The Indiana portion of I-70 begins at the
Illinois state line west of
Terre Haute. Heading east, I-70 crosses the
Wabash River soon after entering the state. The Interstate crosses through the south side of Terre Haute, where it has an
interchange with
US 41/
US 150. Just outside the city to the east, I-70 passes near
Terre Haute Regional Airport, where
US 40 leaves the Interstate before continuing onward to the east-northeast through rural lands toward
Indianapolis. This stretch of I-70 does not have any interchanges with any significant cities until it reaches the
Indianapolis metropolitan area, but it does pass within proximity of
Greencastle. Entering the Indianapolis area, I-70 passes through the southern reaches of
Plainfield in
Hendricks County, home to many
logistics and
warehousing companies. Shortly thereafter, it enters
Marion County and the city of Indianapolis, passing just to the south of the
Indianapolis International Airport, where the freeway now serves as the passenger terminal's main vehicular access point. At the far southeast corner of the airport, I-70 has an interchange with the
I-465 circumferential for the first of two times at exit 73; however, motorists heading to the west or south legs of I-465 (or to the concurrent
I-74) from eastbound I-70 must exit onto a parallel
collector–distributor roadway nearly prior (at exit 69) to reaching the actual crossing of the beltway. Once beyond the airport, I-70 curves first to the northeast, then to the east, before eventually crossing the
White River and passing just to the south of
Lucas Oil Stadium,
Downtown Indianapolis, and the corporate headquarters campus of pharmaceutical giant
Eli Lilly and Company before reaching
I-65. Turning north, the next section of I-70 along the east side of Downtown Indianapolis travels concurrent with I-65. The two major interchanges at either end of this concurrency are often referred to as the "North Split" and the "South Split", forming the eastern leg of a section of freeways and surface streets locally known as the "Inner Loop" (around the Indianapolis central business district as opposed to the "Outer Loop" of the I-465 beltway). The north split is also called the "
Spaghetti Bowl" due to the visual complexity of the overlapping freeways,
ghost ramps, and overpasses that were originally intended as a connection to a never-built portion of
I-69. Access to I-69 requires continuing on I-70 east to Exit 89 (Exit 90 westbound). The "North Split" was closed for reconstruction in early 2021 and reopened to traffic in late 2022. As part of that reconstruction, the old ramps were replaced with ones that eliminated the lane switching that drivers originally had to perform to stay on I-70 eastbound and I-65 northbound. Upon leaving I-65 at the north split, I-70 reaches a maximum width of 10 lanes (five in each direction) as it departs Downtown Indianapolis toward the east-northeast. On the east side of the city, I-70 again intersects with the I-465 beltway (also concurrent here with
Interstate 69) at another complex interchange before departing the city, county, and metro area in a nearly due-east direction toward Ohio. The portion of I-70 east of Indianapolis has been designated as the "Anton Tony Hulman, Jr. Memorial Way".
Tony Hulman is most known for rescuing the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and making the
Indianapolis 500 popular. This stretch of I-70 does not have any interchanges with any significant cities until it reaches
Richmond, but it does pass within proximity of both
Greenfield and
New Castle. On the northwest side of Richmond,
US 35 joins I-70 and remains on the freeway as both routes jointly cross into
Ohio. It also has a
single-point urban interchange with
US 27 providing access to Richmond south of the Interstate. On the east side of Richmond, US 40 intersects with I-70 immediately to the west of the Ohio state line. The bridge carrying US 27 over I-70 immediately north of Richmond is named the "Officer
Seara Burton Memorial Bridge", in honor of a Richmond police officer and
K-9 handler who was shot by the subject of a traffic stop on August 10, 2022, and died on September 18. ==History==