I-35 Widening Between OKC Metro and TX State Line

[Roger S]

Well, I am proud to say I never really noticed the change

It's just always amused me that the first thing you see crossing the river is the vice that's not legal in the other state.

[MagzOK]

Yes Texas is going to take out that nasty curve and BNSF is going to have a realigned rail corridor for almost 7 miles through there.

https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdo...fact-sheet.pdf

[Bellaboo]

They should widen I-35 from Riverwind to I-40 to 8 lanes...seriously.

Not sure they would need to when the turnpike extension to Purcell is complete.

[warreng88]

It's just always amused me that the first thing you see crossing the river is the vice that's not legal in the other state.

Yep, I always said the Porn store is the TX welcome center and Winstar is the OK welcome center...

[Roger S]

Yep, I always said the Porn store is the TX welcome center and Winstar is the OK welcome center...

And now that we have dispensaries on our side as well.... I'm just waiting for Texas to legalize prostitution, in response, so someone can open The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas there.

[jn1780]

Yep, I always said the Porn store is the TX welcome center and Winstar is the OK welcome center...

I'm sure its more like a Patricia's or Christie's Toy box these days. Otherwise, I'm not sure how they out lasted Blockbuster video. Lol

[Plutonic Panda]

Not sure they would need to when the turnpike extension to Purcell is complete.

It will due to shunpiking. They need 8-12 lanes in some areas even if they have to be HOT lanes.

[HOT ROD]

when they redo the I-35 crosstown bridges, they should make the left lane HOV into the city on the NB bridge with OKC Boulevard as the dedicated exit. That would be sick, having a downtown HOV exit thereby giving legitimacy to the still freeway configuration of OKC Blvd. Just imagine coming into the city and seeing the big overhead sign for 'I-40Bus Downtown Oklahoma City (HOV)', lanes and left exit, along with the I-40W Amarillo/I-40E Ft Smith/I-35N Wichita/Tulsa and I-235N Edmond existing signs. Sick! Truly the 'Crossroads of America' junction.

Also add HOV lanes to EB I-40E into the city at OKC Blvd.

SB I-235 into the city at OKC Blvd could remain all vehicles. I don't think we'd really need anymore HOV lanes/exits except those two, which are left exits anyway.

[rte66man]

Yes Texas is going to take out that nasty curve and BNSF is going to have a realigned rail corridor for almost 7 miles through there.

https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdo...fact-sheet.pdf

Uh, did you see the date on that doc? It is 9 years old. There is zero chance of a BNSF realignment.

[Plutonic Panda]

Uh, did you see the date on that doc? It is 9 years old. There is zero chance of a BNSF realignment.

I am not sure what exactly TxDOT's plans are but they are planning a huge expansion for this area for the OK/TX line to Denton to have an ultimate buildout of 8 lanes. Don't know anything about rai alignments. I presume TxDOT knows ODOT doesn't have the money and is throwing OK a bone with this.

[dwellsokc]

Engineering takes time. Here's a snippet from P1 of the schematic... https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-...-schematic.pdf

[MagzOK]

Uh, did you see the date on that doc? It is 9 years old. There is zero chance of a BNSF realignment.

Thanks, but how do you know there is zero chance?

[BoulderSooner]

Uh, did you see the date on that doc? It is 9 years old. There is zero chance of a BNSF realignment.

from pg 86 of this https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-...ng-summary.pdf which is from 2020

An agreement could not be reached between TxDOT and BNSF; therefore, the
BNSF rail alignment alternative has been removed from the proposed project
and the all proposed roadway design improvements will be included within the
existing: ROW within the Valley View area

[bombermwc]

Why is the rail alignment even a concern? What am I missing here? It seems like it's pretty far away to have anything to do with the bridge. And yeah, rail companies are the absolute worst. They're like the single child house kid that won't share their toys and doesn't want anyone telling them anything about anything. Plug their ears lalalalalalalalala. I really wish we could have had that crossing law pass at a federal level. It's a shame the state law couldn't take effect because of their lobby at the federal level. It's ridiculous to have miles long trains blocking crossings in an urban area at this age. And for hours at a time...daily.

Anyway, i dont understand why what they appear to be doing above, wasn't the plan all along. Rip out that hill and make the curve less sharp. The bridge over the river ends up curving some, but the turn itself is a lot less roller coaster. You take that thing at 80mph today and it's almost like going down the log flume sometimes. There is a homeowner up there in that area, but i do not know how much of that land is theirs vs the state's. And honestly, the state could take the land needed if the owner doesn't cooperate. I don't see Austin really paying much attention to one land owner on 35 not willing to give up a couple hundred feet of unusable hillside.

[BoulderSooner]

Why is the rail alignment even a concern? What am I missing here? It seems like it's pretty far away to have anything to do with the bridge. And yeah, rail companies are the absolute worst. They're like the single child house kid that won't share their toys and doesn't want anyone telling them anything about anything. Plug their ears lalalalalalalalala. I really wish we could have had that crossing law pass at a federal level. It's a shame the state law couldn't take effect because of their lobby at the federal level. It's ridiculous to have miles long trains blocking crossings in an urban area at this age. And for hours at a time...daily.

Anyway, i dont understand why what they appear to be doing above, wasn't the plan all along. Rip out that hill and make the curve less sharp. The bridge over the river ends up curving some, but the turn itself is a lot less roller coaster. You take that thing at 80mph today and it's almost like going down the log flume sometimes. There is a homeowner up there in that area, but i do not know how much of that land is theirs vs the state's. And honestly, the state could take the land needed if the owner doesn't cooperate. I don't see Austin really paying much attention to one land owner on 35 not willing to give up a couple hundred feet of unusable hillside.

they have federal laws on their side .. that are older then our state

[MagzOK]

from pg 86 of this https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-...ng-summary.pdf which is from 2020

This is a productive, non-snarky comment. I appreciate the information.

[GaryOKC6]

The areas of I-35 that have already been widened look great, I drove through yesterday, Davis and Pauls Valley when heading north on I-35. It will be a bit of a headache but nice when finished.

[bombermwc]

they have federal laws on their side .. that are older then our state

This is on the TX side. There isn't an issue that I can see anywhere on the OK side.

[bombermwc]

I drove by this today and the TX is definintely moving along. LOTS of dirt being pulled off that hill on the east side to start leveling it out for the curve.

Too bad Gainsville is still a complete mess years and years after that started.