I-235 / I-44 Interchange

[Bellaboo]

Can someone explain to me how those two cloverleafs on the west side are going to be less of a cluster **** then the two clover leafs were that used to be on the east side? Cars trying to get on 235 playing bumper cars with cars getting off 235. Just a different direction. What am I missing here?

South bound 235 is divided. Pass through traffic is on the east side where entry / exit from 44 on the west. Plus you're talking 5 total lanes here.

[Snowman]

Plus there is way lower traffic counts on the cloverleafs on the west side than it was on the east side before they were replaced.

[MagzOK]

South bound 235 is divided. Pass through traffic is on the east side where entry / exit from 44 on the west. Plus you're talking 5 total lanes here.

Yes! I noticed this when driving through it last week and I think it's a great idea. Your thru traffic won't have to deal with the slower speeds of the slower merging traffic because they will have plenty of time to get up to speed before coming into a full merge at highway speeds with the thru traffic. Man, that's kind of confusing. LOL

[gjl]

You still have cars entering and exiting jockeying for the same lane. But whatever.

[Bellaboo]

You still have cars entering and exiting jockeying for the same lane. But whatever.

True but not as many as when it was congested with pass through traffic.

[I235+I44]

You still have cars entering and exiting jockeying for the same lane. But whatever.

I really don't think you are understanding the full picture yet. Please wait until the project is completed in a month or so and then comment.

[BoulderSooner]

You still have cars entering and exiting jockeying for the same lane. But whatever.

but not part of the main south bound traffic ..

[Pete]

^

And now in addition to the merge lane, there are two other completely separate lanes, not counting the 3 for the through traffic.

[Pete]

From this (Sunday) morning:

[5alive]

Just a small pour here and there and it's essentially finished!

[LakeEffect]

This week's weather is mostly good for concrete pouring, so you'll probably see the median barriers finished and the remaining lanes close to paved... last week was too cold on a couple days for concrete pours, so they slowed up a little bit.

[jccouger]

Can someone explain to me how those two cloverleafs on the west side are going to be less of a cluster **** then the two clover leafs were that used to be on the east side? Cars trying to get on 235 playing bumper cars with cars getting off 235. Just a different direction. What am I missing here?

It won't cause issues with through traffic on 235 going south, but it absolutely is going to be a merge disaster for cars trying to use those 2 clovers.

The somewhat upside is, to resolve this only 1 additional flyover will need to be built in the future. 1 clover can remain for eternity and wouldn't ever be an issue. Its just the merge point that is gonna cause a chokepoint and major slowdowns & wreck potential.

[jn1780]

I don't think its ideal, but I don't see it being a disaster or cluster****. How is it going to cause major slowdowns? Its isolated from major traffic flow.

[BoulderSooner]

It won't cause issues with through traffic on 235 going south, but it absolutely is going to be a merge disaster for cars trying to use those 2 clovers.

The somewhat upside is, to resolve this only 1 additional flyover will need to be built in the future. 1 clover can remain for eternity and wouldn't ever be an issue. Its just the merge point that is gonna cause a chokepoint and major slowdowns & wreck potential.

no it won't

[Laramie]

Oklahoma has $5 billion from the most recent infrastructure bill. Now is the time to use that money wisely to improve those roads leading to bridges (that we repaired or rebuilt) and work on improvements especially in major interchanges in Oklahoma City and Tulsa as well as cities throughout the state.

I've driven I-235/I-44 interchange, it's refreshing to see more invested in Oklahoma's roads and infrastructure. Like most interchanges, you must stay focused on your driving and watching out (defensive driving) for drivers unfamiliar with these types of interchanges.

If there are improvements to I-235/I-44 contact ODOT with your concerns and asked them have they received any of the $5 billion earmarked for Oklahoma.

The Most Dangerous Intersections in Oklahoma City: https://www.oklalegal.com/blog/the-m...oklahoma-city/

Construction on Tulsa highway interchange proving difficult for drivers: https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news...lt-for-drivers

Swake or Big918 , do anyone of you have updates on Tulsa street infrastructure projects.

[fortpatches]

Those top three are all newly constructed and at the same location. I drive it every day and have always thought they did a crummy job. Just a block away, Classen(/Western?) goes under OKC blvd. There is no reason for the lights at Klein. If they hadn't made Klein intersect OKC blvd like that, it would have been so much better. They even changed Sheridan between Western and Klein to two-way from One-way when they made those changes.

[Snowman]

Oklahoma has $5 billion from the most recent infrastructure bill. Now is the time to use that money wisely to improve those roads leading to bridges (that we repaired or rebuilt) and work on improvements especially in major interchanges in Oklahoma City and Tulsa as well as cities throughout the state.

I've driven I-235/I-44 interchange, it's refreshing to see more invested in Oklahoma's roads and infrastructure. Like most interchanges, you must stay focused on your driving and watching out (defensive driving) for drivers unfamiliar with these types of interchanges.

If there are improvements to I-235/I-44 contact ODOT with your concerns and asked them have they received any of the $5 billion earmarked for Oklahoma.

The Most Dangerous Intersections in Oklahoma City: https://www.oklalegal.com/blog/the-m...oklahoma-city/

Construction on Tulsa highway interchange proving difficult for drivers: https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news...lt-for-drivers

Swake or Big918 , do anyone of you have updates on Tulsa street infrastructure projects.

