Interstate 44 in northwest Oklahoma City is narrowed for bridge repairs
Two lanes of Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City are closed on the Belle Isle bridge, as is an on-ramp. An expansion joint that damaged vehicles early Monday needs to be repaired, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports.

BY ROBERT MEDLEY rmedley@opubco.com
Published: July 18, 2011

Eastbound Interstate 44 between Pennsylvania Avenue and Northwest Expressway remained narrowed to one lane as of noon, and the eastbound on-ramp from Northwest Expressway to I-44 remained closed for emergency bridge repairs.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials estimate the closure could last until late afternoon but think the lanes will reopen before evening rush hour. Drivers should expect long delays and are encouraged to find an alternate route.

The heat and the aging interstate were blamed for the buckling of a steel expansion joint, which damaged several vehicles before two lanes of the interstate were closed Monday morning by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Parts of the joint have risen above the buckled concrete.

“We really want to caution people who are driving this morning, especially people who are on motorcycles,” patrol spokeswoman Betsy Randolph said earlier. The extreme heat could cause asphalt to buckle across central Oklahoma, Randolph said.

Motorists along I-44 eastbound between Northwest Expressway and Broadway
Extension could be seen pulling off the interstate after hitting the expanded joint on top of the Belle Isle bridge near Classen Boulevard and above Northwest Expressway.

The lanes were closed about 5:45 a.m., the patrol reported. The eastbound I-44 on-ramp from Northwest Expressway was closed about 7:30 a.m.

A trooper was called to a report of debris on the Belle Isle bridge about 5:30 a.m.

The trooper was able to use a flashlight to see that steel parts of the expansion joint had risen in the roadway.

“It's not something we can just do a quick patch on,” Randolph said. “It's going to take a little bit, so we ask for motorists to be patient with us.”

Transportation Department spokeswoman Mills Gotcher said she could not speculate on the cause of the problem, but she said expansion joints often are affected by extreme temperature. About 7:30 a.m., Gotcher said workers attributed the problem to the age of the bridge and not the extreme heat alone. The bridge was built in 1975.

Read more: http://newsok.com/interstate-44-in-northwest-oklahoma-city-is-narrowed-for-bridge-repairs/article/3586659#ixzz1SVuBXK8z

Will the I-44 Belle Isle bridge be like the I-40 crosstown in the not-so-distant future? It would be much less distance and cost, but it seems like there is a lot of patch work going on with it.

I drive over this stretch every morning and hear a loud metal banging noise and I can see a long piece of metal sticking up and sometimes have to swerve to miss it,It's East bound I-44 right when your curving right just NW of the Valliance Bank tower!I'm glad they are fixing this!

Will the I-44 Belle Isle bridge be like the I-40 crosstown in the not-so-distant future? It would be much less distance and cost, but it seems like there is a lot of patch work going on with it.

It will need major renovation or replaced eventually, it is at not a fracture critical like the crosstown so should be somewhat safer and it is around twenty years newer. However this is not the first, nor last emergency repair job to it. Getting as bad as the crosstown will depend on construction priorities, political will and money.

It does seem a little unnecessary to be a bridge the entire span though, it seems like in the long run most of the sections could have been built with retaining walls filling with dirt or the earth banks like the rest of it.

I drive over this stretch every morning and hear a loud metal banging noise and I can see a long piece of metal sticking up and sometimes have to swerve to miss it,It's East bound I-44 right when your curving right just NW of the Valliance Bank tower!I'm glad they are fixing this!

And to think that I almost went that way recently. :-/

At least I get to live another day. Hi dmoor82.

And to think that I almost went that way recently. :-/

At least I get to live another day. Hi dmoor82.

I'm sure your chances of dying by falling through a bridge are a little bit smaller than your chances from dying from lightning striking your body or an alien attack.

It will need major renovation or replaced eventually, it is at not a fracture critical like the crosstown so should be somewhat safer and it is around twenty years newer. However this is not the first, nor last emergency repair job to it. Getting as bad as the crosstown will depend on construction priorities, political will and money.

It does seem a little unnecessary to be a bridge the entire span though, it seems like in the long run most of the sections could have been built with retaining walls filling with dirt or the earth banks like the rest of it.
Especially now that there is no longer a "lake" under it (as there was when it was built)!

But driving on bridge/overpass makes it fun!

Ah, I thought the little lake that exists now seemed a bit of overkill for naming the entire area and missing any islands. It still seems like it would have been cheaper to fill in under where the road was built, and would have cut a lot of risk from chances of icing.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5384560842_d7db71c243_b.jpg

What year was this taken, ya reckon?

Awesome pic! I've never seen one with the road AND the lake still there.

They must have worked quickly. I was on that road yesterday and didn't see anything.

Why did the road get built over the lake anyway? I mean it looks like an unecessary curve.

This whole picture doesn't seem right. As I recall when the highway and overpass were built the "lake" was a big pond right next to the tower and did not come near the overpass. Can someone clear this up for the confused among us.

