Douglas & I-40 Interchange

[bombermwc]

I do believe that you can eliminate or reduce shoulder widths for stretches no longer than a defined amount, and still be in compliance with interstate design standards. I am not sure of the exact length but I believe around 800-1000ft.

Heck yeah you can. Have you driven in Dallas or Houston?

[jn1780]

Maybe Tinker will be nice enough to give back a little chuck of land since they are getting a whole road. I'm not sure if they even like having an interstate right against their fence. The assumption is they won't give up anything, but it if its to the benefit of their workforce they make an exception for an interstate improvement project. The lots in question are just storage right now.

[bombermwc]

There is a little frontage road space on the Tinker side. With it being below grade, it does make the border a little more secure than say, Sooner Rd where the fence doesn't always even touch the grass LOL.

[USSOklahoma]

It is difficult to work in this area. I would almost guarantee that the shoulders will not be turned into a lane. That’s not something ODOT does anymore if they ever did. The goal is to get 8’ outside and 4’ inside on separated interstates all through the state so it would be counter productive to take away the shoulder especially in a high wear area like the two lane area along 29th. If an expansion comes to that area it won’t be for a long time and it would be with tinkers blessing and right now they don’t want it and we don’t need it. It would just allow more cars onto I-40 barreling towards an interchange that is overwhelmed already

[BoulderSooner]

Odot is not going to leave 2000 feet of 4 lane in a 30+ mile stretch from i35 well into the next county that will all be 6 lane

[Plutonic Panda]

Odot is not going to leave 2000 feet of 4 lane in a 30+ mile stretch from i35 well into the next county that will all be 6 lane

Agreed but this will likely be the last project they undertake for this corridor in this widening.

[5alive]

I'm curious if the areas you're writing about that narrow patch near the two water towers. Won't they need to be relocated at some point?

[USSOklahoma]

I'm curious if the areas you're writing about that narrow patch near the two water towers. Won't they need to be relocated at some point?

Yeah the area from about Midwest Blvd to the water towers. The towers will probably need to move further away and the few buildings might have to be modified but most likely just lose the road on the back side and be right up on the highway. Not saying it’s not getting expanded because it will. Eventually. But it will take a lot of creative engineering and SPUIs and that just means a lot of money and time

[BoulderSooner]

Yeah the area from about Midwest Blvd to the water towers. The towers will probably need to move further away and the few buildings might have to be modified but most likely just lose the road on the back side and be right up on the highway. Not saying it’s not getting expanded because it will. Eventually. But it will take a lot of creative engineering and SPUIs and that just means a lot of money and time

The 2000 feet in question doesn’t have any impact of an interchange. And has room for 6 lane with no shoulders currently

[bombermwc]

The 2000 feet in question doesn’t have any impact of an interchange. And has room for 6 lane with no shoulders currently

Right, dont confuse the SPUI with the area where the "squeeze" is. The squeeze is only a very short area right around those water towers at Midwest Blvd. Lots of different options. But it depends on if the Feds are willing to give anything up or if they will force the state/city to give up land for it. Given how Tinker is, i'm sure TInker will say that they wont give up anything.

Here's an EXTREMELY rough look at what i would see. Basically, Mathis Brothers potentially goes (depends on if they just use the side lot for parking...i think they can). Uhaul would have to toss their front building and maybe their indoor storage building. It's a shame because it means they have to . David Stanley might as well close. Cheddar's just loses some parking lot.


If Tinker is willing to give up some room, it makes things a little less impactful on the businesses. But i just dont see it happening. Honestly, Tinker has the room, but i dont see them cooperating to give up that shoulder space. I think they could add a wall or something and call it good, but that's me.

I dont see any way they would do this, but they COULD make this a stacked bridge for this short strip and just put Eastbound on top of Westbound on the existing footprint. Like I said, it's not gonna happen, but hey, they did it for the express lanes in Austin and Dallas for MUCH longer runs.

[BoulderSooner]

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...nterchange.pdf

[zefferoni]

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...nterchange.pdf

Is that going to be one of those Diverging Diamond interchanges, or am I seeing things?

[BoulderSooner]

Is that going to be one of those Diverging Diamond interchanges, or am I seeing things?

i think this one is a SPUI single point urban interchange ..

[Bellaboo]

There is one at Morgan and I-40 that was built several years ago. Traffic would back up a qtr mile on I-40 west bound to exit on Morgan. The SPUI corrected that situation.

Then Main St in Norman got one. I'm sure it alleviated traffic issues there. This will help Douglas immensely.

[Snowman]

There is one at Morgan and I-40 that was built several years ago. Traffic would back up a qtr mile on I-40 west bound to exit on Morgan. The SPUI corrected that situation.

Then Main St in Norman got one. I'm sure it alleviated traffic issues there. This will help Douglas immensely.

While the bridge deck is in need of maintenance, it is currently a full cloverleaf not a standard interchange, so still a downgrade on capacity it can handle.

[bombermwc]

So i think its in how you look at it. For this interchange, no there were no lights on either end of the interchange before, and now there will be one. So in that term, yes there will be a reduction in the N/S traffic that can flow. Simply putting a light there causes that.