Though using money wisely probably is going to have it go elsewhere, ODOT deemed the traffic count on the remaining cloverleaves too low to warrant using funds to make them a flyover, and this would be replacing some of the newest concrete on the system that will require little maintenance for decades,

The state has been on a push to repair bridges on freeway type roads for around a decade due to how bad they had been getting, so like 90% of those needing major work either have been done or already had funds allocated from the normal budget in the next few years, and are finally set to keep up with those reconstructions within the normal budget. The next big push probably is bridges for either rural highways or county roads. It also seems like they have been leaning to a major push on putting shoulders on more rural highways and improving areas of rural highways with major curves or dramatic gradient changes.

5 Billion may sound like a lot but really it is slightly below 3 years of ODOTs normal budget, and if price fluctuations on construction material continue it is effectively producing less than that, so we are likely not getting anything that was not already on the 8 year plan with that money.

[Plutonic Panda]

I was hoping maybe they could consolidate most of what is in the current 8 year plan in 5 years and have 3 years of lots of new projects to add. I’m excited to see the 8 yr plan update this coming October. Hopefully the state doesn’t act stupid and try to reduce taxes and revenue as they like to do whenever they get new money.

[Laramie]

Though using money wisely probably is going to have it go elsewhere, ODOT deemed the traffic count on the remaining cloverleaves too low to warrant using funds to make them a flyover, and this would be replacing some of the newest concrete on the system that will require little maintenance for decades,

The state has been on a push to repair bridges on freeway type roads for around a decade due to how bad they had been getting, so like 90% of those needing major work either have been done or already had funds allocated from the normal budget in the next few years, and are finally set to keep up with those reconstructions within the normal budget. The next big push probably is bridges for either rural highways or county roads. It also seems like they have been leaning to a major push on putting shoulders on more rural highways and improving areas of rural highways with major curves or dramatic gradient changes.

5 Billion may sound like a lot but really it is slightly below 3 years of ODOTs normal budget, and if price fluctuations on construction material continue it is effectively producing less than that, so we are likely not getting anything that was not already on the 8 year plan with that money.

Hope that's the situation.

Well, if most of our streets and bridges are covered, maybe that $5 billion can be used on early retirement 2017 bonds on Better Streets, Safer City, the State Fair Coliseum (extra $100 million) & Paycom Arena (extra $100 million) upgrades (City owned projects) and more funding for Oklahoma City parks.

Two billion (20% each) awarded to our two largest cities Oklahoma City & Tulsa (40% of $5 billion) alone could fund a lot of projects including a $250 million downtown tourist Aquarian (probably pay for itself) that didn't make the cut on MAPS 4's 16 project initiative.

Am I missing something...

[HOT ROD]

instead of 20% each, make it proportional by pop to be fair.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah OKC should get more than Tulsa.

[gopokes88]

Though using money wisely probably is going to have it go elsewhere, ODOT deemed the traffic count on the remaining cloverleaves too low to warrant using funds to make them a flyover, and this would be replacing some of the newest concrete on the system that will require little maintenance for decades,

The state has been on a push to repair bridges on freeway type roads for around a decade due to how bad they had been getting, so like 90% of those needing major work either have been done or already had funds allocated from the normal budget in the next few years, and are finally set to keep up with those reconstructions within the normal budget. The next big push probably is bridges for either rural highways or county roads. It also seems like they have been leaning to a major push on putting shoulders on more rural highways and improving areas of rural highways with major curves or dramatic gradient changes.

5 Billion may sound like a lot but really it is slightly below 3 years of ODOTs normal budget, and if price fluctuations on construction material continue it is effectively producing less than that, so we are likely not getting anything that was not already on the 8 year plan with that money.

Well....no because this $5 billion is in addition too ODOTs normal budget.

There's no reason for the legislature to allocate money away form ODOT either as the state is crushed flush with cash from all over. (2X covid relief, infrastructure bill, economic growth, energy prices are high)

[Laramie]

Well....no because this $5 billion is in addition too ODOTs normal budget.

There's no reason for the legislature to allocate money away form ODOT either as the state is crushed flush with cash from all over. (2X covid relief, infrastructure bill, economic growth, energy prices are high)

True, ODOT need not lose any funds.

Whatever formula you use to divide the money (Needs use, City populations or MSA populations), Tulsa and OKC should receive the bulk of $5 billion.

This is why the 'extra money' should make a difference. It can be used on infrastructure projects; what infrastructure projects qualify for these funds.

Can OKC use some any of these funds like an extra $100 million on the State Fair Coliseum ($200 million project) to make it larger (Do away with the hotel sales tax tied to this project), expand the coliseum from 5,000 to 16,000 seats and make it more comparable to Fort Worth's Dixie's Arena. It would be nice to welcome AA (East Coast Hockey League --Tulsa/Wichita rivals back to our city.

.

[David]

Well....no because this $5 billion is in addition too ODOTs normal budget.

There's no reason for the legislature to allocate money away form ODOT either as the state is crushed flush with cash from all over. (2X covid relief, infrastructure bill, economic growth, energy prices are high)

Just because there's no reason for them to do it doesn't mean they won't.

[gopokes88]

Just because there's no reason for them to do it doesn't mean they won't.

Well just have to wait and see I suppose.