So am I interpreting this correctly that 2029 is when they plan to start the I-40/I-44 interchange? I doubt with it that far away that they would have any concept plan of what it would look like, right? (Here's hoping for flyover bridges with exits/entrances on the right).

I know funding has to be realistic, but I really wish they could move that up sooner to have all our major highway interchanges upgraded in the next few years. Will make both OKC and Tulsa feel much different in terms of driving when that gets achieved.

yeah but keep in mind the bridges over I44 (which is I40) is the back up at this intersection and redoing those will solve most of the traffic issue in 2024

yeah but keep in mind the bridges over I44 (which is I40) is the back up at this intersection and redoing those will solve most of the traffic issue in 2024
I assume they’re going to do more than simply redo them right? The main issue is the bottleneck so they’re going to widen them?

I assume they’re going to do more than simply redo them right? The main issue is the bottleneck so they’re going to widen them?

yes they will wide enough for 4 lanes each direction i believe .. (but will be striped for 3 )

Looks like Portland Ave bridges will be happening at the same time, if I read your other post right Boulder. Some much needed improvements in this area.

yes they will wide enough for 4 lanes each direction i believe .. (but will be striped for 3 )
Good deal! Do you have any other information about future phases? Will they redesign the interchange and remove the left exits?

Wider I-40 bridges will be most welcome.

That said, they need to remove the left exit from EB I-40 to EB I-44 so those attempting to cross every lane after they get on at Meridian can stay to the right.

Wider I-40 bridges will be most welcome.

That said, they need to remove the left exit from EB I-40 to EB I-44 so those attempting to cross every lane after they get on at Meridian can stay to the right.

I hope they'll do the same for S/W I-44 to EB I-40. People getting off from 10th St have like 1/2 mile to get to speed and cross 4 lanes of traffic.

I really want to see some signage on how to use zipper merges for the W I-40 to E I-44 exit, e.g. "Fill both lanes and take turns at the end." People fill the right lane, and jump across the dotted line to try to block people trying to do the right thing by using the left lane as well.

I hope they'll do the same for S/W I-44 to EB I-40. People getting off from 10th St have like 1/2 mile to get to speed and cross 4 lanes of traffic.

I really want to see some signage on how to use zipper merges for the W I-40 to E I-44 exit, e.g. "Fill both lanes and take turns at the end." People fill the right lane, and jump across the dotted line to try to block people trying to do the right thing by using the left lane as well.

They just need to continue those two lanes all the way thru to 44 and then one of the lanes can turn into the exit for 10th street. That would help that backup from happening. So many people immediately think they need to merge left once they are on 43 but the lane continues and doesn’t end already as it is.

Wider I-40 bridges will be most welcome.

That said, they need to remove the left exit from EB I-40 to EB I-44 so those attempting to cross every lane after they get on at Meridian can stay to the right.

the worst of this maybe any where is those getting off the turnpike (from tulsa) going south on I35 and then trying to exit at 122nd for the truck stops ..

I've been complaining about I-40/44 since I moved here in 2011. Will be super nice when that is finished. I have a reverse commute meaning I live in the city core, paseo, and work in Warr Acres just off NW Expressway. Traffic going home and coming to work is never really bad unless there is a wreck and even than I know every back road available.

They just need to continue those two lanes all the way thru to 44 and then one of the lanes can turn into the exit for 10th street. That would help that backup from happening. So many people immediately think they need to merge left once they are on 43 but the lane continues and doesn’t end already as it is.

Mmm, that would be beautiful.

Mmm, that would be beautiful.

And would be pretty easy to do. I think just one bridge on 44 to expand with additional lane.

I-40: Eb & wb bridges over i-44.
Jp# 2895104 ffy 2024 bridge & approaches $ 48,760,000
jp# 2895108 ffy 2029 interchange $ 20,000,000
$ 68,760,000

Given the base JP # (28951), the plans have been drawn up for awhile. Current plan sets are in the 34000 range. However, finding them on ODOT's website is like finding a needle in a haystack.

