I-235 / I-44 Interchange

[catch22]

If that is indeed the case, I wonder if some core samples came back questionable requiring a site inspection for surface cracking?

I have watched hundreds of thousands of yards of concrete get poured where I work (Denver Airport was re-surfacing the entire apron area on my concourse) and they core sampled every batch. But never did any kind of post-pour surface crack testing. I haven't seen it on any highway construction either. I still think it was an unrelated spill of some sort, but it is indeed a good guess. Usually any kind of crack detection in metals is a red or yellow color, so a similar process for concrete wouldn't at all be surprising.

[LakeEffect]

If that is indeed the case, I wonder if some core samples came back questionable requiring a site inspection for surface cracking?

I paid special attention to it this morning as I made my commute to work. It does indeed look like it was for crack identification. There is now black crack seal on quite a few hairline cracks on portions of the bridge. Those core samples are pretty old now - I think that flyover has been open 9 months to a year already, so not sure what suddenly piqued their interest. It is curious though. That's a lot of fresh concrete to be cracking like that already.

[KayneMo]

I'm not sure what it is either, but I don't think it was a spill. I take this ramp daily on my commute - the cones were places before any of the pink substance was there. The next time I took the ramp, the right side of the roadway was pink and traffic was on the left side. Then, as shown in pw405's pic in post #2244, the pink was on the left and traffic switched to the right.

[gopokes88]

On Friday I took the 235 Northbound to I44 Westbound flyover. It was partially closed while some work was being done. There was a pink substance spread over the lane and a few trucks working. Traffic was squeezed to the shoulder, but was still flowing better than before the flyover was built!

Any idea what the pink stuff is? Was there an industrial size Pepto Bismol spill?

Here's what Gary A Crain does according their website so everyone doesn't just keep speculating

Gary A. Crain, Inc. is a highway and bridge specialty contractor. Established in 1986, Gary A. Crain, Inc. specializes in performance based penetrating water repellant surface treatments, concrete painting, bridge deck coatings and sealants, anti-graffiti coatings, diamond grinding, saw tooth grooving and profilograph services.

Our corporate office is located in Prague, Oklahoma. We are a certified DBE contractor in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas. We have worked in many areas of the United States including Florida, Montana, Louisiana, Colorado and Wyoming.

Gary A. Crain, Inc. is very proud of our proven ability to complete jobs in the most safe and efficient manner possible

http://www.garyacrain.com/

[jn1780]

Ok, so probably some kind of sealant.

[Pete]

The silence since this has opened seems to indicate that traffic is flowing very well; that has been my experience every time I travel through this area.

Can anybody report otherwise?

[HangryHippo]

Nope. It’s made all the difference.

Now if they would please fix the nightmare that is the I-40/44 interchange.

[Ryan]

The silence since this has opened seems to indicate that traffic is flowing very well; that has been my experience every time I travel through this area.

Can anybody report otherwise?

I have to concur. As much as loathe to admit it flows well has cut down my commute by 10 min. I atand by my comments that competent government wouldve completed this well well well under the 13 year mark.

[TheTravellers]

The silence since this has opened seems to indicate that traffic is flowing very well; that has been my experience every time I travel through this area.

Can anybody report otherwise?

We never drove it while under construction (no real need to, we don't go north or south too much from 36th), but drove it after it opened and some since and it's great to just fly through it...

[baralheia]

The silence since this has opened seems to indicate that traffic is flowing very well; that has been my experience every time I travel through this area.

Can anybody report otherwise?

Literally the only problem I have experienced with this reworked interchange is when I want to go from northbound I-235 to westbound I-44 I keep missing the dang exit - my brain keeps telling me that the exit should be at the overpass like it used to be, haha. Otherwise it's an absolute dream to just sail through this interchange essentially unimpeded. I agree with criticisms that it shouldn't have taken 13 freakin' years to get finished, but... well, that's Oklahoma for ya. I'm definitely glad it finally got done though. Now if we could just hurry up and finish the Crossroads Junction (I-240/I-35) rebuild...

[Pete]

They also kept 2 lanes open in every direction the entire time (apart from a few short closures) which was necessary given how key this intersection is to OKC.

[OKC Guy]

About this project. I have to commend the contractors as they are at mercy of money being released for bids and timing. Some overall comments having driven this throughout the project.

- Its amazing to now think back at how old the interchange was with cars competing for space to enter/exit 235. What a massive improvement!

- I felt this last phase was the best engineered/run of all the phases. They kept speed at 45 all throughout it. Even the police who would park at entrance to each end were less frequent. IMO, when parked it backed traffic up behind the project as people panic when they see one and it brakes and a majority of all accidents happened behind the work zones. When not there traffic flowed much smoother this last phase had less days of parked police and better overall flow. I do understand their reasoning but having lived and driven in much larger cities its important to keep the flow. Kudos to this last construction team having the largest project yet the best traffic flow of all phases.

- The prior project with train overpass was the worst of projects imo. It was fun to watch on cam when they installed it but that whole project had a speed limit of 35 and traffic was very backed up every day. Amazing the difference between 35 and 45 mph.

Another related point to prior paragraph - This project was designed a long time ago when OKC was much smaller. Had they known then imo they should have designed the train overpass as 2 tracks vice 1. If there is any thought of running commuter rail in rush hour its way too late now, without a massive redo and cost. Edmond and N/NW OKC are really growing and it won’t be long traffic is too high for roads.

- I read so many complaints on here during the project but feel the contractors did an outstanding job. Any design flaws are not their fault they bid what was presented to them. The 13 year timeline is all about money and they could have finished faster but other projects would have suffered. We only get a piece of the fed pie each year.

