older casino patrons are not prone to check casino websites, Twitter feeds or Facebook pages.”