If you remember, right under I-44 where NW Expressway is, there is a concrete culvert which is currently the Deep Fork Creek. Now, I know water flows into it from this direction and from the west, behind the current Belle Isle Shopping Center. If you look in the picture above there are these little round metal things in the lower left hand corner of the pic (SW side of the lake) that are currently still there today. Next time you're traveling westbound on NWEX, look to the north as you travel over the culvert and you'll be able to see them right where the water flows into the blackness.

Back in the day, when my dad lived off of 47th & Penn, I remember how 50 Penn Place had the pig logo at the top of the tower and Liberty Building (if I remember correctly, and now the Valliance Bank Tower) was being built right there. I also remember the power plant before it was imploded. Of course, the old lake in front of it was no longer there. I just remember it being spotted trees and high grass and there was also a huge grassy mound about 40 feet tall out in the middle of it. I still remember the paper with the implosion on the front page. Anyway, that's all I can remember but that was from the early 80's.

What year was this taken, ya reckon?

The source did not indicate it, but the bid to construct it was in late 1975 and traffic was allowed on it in 1980. Since no road is completed north east of it, thus no reason to allow access on it, I would guess 78-ish.


This whole picture doesn't seem right. As I recall when the highway and overpass were built the "lake" was a big pond right next to the tower and did not come near the overpass. Can someone clear this up for the confused among us.


If your talking about Valliance Bank Tower it was not completed till 1984, so should not been built yet.

When was the Belle Isle Power Plant taken offline? If it was still operational at the time of that photograph it would have needed the water in the lake.

Valliance Bank Tower was originally started as Penn Square Bank Tower but it was closed down during construction.

When was the Belle Isle Power Plant taken offline? If it was still operational at the time of that photograph it would have needed the water in the lake.

Valliance Bank Tower was originally started as Penn Square Bank Tower but it was closed down during construction.

Did not find an exact date on when taken offline but did find construction started in 1930 and if was operated for just over 50 years, so probably the land became more valuable than the operations.

Did not find an exact date on when taken offline but did find construction started in 1930 and if was operated for just over 50 years, so probably the land became more valuable than the operations.

And sat abandoned for many years (and a few deaths) later.

Also, that's the old Montgomery Ward Car & Tire Center in the picture. It was in the far SE corner of the Penn Square parking lot.

By the way, just an FYI.... I met with a member of OKCTalk recently and he pronounced the Valliance Bank Tower as "val-yuntz" and I've heard others from time to time say that. It should be pronounced just like "Alliance" (as in an alliance of the firefighters and the teachers) - just add the 'v'. Because they're primarily a commercial/mortgage bank we don't hear advertising and therefore it's not a name common enough that everyone knows how it's pronounced. Hope that helps some who didn't know.

LOL. Maybe that is an "Okie" pronunciation? Or maybe they are of a previous generation and "Prince Valiant"?? Never would have occurred to me to do it that way (I am with you, it is Alliance with a V in front of it)

Course when i first moved back here and saw my first Taco Mayo (thinking it really odd that anyone would have mayonnaise based tacos...LOL)

LOL. Maybe that is an "Okie" pronunciation? Or maybe they are of a previous generation and "Prince Valiant"?? Never would have occurred to me to do it that way (I am with you, it is Alliance with a V in front of it)

Course when i first moved back here and saw my first Taco Mayo (thinking it really odd that anyone would have mayonnaise based tacos...LOL)

Same here. Taco May-o. :-/

Valliance Bank Tower was originally started as Penn Square Bank Tower but it was closed down during construction.

You're correct. It was started for Penn Square which failed in 1982. The tower was completed in 1984.

This whole picture doesn't seem right. As I recall when the highway and overpass were built the "lake" was a big pond right next to the tower and did not come near the overpass. Can someone clear this up for the confused among us.

The lake looks just like I always remembered it. Here is an interesting map from 1910 which includes the lake.

http://imaginativeamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/img_dunn1910_005_fullmap.jpg

ljbab728, you were around in 1910?

ljbab728, you were around in 1910?

Not unless my mother is a lot older than she claims to be since she's 87. LOL

Fantastic map find...am i imagining it or am i seeing a Central Park on that map? Large orange colored section, to the right of center...not in the same place as the MAPS 3 one? Sort of a mirror image of our new one (with the skinny part extending North instead of South)...

Fantastic map find...am i imagining it or am i seeing a Central Park on that map? Large orange colored section, to the right of center...not in the same place as the MAPS 3 one? Sort of a mirror image of our new one (with the skinny part extending North instead of South)...

The map certainly calls that area Central Park and it's on the east side of downtown.

Was that a part of the original 240 loop?

By the way, just an FYI.... I met with a member of OKCTalk recently and he pronounced the Valliance Bank Tower as "val-yuntz" and I've heard others from time to time say that. It should be pronounced just like "Alliance" (as in an alliance of the firefighters and the teachers) - just add the 'v'. Because they're primarily a commercial/mortgage bank we don't hear advertising and therefore it's not a name common enough that everyone knows how it's pronounced. Hope that helps some who didn't know.