- Now we have a new problem which I mentioned several times earlier in thread. 235/44 was a throttle and now that its gone all traffic has moved to 235/Kilpatrick interchange at afternoon rush hour. It backs up and thats where wrecks are now. With continued growth between 44 and TP (in 235 corridor) and other northern/western growth - its going to become a major mess in future. With toll booths gone there is room to have a north 235 left lane exit overpass to west bound KT and can take that room to make the landing. But it won’t happen. In reverse, with no 235/44 “throttle” traffic gets downtown faster and with 235 S going from 3 lanes to 2 around 8th street it backs up. Whats strange is in the afternoon it backs up worse going south and basically from I-40 to 23rd and even 36th street. That will only get worse. Every day the 23rd st bridge on 235S is a parking lot from 4-6/6:30. Think of how this hurts people going downtown to eat or a game. Then people will get off and use side roads - so get off on 36th and navigate to Classen to go south. As you can imagine the side roads will plug up too as growth continues

Our growth is way too fast for our infrastructure to keep up without major delays. That means at some point degradation in quality of life for the metro. Its been a fast change and no way to keep up.

Anyways, very long but I do commend the contractors especially the last phase. How they did that without shutting down more lanes was brilliant. Hats off to them.

[jccouger]

The silence since this has opened seems to indicate that traffic is flowing very well; that has been my experience every time I travel through this area.

Can anybody report otherwise?

Of course as soon as it opened I decided to move to a part of town where it doesn't make sense to take this interchange. It's one of my biggest regrets from moving lol.

[Snowman]

Of course as soon as it opened I decided to move to a part of town where it doesn't make sense to take this interchange. It's one of my biggest regrets from moving lol.

Somewhat similar for me except I was shifted to a different office during construction, granted now working from home which was once only due to covid, now seems will be an ongoing option

[HFAA Alum]

Is there any news of the interchange for Lincoln and I-44 getting the makeover it's scheduled to undergo? Should there be a separate topic on that matter or do we contain that to this one since it does fit in with the plans for this interchange?

[Womp Womp]

Had they known then imo they should have designed the train overpass as 2 tracks vice 1. If there is any thought of running commuter rail in rush hour its way too late now, without a massive redo and cost.

I agree that they should have double tracked the bridge, that was a huge wasted opportunity. Luckily it looks like the original alignment of the bridge is set up so it can handle another bridge, so they'd be able to put in a second bridge if/when needed without extensive work beyond the bridge itself. But yes, woulda coulda shoulda.

[catch22]

I think all parties were aware of it, but no one wanted to pay for it. BNSF didn’t need it or want it, it’s not ODOT’s investment to make, RTA wasn’t up and running or have funding for it. ACOG was the only party that really had a need but that’s too large of an investment for largely a guidance body. Wasted opportunity sure, but the bridge reconstruction happened out of phase with the local governments.

[BoulderSooner]

I think all parties were aware of it, but no one wanted to pay for it. BNSF didn’t need it or want it, it’s not ODOT’s investment to make, RTA wasn’t up and running or have funding for it. ACOG was the only party that really had a need but that’s too large of an investment for largely a guidance body. Wasted opportunity sure, but the bridge reconstruction happened out of phase with the local governments.

what was really wasted and should have been done is not a second bridge but a the min footings poured for the second bridge on both ends ..

Norman did this when they created the robinson underpass ...

[bombermwc]

Well if you read all the comments on the other thread about commuter rail, the supporters all believe that BNSF is going to magically be able to use the one line for all things. Somehow, they are going to create magic trains that scissor lift like the cartoons. Or maybe they will create side lines ever 1000' to hold those 1.5 mile long freight lines while the commuter rail buzzes by every 15 minutes.

Somehow, i just don't see it happening. And I agree, this was all part of what's needed for that, and is going to be extremely expensive to get done.

[baralheia]

Well if you read all the comments on the other thread about commuter rail, the supporters all believe that BNSF is going to magically be able to use the one line for all things. Somehow, they are going to create magic trains that scissor lift like the cartoons. Or maybe they will create side lines ever 1000' to hold those 1.5 mile long freight lines while the commuter rail buzzes by every 15 minutes.

Somehow, i just don't see it happening. And I agree, this was all part of what's needed for that, and is going to be extremely expensive to get done.

My expectation is that we won't see 15-minute headways if commuter rail gets off the ground. Even during peak usage times, the TRE in Dallas only operates on 30 minute headways - and 1 hour headways the remainder of the time. I expect ours will be similar - but that's a discussion for the other thread. That said, you're right, capacity improvements definitely do need to be made to ensure commuter rail is successful. About half of the BNSF line through the OKC metro is double-tracked, and the majority of the parts that aren't shouldn't be hard to upgrade. The big exception is around this interchange. I can understand why ODOT didn't build two rail bridges over 235 at the same time, due to span length and cost, but it's frustrating that ODOT did not do much in the way of preparations for a second bridge to be installed later, like building footings for a second bridge as BoulderSooner mentioned above. I can tell by looking at satellite imagery that ODOT did ensure that the support columns under the NW 50th St bridge are angled and spaced to allow a second rail line to be built where the bridge originally stood though, so.... at least they did that.

[rte66man]

Is there any news of the interchange for Lincoln and I-44 getting the makeover it's scheduled to undergo? Should there be a separate topic on that matter or do we contain that to this one since it does fit in with the plans for this interchange?

Still on the 8 year plan for FFY2023.

[BoulderSooner]

Still on the 8 year plan for FFY2023.

which starts on July 1

[LakeEffect]

which starts on July 1

? The Federal Fiscal Year starts October 1.

[BoulderSooner]

? The Federal Fiscal Year starts October 1.

Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma start July 1

[BoulderSooner]

? The Federal Fiscal Year starts October 1.

my bad i see what you are saying FFY on the list ..

thank you for the correction i missed that ..