I hope they keep the WB I-44 to EB I-40 left exit for the potential use as an HOV exit toward downtown. Keep it but still add the much needed flyover toward downtown as well.

But yes, good to hear the I-40 bridges at I-44 will be expanded by 2025 - way overdue!

The city's first/only 5-stack opening in 2029?

That interchange was really bad the day it opened.

Just like the one at I-240/I-35.

Haven’t heard anything on this one in a while now

Haven’t heard anything on this one in a while now

The 8-Year Plan still has this scheduled to start in FFY2024

Well the saga of I44 continues. They have moved all the way up to the bridge just south of the I-40 junction.

I hope this is the last piece to do and they will leave this stretch of road freaking alone. MY lucky, they'll finish it up just in time to start the entire junction work so we can start enjoying that fun for the next 10 years.

Why not just rebuild the entire interchange instead of doing small tweaks constantly? The infrastructure money is there, and it would qualify.

Why not just rebuild the entire interchange instead of doing small tweaks constantly? The infrastructure money is there, and it would qualify.

Is there a timeline on the current work right now?

The stretch of WB I-40 between this interchange and the North Canadian is terrible, the potholes are awful and half of the road signs can't be read. Will that stretch be fixed when this interchange gets reworked?

The stretch of WB I-40 between this interchange and the North Canadian is terrible, the potholes are awful and half of the road signs can't be read. Will that stretch be fixed when this interchange gets reworked?

While it looks like they have plans to do surface work on that area already on the 8-year plan, there is not really anything indicating it is expressly linked to work on the i40/i44 junction, and it is not uncommon for individual project's order in the plan to change as new versions of the plan come out.

Drove through here recently, and I think the eastbound I-40 bridge is more potholes and patches than pavement. It's in pitiful shape, hope they at least re-pave it soon.

The I-40 bridges need surface repair very badly. They're extremely rough to drive on and there are more dips and potholes than road. Hope the city does something soon, not sure what the hold up is.

The I-40 bridges need surface repair very badly. They're extremely rough to drive on and there are more dips and potholes than road. Hope the city does something soon, not sure what the hold up is.Repair of these would be the responsibility of ODOT, not the City of Oklahoma City.

reminder


BRIDGE & APPROACHES I-40: EB & WB BRIDGES OVER I-44 5.3 MIS. E. OF THE CANADIAN C/L("K" INTERCHANGE). 28951(04) FFY 2024 $49,467,000.00 Let 04/2024 0.100 Mi. IS040 Div. 4 OKLAHOMA

I 40 bridges over 44 will start this year .. I 40 bridges over Portland will be this year as well ..



GRADE,DRAIN,BRIDGE & SURFACE I-40: EB & WB BRIDGES OVER PORTLAND AVE. 5.0 MIS. E. OF THE CANADIAN C/L 29852(04) FFY 2024 $20,327,000.00 Let 04/2024 1.000 Mi. IS040 Div. 4 OKLAHOMA

that area should be fun for a couple of years ..

Certainly they are replacing the bridges over I-40, not just resurfacing them...

Certainly they are replacing the bridges over I-40, not just resurfacing them...

50 mil means a full rebuild .. with more lanes

Well the good news is that there's quite a bit of room at this junction. They really can do a lot of this work without causing too much of a disruption.

For example, the actual bridges over I40 today, have a large gap between them. I'm guessing that was from whatever road was there before the current junction? So at least one bridge, of a good size, can go in there to take on the traffic there, with minimal down time for tie-in work.

For Portland, there's a similarly quite large gap between them. A new bridge can be constructed between the existing bridges, to offload the traffic while they work on the other. Or, what I've been seeing ODOT do, is actually build that bridge between the roads and just leave it as an "expansion" of the existing bridges, just filling in between them. They're doing that at I40-Anderson right now. If the grading between the two is close enough, they can just tie it all together and it saves having to rebulid the whole thing.

So honestly, i think this part at least has the potential to not be nearly as intrusive as one would initially think.

Well the good news is that there's quite a bit of room at this junction. They really can do a lot of this work without causing too much of a disruption.