Hold up a sec... Uh-Ly-Ance so with a V, Vuh-Ly-Ance? No thanks. I'm going with Val-ee-ant (Valiant)...Val-ee-ance (Valliance). It's like arguing the word "advertisement". Here we say Ad-vur-tize-mint. On the East Coast they say Ad-Vur-Tyss-Mint...

Hold up a sec... Uh-Ly-Ance so with a V, Vuh-Ly-Ance? No thanks. I'm going with Val-ee-ant (Valiant)...Val-ee-ance (Valliance). It's like arguing the word "advertisement". Here we say Ad-vur-tize-mint. On the East Coast they say Ad-Vur-Tyss-Mint...

Longtime customer of the bank - trust me, it's Valliance "alliance" with a 'v'. If for some reason you don't believe me - call the bank and see how they answer the phone:
405.286.5700
http://www.vbank.com/

But, see? That's why I mentioned it in that post - some people think it's as OKCisOK4me pronounced it. Easy mistake - I just thought I'd clarify.

Being a mostly commercial bank they don't have to advertise much so we don't hear the name pronounced often.

Awesome aerial photograph and antique map!
(And I almost never use the word "awesome"... =)

This is the sort of thing that brought me to this site in the first place.
(Spec. Doug L's History documentation.)

I tried to look up Belle Isle Bridge Construction/History (in Google) but came up blank.
Judging by the cars in the photo, wouldn't you guess it would have been late 60's--early 70's?
I didn't move down here until '73 or '74 and I don't remember the bridge never being there.

(Re: "Belle Isle Lake" size . . . Is it possible that the photo was taken in the spring during a flooding period? I'm thinking about all those trees that seem to be unnaturally underwater.)

.

(Re: "Belle Isle Lake" size . . . Is it possible that the photo was taken in the spring during a flooding period? I'm thinking about all those trees that seem to be unnaturally underwater.)

By Jove, you may have hit the jackpot there. Good thinkin'.

Was that a part of the original 240 loop?

The part north of i40 was being consider to be designated as i240 but instead was went with the current designation and took the north south part of i240 with it.

The part north of i40 was being consider to be designated as i240 but instead was went with the current designation and took the north south part of i240 with it.

?????????????

Longtime customer of the bank - trust me, it's Valliance "alliance" with a 'v'. If for some reason you don't believe me - call the bank and see how they answer the phone:
405.286.5700
http://www.vbank.com/

But, see? That's why I mentioned it in that post - some people think it's as OKCisOK4me pronounced it. Easy mistake - I just thought I'd clarify.

Being a mostly commercial bank they don't have to advertise much so we don't hear the name pronounced often.


That's cool. You didn't mention the customer observation beforehand, so thanks. Pluto is still a planet to me, the Chesapeake Arena will still naturally be called the Ford Center by me, and I'll still say Valliance the way I say it cause it's hard to change it on spot. Or maybe it's because I'm stubborn, LOL!

The part north of i40 was being consider to be designated as i240 but instead was went with the current designation and took the north south part of i240 with it.

How was the party last night?! ;-)

That's cool. You didn't mention the customer observation beforehand, so thanks. Pluto is still a planet to me, the Chesapeake Arena will still naturally be called the Ford Center by me, and I'll still say Valliance the way I say it cause it's hard to change it on spot. Or maybe it's because I'm stubborn, LOL!

Same here but at least Pluto is still Mickey Mouse's dog.

It took me several years to stop calling it the Myriad (instead of the Cox).

I got this off of the Oklahoma Highway Transportation Board (or whatever):

"On June 17, 1980, the I-44 Belle Isle Bridge opened for traffic in Oklahoma City."

I would have SWORN that this bridge was open WAY earlier than that.

Re: The Historical Map . . .
I can see that "East Park" (Lincoln Park/Zoo Area) has a lake shown, but when did "Trosper Park" (lower right) ever have a lake?

Re: The Historical Map . . .
I can see that "East Park" (Lincoln Park/Zoo Area) has a lake shown, but when did "Trosper Park" (lower right) ever have a lake?
There is a creek that runs thru the park portion (goes under the road over to the Golf Course). I presume by the historical map that is where the golf course ended up. From what i could find on line, there are water hazards but seem to be mainly creeks crossing fairways. Could only see 1 body of water (like a small pond), but nothing to the extent shown on the old map so I am guessing it was taken out when they put the golf course in?

There is a creek that runs thru the park portion (goes under the road over to the Golf Course). I presume by the historical map that is where the golf course ended up. From what i could find on line, there are water hazards but seem to be mainly creeks crossing fairways. Could only see 1 body of water (like a small pond), but nothing to the extent shown on the old map so I am guessing it was taken out when they put the golf course in?

It was a planning map for both the larger roads and the parks so it may have been a concept they did not go with.

Hmmmm, ok, I took it that the planning part of the map was about the Parks & Roads (and that the water areas were existing). But I guess what you said could be the case too.