I-235 / I-44 Interchange

[jn1780]

I wonder what goes through minds of the powers in the state that be and OkDOT officials when they drive through the infrastructure 3 hours south. I live in Los Angeles with some incredible freeways and driving on the 635 I was blown away by it with the new reconstruction. Obviously nowhere in OKC warrants that, but every freeway in SoCal should be 28 lanes minimum with this setup and ROW should be preserved in OKC so these projects can happen in the future.

This will be a beautiful interchange regardless and I am impressed by it every time I drive through it. I am also very wowed by the new I-40 crosstown. Hopefully OKDOT keeps pushing the bar. I know our state is limited by lack of funding. I pray and hope the 2 trillion dollar infrastructure investment stimulus happens. Anyone here thinks it has a chance?

Before or after the 2 trillion dollar Covid-19 bailout package? The deficient this year will easily be 6 trillion.

[Plutonic Panda]

Before or after the 2 trillion dollar Covid-19 bailout package? The deficient this year will easily be 6 trillion.

I was thinking more along the lines if the infrastructure package worth 2 trillion is passed if/when we recover which could be in a year or two those returning funds would be stacked on top of the new funding provided there is no reallocating which happens far too much.

[Pete]

This is the vantage point from the Paragon Building parking lot:

[jccouger]

This is the vantage point from the Paragon Building parking lot:

Your drone was a great investment lol

[Pete]

Your drone was a great investment lol

Haha... Yeah, no kidding.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pete, if you get a chance I know it’s a bit out of the way but the new section of I-40 east of mid west city is pretty impressive along with a fairly nice sized interchange for the Kickapoo Turnpike.

[I235+I44]

This is the vantage point from the Paragon Building parking lot:

Thank you, Pete. After Rover's suggestion, I tried this vantage point the other day. But, it didn't feel that great when compared to your drone pictures. I think I would stick to your drone pictures.

[Pete]

You can see the old southbound bridge over the creek has been stripped. Will be interesting to see how they rebuild it for the new alignment.

[David]

Interesting that they have hung the beams over I-44 for one of the flyovers. Did they close the interstate for that, and it just hasn't mattered as much because of the virus situation?

[rte66man]

Pete, they will take out the entire old bridge once they complete the NB to EB ramp. According to the drawings, it will be a twin (more or less) of the new span immediately west.

[Pete]

Pete, they will take out the entire old bridge once they complete the NB to EB ramp. According to the drawings, it will be a twin (more or less) of teh new span immediately west.

Thanks. That makes sense.

[OKC Guy]

Thanks for the pics. Its a massively large project and driving thru its not easy to look at everything either due to focus on narrow lanes. Lots of drivers go over the center line. Your pics help me see clearly that I only get ground view on

[I235+I44]

Interesting that they have hung the beams over I-44 for one of the flyovers. Did they close the interstate for that, and it just hasn't mattered as much because of the virus situation?

No, they haven't closed. They shifted both the east & westbound lanes to the north for a few days and shifted both of them to the south later.

[JDSooners]

What's gonna be accomplished during next weekends closure?

[OKC Guy]

What's gonna be accomplished during next weekends closure?

Next 'Off Broadway' I-235 weekend full closure set for May 1-May 4
The I-235/I-44 Off Broadway project in Oklahoma City will have its second act full weekend closure starting Friday, May 1, to allow the contractor to safely hang new bridge beams over I-235. This will be the second of possibly five full interstate closures this year for the up to $105 million interchange reconstruction.

Northbound and southbound I-235/US-77 will be closed between N. 36th St. and N. 63rd St. The closure will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, after the evening rush-hour and the interstate is expected to reopen no later than 6 a.m. Monday, May 4, weather permitting, but with the possibility of opening earlier if work completes.

Motorists also can expect the following ramps to be CLOSED during this period:

Eastbound I-44 ramp to northbound I-235/US-77;
Westbound I-44 ramp to southbound I-235/US-77;
Southbound I-235/US-77 from N. 63rd St.;
Southbound I-235/US-77 to eastbound I-44;
Northbound I-235/US-77 ramp to N. 50th St.;
Northbound I-235/US-77 ramp to eastbound I-44;
Northbound I-235/US-77 ramp to westbound I-44; and
Northbound I-235/US-77 ramp to N. 63rd St.
The following movements will remain OPEN during this period:

Southbound I-235/US-77 ramp to westbound I-44;
Westbound I-44 ramp to northbound US-77/Broadway Ext. and to N. 63rd St.,
Westbound I-44 ramp from N. Lincoln Blvd.; and
Eastbound I-44 ramp to southbound I-235/US-77.
While some movements connecting to I-44 and southbound I-235 will remain open, it's essential that motorists know their alternate routes to destinations in this area ahead of time to limit possible travel delays. Other detour routes include: I-35, I-40, SH-74/Lake Hefner Parkway, N. Lincoln Blvd. and Martin Luther King Ave./Eastern Ave.

Even when I-235/US-77 reopens for the morning rush-hour commute to two lanes of travel in each direction, the corridor will remain narrow with little room to maneuver. Additional lane closures and traffic shifts will continue to occur throughout 2020 as lanes are added and the construction contract allows up to three additional complete interstate closures for a weekend each time after this one. Those potential closures will be announced as information becomes available.

Stay tuned to the department's Twitter and Facebook pages @OKDOT for updated lane closure information as the project progresses.

https://www.ok.gov/odot/I-235_I-44_interchange.html

[David]

Beams over I-235, I assume those must be for the NB to WB flyover.

[LakeEffect]

Beams over I-235, I assume those must be for the NB to WB flyover.

Correct.

[JDSooners]

Since they've done stuff they've already done due to low traffic, seems like the weekend work could be done quickly

[OKC Guy]

Since they've done stuff they've already done due to low traffic, seems like the weekend work could be done quickly

Hope so. Every day past 2 weeks traffic counts are slowly increasing. Rush this afternoon was way busier than it has been (but nowhere near normal). More and more are driving in rush hour I assume those are jobs being driven to.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah I-35 was at the typical standstill today during rush hour so it looks like things are beginning to pick back up.

[vaflyer]

From ODOT's twitter page:

OKC: I-235 #OffBroadway crews completed hanging new bridge beams over I-235 almost a day ahead of schedule and are tracking to reopen NB and SB I-235 during the overnight hours. The WB I-44 ramp to SB I-235/US-77 will remain closed until Sunday night for surface work to complete.

[JDSooners]

From ODOT's twitter page:

OKC: I-235 #OffBroadway crews completed hanging new bridge beams over I-235 almost a day ahead of schedule and are tracking to reopen NB and SB I-235 during the overnight hours. The WB I-44 ramp to SB I-235/US-77 will remain closed until Sunday night for surface work to complete.

Thought they'd be early on this round...

Seems like getting the bridges functional will get the project towards completion, until they start the big bridge over 44

[Pete]

[OKC Guy]

Cool pics thanks for taking time to send up the drone. Its hard to see even driving thru daily. Here’s what it looked like beforehand

[catch22]

^ Night and day difference. This will go a long way to improving OKC's infrastructure needs for the foreseeable future.

Thanks Pete for the updates.