BLOOMINGTON — Indiana Department of Transportation officials strongly urge motorists to avoid traveling southbound State Road 37 this Thursday, May 19 between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. between Martinsville and Bloomington.

A jumbo transformer weighing 200 tons is scheduled for delivery from rail yards at Martinsville to Hoosier Energy’s Bloomington Transmission Substation.

It will occupy both southbound lanes of S.R. 37 and travel at will travel a speed of about 10 mph.

The 13-mile trek will take about 3½ hours to complete.

INDOT encourages drivers to consider these alternative routes:

• State Road 67 Martinsville to Spencer, State Road 46 Spencer to Bloomington
• Old State Road 37 south of Martinsville to state roads 45/46 at Bloomington

NOTE:  State Road 135 is closed at Morgantown.

The Hoosier Energy transformer — which measures 16 feet in height, 13 feet in width and 28 feet in length — will enter S.R. 37 at S.R. 44 on the north side of Martinsville, blocking all lanes at the intersection for about 15 minutes.

Indiana State Police will escort the transformer being pushed and pulled by semi-tractors on a trailer weighing 600,000 pounds to Sylvan Lane, about 4 miles north of College Avenue in Monroe County.

At that location, it will placed in the median, restoring S.R. 37 southbound traffic flow.

On Friday, May 20, drivers will again be impacted while the transformer is moved to Hoosier Energy’s substation at Crossover Road. Officials anticipate a 30-minute delay to traffic on State Road 37 at Crossover Road.