For example, the actual bridges over I40 today, have a large gap between them. I'm guessing that was from whatever road was there before the current junction? So at least one bridge, of a good size, can go in there to take on the traffic there, with minimal down time for tie-in work.

For Portland, there's a similarly quite large gap between them. A new bridge can be constructed between the existing bridges, to offload the traffic while they work on the other. Or, what I've been seeing ODOT do, is actually build that bridge between the roads and just leave it as an "expansion" of the existing bridges, just filling in between them. They're doing that at I40-Anderson right now. If the grading between the two is close enough, they can just tie it all together and it saves having to rebulid the whole thing.

So honestly, i think this part at least has the potential to not be nearly as intrusive as one would initially think.

Kinda wish they would keep three lanes through the intersection - so East-bound EXIT 146 isn't an "Exit only" and continues straight to have three lanes over Portland past the EXIT 147A and across the I-44 overpass to meet up where they already split one lane into two lanes at (35.46057954606177, -97.56735549660256).

Westbound EXIT 147B - really wish they could figure out how to get people to understand that there is no merging onto I-44 - you get your own dedicated lane from that ramp so there is no need to go 30MPH when you take that exit. I wish I could put up "keep moving" signs or something. haha I was also wondering if a barrier could be put up so people cannot see the traffic on I-44 since maybe that is what is causing people to slow down. They see fast traffic so they slow since they are under the false impression of needing to merge.

Well for that one, it might be the feeling that you're going to tip over. It's a bit of a weird angle.

Westbound EXIT 147B - really wish they could figure out how to get people to understand that there is no merging onto I-44 - you get your own dedicated lane from that ramp so there is no need to go 30MPH when you take that exit. I wish I could put up "keep moving" signs or something. haha I was also wondering if a barrier could be put up so people cannot see the traffic on I-44 since maybe that is what is causing people to slow down. They see fast traffic so they slow since they are under the false impression of needing to merge.
Oh man. This drives me insane on my commute home every day. People are also fond of instantly merging to the far left lane once they get on I44, I've seen so many near misses from cars yeeting themselves over there as soon as they're past the merge. Meanwhile, I'm still in the right lane that is now completely empty and am able to get up to speed unimpeded.
The zipper merge there also drives me crazy in that nobody knows how to use it, but I've already beaten that dead horse upthread.

There should be a longer space before traffic can merge to other lanes.

This is exactly why l am disgusted with the plans for l-35/l-240 interchange because traffic will merge directly onto l-35 from the loops instead of keeping it separate as it is now. People (18-wheelers specifically) won't use the length of the lane and accelerate up to speed before merging into highway traffic.

reminder



I 40 bridges over 44 will start this year .. I 40 bridges over Portland will be this year as well ..
..

The year is winding down. Has anyone heard of any updates?? I'm so freaking fed up with these bridges....these have to be the worst in the entire city.

The year is winding down. Has anyone heard of any updates?? I'm so freaking fed up with these bridges....these have to be the worst in the entire city.

There are more patches than road now. Absolutely horrid

Can anyone explain why road patching technology has not seemed to improve any in the last 50 years or longer. Technology for just about everything else has improved but not that. Just throw some asphalt in a hole and make sure it is not even with the surrounding road surface.

Can anyone explain why road patching technology has not seemed to improve any in the last 50 years or longer. Technology for just about everything else has improved but not that. Just throw some asphalt in a hole and make sure it is not even with the surrounding road surface.

OMG yes! I think the theory is if they level it, it will push down and then be a dip. Although i've never seem an asphalt hump that did that if they properly fixed the issue in the first place rather than just shoveling some crap on top with no effort (which does seem to be what most people do because its cheaper).

If they honestly did things properly, they would rip out a section and then repair it. But that's not really the "repair" team's purpose. They just patch it up to make the road last a little longer until its bad enough that someone feels like its time to do something about it for real (10 years later). I mean how many times do you see someone put asphalt down to "fix" concrete holes too. I really laugh at that one since you know in a couple of years, it's going to be gravel pebbles instead of a patch. But they can re-patch that some hole a dozen times and still save what it would have cost to actually fix the real problem.

