Highway off-ramp to be moved as part of Ford Center expansion
City Sentinel
Wednesday, 04 June 2008



An arial view of I-40 next to the Ford Center shows what the Oklahoma Department of Transportation intends to do with the Robinson Avenue exit later this year. A public meeting Thursday in City Hall was held to show residents what the plan entails with an estimated timeline.

By Rod Jones

Project managers for the highway modification portion of the Ford Center expansion project held a meeting Thursday to educate the public on how an I-40 highway off-ramp would be changed to create the needed room.


Currently, the exit ramp for Robinson Avenue off the westbound lane encroaches into the space where the Ford Center will expand, so engineers came up with a way to re-route the exit lane along a different path farther from the arena. The new route hugs the highway to a traffic light rather than branch off toward the edge of the arena.
Wayne Courville of the city’s Public Works Department said the ramp would be closed for an estimated 150 days when construction begins, which is slated for October with a completion date sometime in March next year.
While the city is covering the construction costs and design work, Courville said the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) would be involved on the administrative side because the project involves an Interstate highway. Oklahoma City voters approved a one-cent sales tax in March to renovate and expand the Ford Center.
The renovation includes installing the main entrances to the Ford Center on the south side of the building facing the highway. Future plans are to replace I-40, which is moving a few blocks south, with a boulevard running in front of the main entrance.

Read the rest of this story in the June 4 issue of The City Sentinel