INDIANAPOLIS -- As the bulk of an Interstate 70 reconstruction project in Indianapolis approaches, businesses near the affected portion of the highway say they're bracing for a downturn in sales.

From late February through November 2007, the Super 70 project will close most exit and entrance ramps along a six-mile stretch of I-70 -- between its north split with I-65 downtown and I-465's east leg.

---

Video: Watch Report

---

The Indiana Department of Transportation has said this is the only way to do most of the work in one construction season. Some owners of businesses near the ramps, however, say the ramps will be closed for too long, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported.

"There is a lot of competition in town, and we'll lose business to our competitors," said Ben Adkins, vice president of Concrete and Masonry Accessories, which is near I-70's interchange with Keystone Avenue and Rural Street.

Adkins said he expects the project to cut the business's normal level of 80 to 100 customers a day.

"It may be a minor inconvenience at the time, or you may end up losing long-term sales," Adkins said.

Chisholm Lumber, which is near CMA, uses I-70 to deliver wood to many of its customers. Without access to the highway, delivery will become a major chore, and the business expects to lose 25 percent of its sales during the ramp closures.

"If we were voting, we would vote to have it done a little bit more friendly -- to not only Chisholm Lumber, but everybody in this corridor," said the business's Doug Chisholm Sr.

INDOT said Monday that it has done all it can to mitigate negative effects to area businesses.

"There's really no way around that if we're going to do this in one season and lessen the inconvenience to the lowest possible amount for any of the businesses and residents in that area," INDOT spokesman Andy Dietrick said. "Otherwise, this would be stretching out into a two- or three-year construction season."

INDOT said the $175 million project will replace pavement and 28 bridge decks, widen the highway's inside shoulders, provide new signs and lighting, and create an overpass at Sherman Drive to improve visibility and drainage. I-70 currently passes underneath Sherman Drive.

The department said the project is necessary because of safety concerns. The pavement and bridge decks along the six-mile stretch are deteriorating, the inside shoulders are too narrow, motorists have trouble seeing around curves, and vertical clearance at many bridges are too low, INDOT said.

Lanes will be restricted during the major-construction phase from February through November -- one side of the highway will remain open throughout the project to handle traffic heading both ways. Construction will happen on the westbound lanes from February to July, and work will be done on the eastbound lanes from July to November.

The project won't include any additional lanes, though. That type of work is expected to happen in about 10 years.

Preliminary work on the six-mile stretch, with lane restrictions only at night and on weekends, started this year. Finishing work, with no major lane restrictions, is expected to be performed from March 2008 to June 2008.