However, what it also does, is prevent the crossing traffic that's a merge danger between offramp and onramp traffic. That's especially bad at Tinker shift change. So sacrificing that flow-through, i think adds other elements of safety that make up for it. It will cause some delays as now you can't go west bound on I40 from north bound Douglas (from Tinker) without stopping at that light that doesn't exist today. It's a bit of a bummer, but in what I've seen of those lights in Norman, they cycle pretty darned fast. Morgan has all that freight traffic, so i dont think that it's a fair comparison.

It also adds the benefit of simply giving the bridge over I-40 more room for more lanes. Squeezing the 6 in there was going to be a challenge. So it's an expensive way to do it, but it does it while eliminating that merge ramp traffic at the same time. Honestly, they didn't have many other options here given the traffic amount that happens in surges.

[jn1780]

The traffic flow is also going to be a lot different when Tinker closes Douglas.

[therhett17]

Not sure if this is the correct thread, but I'm curious... ODOT's master plan is to have I-40 widened to 6 lanes from the Shawnee exit all the way to downtown OKC. But what is their plan for widening that small stretch of I-40 between Douglas and Air Depot? It's 4 lanes currently and I see no way for them to widen it without Tinker giving up some land, which I don't see happening.

[BoulderSooner]

Not sure if this is the correct thread, but I'm curious... ODOT's master plan is to have I-40 widened to 6 lanes from the Shawnee exit all the way to downtown OKC. But what is their plan for widening that small stretch of I-40 between Douglas and Air Depot? It's 4 lanes currently and I see no way for them to widen it without Tinker giving up some land, which I don't see happening.

there is another thread on this somewhere but there is only a small area less then 2000ft long that is an issue .. from eaker gate/town center drive exits/onramps going east to the arnold st bridge ..

it is very likely that this small section would go 6 lane with limited shoulders ..

[jn1780]

I suspect they would just slightly shift SE 29th north a little bit. They could just ROW the Uhaul and car dealership and eliminate the curb cuts. No need for a center turning lane at that point. Reducing the brakedown widths is an option, but I doubt they would go this route.

[BoulderSooner]

I suspect they would just slightly shift SE 29th north a little bit. They could just ROW the Uhaul and car dealership and eliminate the curb cuts. No need for a center turning lane at that point. Reducing the brakedown widths is an option, but I doubt they would go this route.

what you are describing is a MASSIVE undertaking .. as I40 is well below grade in this section ..

[bombermwc]

what you are describing is a MASSIVE undertaking .. as I40 is well below grade in this section ..

Not really. It's just a small section that has the issue. That's the point of my images above. People tend to lump the entire I-40 stretch near 29th, into the same bucket. And it's not. It's only about 1/8 of a mile or less that has any real issue now. One little curve after the Towne Centre Drive exit, right at the water towers. It's only the width of those 2 businesses.

Remember as said above, the rail line is abandoned and doesn't even connect to anything any longer. It's been cut at the grade crossings in at least 3 places where the rails dont even connect to anywhere. That bridge can be removed. Next is the SPUI, which will take care of any issues at Douglas.

[Laramie]

I-40 Douglas Boulevard Interchange Reconstruction and Related Wideninghttps://www.odot.org/ok-gov-docs/PRO...%2016.docx.pdf

2
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The I-40 Douglas Boulevard Interchange Reconstruction and Related Widening Project (“I-40 Douglas
Project”) will widen 5.5 miles of vintage 1960s Interstate 40 (I-40) and reconstruct the I-40 and Douglas
Boulevard Interchange. This will provide access improvements to Tinker Air Force Base and the cities of
Oklahoma City, Midwest City, and Del City, as well as accommodate traffic flow throughout the
metropolitan area, state, and nation.

1.1. Project Request [UPDATED]
In view of the importance of the I-40 Douglas Project, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT)
is submitting this request for $73.3 million in critically needed FASTLANE funds for the $127.1 million I-40
Douglas Project. Over $4.9 million will be expended by the end of 2017, leaving $122.2 million in future
eligible project costs.

[Plutonic Panda]

Full closure scheduled to remove a bridge: https://kfor.com/news/local/full-i-4...for-may-19-22/

https://oklahoma.gov/odot/citizen/ne...-may-19-2.html

[bombermwc]

It's gonna be a real mess this weekend with all of I-40 between Choctaw Rd and I-35 being actually closed! 7:00pm Friday to 5:30am on Monday.

They're taking out one of the 2 lane bridges between Douglas and Midwest. Not the rail one, which I'm sure will come out later. This one is just west of Douglas and used to serve as a gate to Tinker but these days only serves as a path to an ramp to I40. It's the "replacement" for there not being a Midwest Blvd ramp. But sounds like it's going to be gone for good so you'll have to go either to Douglas or to MidAmerica/Industrial for access now.

The "fun" is only beginning. And it's gonna be a super mess. As if it wasn't fun enough while they worked on I-40 on the other side of MWC/DC (and they aren't technically done yet since the painting isn't complete).

I still question the need for the SPUI. With OKC hell bent on closing Douglas to through traffic, we're going to see a big reduction in traffic. I don't really see the logic for the future use, needing such a massive structure. But that's just me.