PORTAGE, Ind. (AP): An Indiana Toll Road official says the privately operated highway has begun a two-year, $200 million rehabilitation project that will be its largest single project since its construction in 1954.

Zach Hurst of ITR Concession Co. told a Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission committee Tuesday that the first lane closures are scheduled to begin April 4 on the 73-mile project from Lake Station to Elkhart.

The (Munster) Times reports the project involves removing existing asphalt, treating the concrete base to hinder future cracking, and pavement with 5 inches of new asphalt. Ramps and some shoulders will be repaved and bridges will be rehabilitated and, in some cases, widened.

The project also includes installing fiber optic cable that will enable administrators to monitor road conditions and communicate them to drivers.