We still have three more months to go for more projects to be let for bid. I had thought the Edmond I-35 frontage roads project, I-35/Waterloo interchanges, and the I-44/I-44 bridges were supposed to be let for bid this year. As I understand it ODOT typically doesn't award and projects for bid in December. We'll see over the next couple months. Next months meeting in October we will get an updated 8 year plan so I am excited to see what projects they add or move up but the last few years have been extremely disappointing with a lot of projects getting pushed back. The state needs to better fund ODOT. Missouri just got together and decided to widen the entirety of I-70 through the whole f@cking state and they're doing the same thing with I-44. ODOT had a bone thrown at them by allowing them to be issued bonds a few years ago(maybe pre pandemic I can't remember) but they aren't allowed to take out bonds on their own. The state needs to give ODOT a major influx of cash or find a way to allow them to generate more revenue like raising gas taxes or something.

So while digging around the ODOT website, I found that the project that is currently out to bid is not a rebuild like we were hoping for and instead is a rehab of the existing bridges and repaving the I40 through that area. The budget is around 10 million and they put the contract at 120 days. You can look into it on the ODOT website. It has a bid opening date of September 12 and you can also view the plans put out to bid.
https://oklahoma.gov/odot/business-center/contracts-and-proposals/sep-12-2024.html

Well that's a major disappointment because they wouldn't spend anything on it if they had plans to tear it out any time soon. BOOOOOO

Well that’s some horseshıt.

Well that's a major disappointment because they wouldn't spend anything on it if they had plans to tear it out any time soon. BOOOOOO

Not necessarily, 10 million does not seem like enough to completely redeck both directions. So may be enough of a refurbishment to get it through time replacement is likely. Even if they focused on it alone, the minimum time is probably something like two years, given how they tend to phase everything 5-10 is more likely.

This interchange will be a huge project. Don't expect major rebuild anytime soon.

The way traffic backs up on 44 East in the mornings and 44 West in the evenings now I can't imagine how horrible it will be when they rebuild that interchange along with both directions on I40. You will see traffic backed up from Pennsylvania to SW 59th or even Airport Road on 44 West in the 4:30 to 5:30 times.

The way traffic backs up on 44 East in the mornings and 44 West in the evenings now I can't imagine how horrible it will be when they rebuild that interchange along with both directions on I40. You will see traffic backed up from Pennsylvania to SW 59th or even Airport Road on 44 West in the 4:30 to 5:30 times.

Plus adding another lane to the bridges is hardly going to do that much without expanding I-44 & I40 to five lanes in all the directions approaching/departing the interchange, which does not even seem like they are even proposing yet.

Not yet. 4 lanes each way would do wonders. I-44 north of I-40 to I-44 split should be 12 lanes.

We still have three more months to go for more projects to be let for bid. I had thought the Edmond I-35 frontage roads project, I-35/Waterloo interchanges, and the I-44/I-44 bridges were supposed to be let for bid this year. As I understand it ODOT typically doesn't award and projects for bid in December. We'll see over the next couple months. Next months meeting in October we will get an updated 8 year plan so I am excited to see what projects they add or move up but the last few years have been extremely disappointing with a lot of projects getting pushed back. The state needs to better fund ODOT. Missouri just got together and decided to widen the entirety of I-70 through the whole f@cking state and they're doing the same thing with I-44. ODOT had a bone thrown at them by allowing them to be issued bonds a few years ago(maybe pre pandemic I can't remember) but they aren't allowed to take out bonds on their own. The state needs to give ODOT a major influx of cash or find a way to allow them to generate more revenue like raising gas taxes or something.

I noticed some concrete barriers and some equipment showing up at i35 and 2nd street and have seen some manhattan trucks out there. Seems like something about to start there.

The bridge rehab is scheduled to start February 3rd and continue thru August. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ym4QuFKpV/

JFC! When can we truly fix this POS interchange?

It will not be anytime soon. To truly fix it it needs to be completely redesigned with all of the left exits moved to the right. This needs to be a Texas sized interchange.