I-235 / I-44 Interchange

[rte66man]

I am very disappointed to see little pavement replacement on both directions of I-44. That concrete is nearing 50 years old. it would have been an ideal time to replace the parts within this interchange.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^^ Agreed all the payment should’ve been replaced

[Laramie]

Congress just passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill. President Biden signed into law on November 15, 2021. Surely ODOT will address the structural deficiencies of I-44. Communities will begin receiving infrastructure funding in the course of the next year (2022).

Oklahoma is scheduled to get approximately $5 billion; $1 billion each year for the next five years to address infrastructure needs.

Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...tructure-deal/

What does the infrastructure bill mean for Oklahoma? https://kfor.com/news/local/what-doe...-for-oklahoma/

[David]

From the look of this it makes me wonder if they are going to finish the two permanent cloverleaf loops and their dedicated bridge, shift traffic onto them, and then do some remaining work on parts of the interchange that are being blocked by the current configuration.

Also, I am even more confused by the gap at the bottom of the picture now that there is pavement on either side of it, but maybe that will get filled in once my speculated cloverleaf shift happens.

[Pete]

^

That is probably correct and would explain why they finished the west part of that bridge first.

It looks like they could open the permanent cloverleafs relatively soon, then finish up the remaining work.


I really, really wish they would wrap this up. Not so much for the traffic bottlenecks but due to the high level of danger involved in the lack of merge lanes at several spots.

[OKCDrummer77]

They finally restriped the off ramp to the flyover, glory be, hallelujah.

This morning, I noticed a couple of cars move to the right (probably out of habit) only to move back when they realized that it had been restriped. The ramp seemed to flow a lot better to me, but traffic in general seemed lighter today, so it's hard to say how much impact the restriping made.

[David]

This morning, I noticed a couple of cars move to the right (probably out of habit) only to move back when they realized that it had been restriped. The ramp seemed to flow a lot better to me, but traffic in general seemed lighter today, so it's hard to say how much impact the restriping made.

We probably won't see the real difference until next week when traffic gets back to a post-holiday normal.

[jn1780]

From the look of this it makes me wonder if they are going to finish the two permanent cloverleaf loops and their dedicated bridge, shift traffic onto them, and then do some remaining work on parts of the interchange that are being blocked by the current configuration.

Also, I am even more confused by the gap at the bottom of the picture now that there is pavement on either side of it, but maybe that will get filled in once my speculated cloverleaf shift happens.

The gap is there because there is temp asphalt being used to adjust for the slight difference in elevation. It will be replaced with a jersey barrier when the shift happens.

I will say mid January for total completion if the SB bridge deck is poured by the end of next week. I think both sides will be on the new bridges by the end of the year.

[Snowman]

They are doing some more striping tonight

I-235/I-44 ramps close Monday night
The following I-235/I-44 interchange ramps will be closed from 7 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday for striping

Eastbound I-44 on-ramp from Western Ave. (mm 126);
Eastbound I-44 off-ramp to southbound I-235/US-77 (mm 127A);
Eastbound I-44 to northbound I-235/US-77;
Eastbound I-44 off-ramp to Lincoln Blvd.;
Southbound I-235 to eastbound I-44;
Northbound I-235/US-77 ramp to eastbound I-44; and
Northbound Lincoln Blvd. ramp to westbound I-44.

[PurpleChicken]

^

I really, really wish they would wrap this up. Not so much for the traffic bottlenecks but due to the high level of danger involved in the lack of merge lanes at several spots.

Totally agree with this. Added to that the insanely crazy drivers screaming through here like the Daytona 500.

[Pete]

From this (Saturday) morning.

In the 3rd photo you can see the NB 63rd exit ramp now has all four turn lanes open.

[5alive]

Sooooo close

[snark0leptic]

I'm very please that the 44EB to 235N/S off-ramp is properly striped now to no long have that silly merge. Traffic is flowing so much better that way now.

[GaryOKC6]

I'm very please that the 44EB to 235N/S off-ramp is properly striped now to no long have that silly merge. Traffic is flowing so much better that way now.

Yep. When we were lobbying for the expansion we used to joke that it was the only major highway intersection in America where you made eye contact with the other drivers while trying to merge on to it.

[David]

A couple weeks into the change driving it in the mornings, the jam at that merge point seems to be entirely fixed for normal traffic patterns.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yep. When we were lobbying for the expansion we used to joke that it was the only major highway intersection in America where you made eye contact with the other drivers while trying to merge on to it.

lol come to LA. You could have time to start and finish a tea party with the driver next to you by the time you get through half of the freeway interchanges there.

[Pete]

[5alive]

Thanks for the pics Pete

[Bellaboo]

Been lucky with the good weather, able to work.

[Pete]

I just spoke to someone at ODOT who gave me details on the timing of the final work being done at this intersection.

Everything is temperature-dependent at this point and as long as the weather stays warm, the contractor should continue to make fast progress.


They hope to be able to shift all the southbound traffic to the western-most southbound bridge sometime after Christmas. This would involve opening up the permanent cloverleaves for SB to EB and WB to SB. Just two lanes of that bridge would be utilized at that time.

That shift will allow them to remove the temporary cloverleaf setups that are being currently used. Then, they can do the final patching, complete all the paving, seal and stripe everything and open up the entire SB bridge.


The goal is to have everything completely done and open early in 2022, hopefully in January but very much dependent on weather/temperature.

[David]

Good news for the northbound traffic, bad news for the southbound traffic plus the cloverleafs plus the 63rd to 235 onramp traffic all on just that skinny, westernmost bridge. It is going to be crowded while they finish up.

[Pete]

Good news for the northbound traffic, bad news for the southbound traffic plus the cloverleafs plus the 63rd to 235 onramp traffic all on just that skinny, westernmost bridge. It is going to be crowded while they finish up.

Hopefully, that will only be for a short period of time.


As weird as this may sound, it always makes me a little sad to see a big project like this end. I usually go photograph every week over a period of years... Completion represents a loss! Of course, there are always new things and a bunch of additional projects will start to move next year, and a new weekly routine will be created.

[Snowman]

Good news for the northbound traffic, bad news for the southbound traffic plus the cloverleafs plus the 63rd to 235 onramp traffic all on just that skinny, westernmost bridge. It is going to be crowded while they finish up.

It may look skinny compared to the new bridges but it is several feet wider than the old southbound bridge, which handled all that traffic previously

[David]

It may look skinny compared to the new bridges but it is several feet wider than the old southbound bridge, which handled all that traffic previously

It appears that I am already spoiled by the improvements in the completed portions of this project.

[Pete]

From just 2 years ago: