I-35/I-44 Interchange

[bombermwc]

the 63rd street bridges needed to be replaced ... the fly over bridge needed to be replaced .....

those things NEEDED to happen .. see presentation .. i just linked

Again, WHY?

A lot of what they put in that presentation, is vague and doesn't hold water. They mention Deep Fork in this. That bridge had already been replaced! And dont' tell me we're going to spend all these millions just to correct a height deficiency on a 2 lane road underneath it. That's BS. Same logic for the 40mph curves? Have you ever felt like you wanted to take a Dallas 5 high flyover at 85 mph? As for the bridges, if they were so bad off, then why do all this instead of what we did on 44 near Penn Square? Those bridges were far worse off in terms of criticality. We also didn't have to move the Classen or NWXway exits to the right to do that bridge work (again, right hand exits are NOT required....only recommended).

My point is, all of this for this interchange is a collection of reasons someone put together to make the story full enough to get it done. But there were alternatives that would have been a lot cheaper to get all of this done. They give alternatives and a matrix, but i would say I simply disagree with their evaluation of the immediate need of those and whether some of them are insufficient.

I'm beating a dead horse that's already passed the finish line so i guess there's no point in continuing the conversation. The project is on the last end at this point. The overall thing I'm trying to say here is that with all the other projects ODOT has that are in DESPERATE need, this was not one of them. That money could have gone a long way to getting some other projects completed.

[BoulderSooner]

Again, WHY?

A lot of what they put in that presentation, is vague and doesn't hold water. They mention Deep Fork in this. That bridge had already been replaced! And dont' tell me we're going to spend all these millions just to correct a height deficiency on a 2 lane road underneath it. That's BS. Same logic for the 40mph curves? Have you ever felt like you wanted to take a Dallas 5 high flyover at 85 mph? As for the bridges, if they were so bad off, then why do all this instead of what we did on 44 near Penn Square? Those bridges were far worse off in terms of criticality. We also didn't have to move the Classen or NWXway exits to the right to do that bridge work (again, right hand exits are NOT required....only recommended).

My point is, all of this for this interchange is a collection of reasons someone put together to make the story full enough to get it done. But there were alternatives that would have been a lot cheaper to get all of this done. They give alternatives and a matrix, but i would say I simply disagree with their evaluation of the immediate need of those and whether some of them are insufficient.

I'm beating a dead horse that's already passed the finish line so i guess there's no point in continuing the conversation. The project is on the last end at this point. The overall thing I'm trying to say here is that with all the other projects ODOT has that are in DESPERATE need, this was not one of them. That money could have gone a long way to getting some other projects completed.

Over Deep Fork (Structural Deficient) * 
Over NE 63rd Street (At-Risk) 
NB I-35 to WB I-44 (Fracture Critical)

also this project needed to be done to because of the future I35 expansion (both north and south of this interchange ) and the 44 expansion west of this interchange ..

[soonergooner]

The old style fracture critical will all need to be replaced eventually. I personally can't envision any way to have added extra lanes to I35 much less 44. This intersection has been a pinch point for decades. I am personally happy to see the progress in this area.

[mugofbeer]

Over Deep Fork (Structural Deficient) * 
Over NE 63rd Street (At-Risk) 
NB I-35 to WB I-44 (Fracture Critical)

also this project needed to be done to because of the future I35 expansion (both north and south of this interchange ) and the 44 expansion west of this interchange ..

I think you can't interpret that any other way but DESPERATE. I agree that capacity-wise, there are projects in more need but risking a bridge failure takes priority.

[warreng88]

It was two lanes on the bridges over 63rd Street. Instead of trying to widen the bridge to account for widening to six lanes, they opted to rebuild the bridges (structural deficient, etc) as they are going to expand to 6-8 lanes all the way from Edmond to south of Norman. Like the 235/44/77 interchange, it bottlenecks there it will be smoother going through. Also, that right hand exit NB to WB is better than a left exit.

[jn1780]

I think you can't interpret that any other way but DESPERATE. I agree that capacity-wise, there are projects in more need but risking a bridge failure takes priority.

ODOT actually replaces a few bridges instead of slapping band aids on them and it gets accused of doing pork projects. go figure.

Actually, the whole effort to replace All the structurally deficient bridges in Oklahoma in the last 10 years probably had a bigger impact on the I-240 and I-35 interchange than this one interchange. Which this is what all this is about, an interchange on someone's side of town.

I live on the south side of town now, so I'm looking forward to the new I-240 and and I-35 interchange also.

[jn1780]

It was two lanes on the bridges over 63rd Street. Instead of trying to widen the bridge to account for widening to six lanes, they opted to rebuild the bridges (structural deficient, etc) as they are going to expand to 6-8 lanes all the way from Edmond to south of Norman. Like the 235/44/77 interchange, it bottlenecks there it will be smoother going through. Also, that right hand exit NB to WB is better than a left exit.

Yeah, there was no widening those bridges. They are deficient bridges.

[soonergooner]

So I guess they have abandoned the original NB I 35 bridge over NW 63rd. Well on the way to demoing(?) the old abutments for NB I 35 to WB I 44. Even put some sod down...

[BoulderSooner]

Again, WHY?

A lot of what they put in that presentation, is vague and doesn't hold water. They mention Deep Fork in this. That bridge had already been replaced! And dont' tell me we're going to spend all these millions just to correct a height deficiency on a 2 lane road underneath it. That's BS. Same logic for the 40mph curves? Have you ever felt like you wanted to take a Dallas 5 high flyover at 85 mph? As for the bridges, if they were so bad off, then why do all this instead of what we did on 44 near Penn Square? Those bridges were far worse off in terms of criticality. We also didn't have to move the Classen or NWXway exits to the right to do that bridge work (again, right hand exits are NOT required....only recommended).

My point is, all of this for this interchange is a collection of reasons someone put together to make the story full enough to get it done. But there were alternatives that would have been a lot cheaper to get all of this done. They give alternatives and a matrix, but i would say I simply disagree with their evaluation of the immediate need of those and whether some of them are insufficient.

I'm beating a dead horse that's already passed the finish line so i guess there's no point in continuing the conversation. The project is on the last end at this point. The overall thing I'm trying to say here is that with all the other projects ODOT has that are in DESPERATE need, this was not one of them. That money could have gone a long way to getting some other projects completed.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...1d5d8e02&ei=25

once again .. this wasn't complicated

[bombermwc]

Well let's not get hyperbolic. Bridges like this have this happen sometimes. It in itself doesn't make it useless. Bridges over waterways like rivers have holes that pop up all the time. It's just a matter of the vibration and the concrete rubbing. Yes they need to fix it immediately. But that doesn't deem the bridge ready to doze. It's rare that I've been able to go over a bridge over the Mississippi River over the course of my life that one of them hasn't had a lane closed for this very thing. And those same bridges have been there for at least 60 years for sure.

It's the media's job to make as big a deal as possible to make you think everything is bigger than it is. So I would caution and just read that as a traffic alert. They actually did very little to blow that one out of proportion because the local news teams kept it to just a traffic alert too. Had I-35 been 3 lanes in both directions (which the bridge can accommodate), then even the alert wouldn't have made the news.

[citywokchinesefood]

Well let's not get hyperbolic. Bridges like this have this happen sometimes. It in itself doesn't make it useless. Bridges over waterways like rivers have holes that pop up all the time. It's just a matter of the vibration and the concrete rubbing. Yes they need to fix it immediately. But that doesn't deem the bridge ready to doze. It's rare that I've been able to go over a bridge over the Mississippi River over the course of my life that one of them hasn't had a lane closed for this very thing. And those same bridges have been there for at least 60 years for sure.

It's the media's job to make as big a deal as possible to make you think everything is bigger than it is. So I would caution and just read that as a traffic alert. They actually did very little to blow that one out of proportion because the local news teams kept it to just a traffic alert too. Had I-35 been 3 lanes in both directions (which the bridge can accommodate), then even the alert wouldn't have made the news.

But our favorite thing to do here it to get hyperbolic. Boo this man!

[mugofbeer]

Well let's not get hyperbolic. Bridges like this have this happen sometimes. It in itself doesn't make it useless. Bridges over waterways like rivers have holes that pop up all the time. It's just a matter of the vibration and the concrete rubbing. Yes they need to fix it immediately. But that doesn't deem the bridge ready to doze. It's rare that I've been able to go over a bridge over the Mississippi River over the course of my life that one of them hasn't had a lane closed for this very thing. And those same bridges have been there for at least 60 years for sure.

It's the media's job to make as big a deal as possible to make you think everything is bigger than it is. So I would caution and just read that as a traffic alert. They actually did very little to blow that one out of proportion because the local news teams kept it to just a traffic alert too. Had I-35 been 3 lanes in both directions (which the bridge can accommodate), then even the alert wouldn't have made the news.

Yeah, they're going to be a little quicker to replace a bridge over the Deep Fork than the Mississippi. Lol

[BoulderSooner]

Yeah, they're going to be a little quicker to replace a bridge over the Deep Fork than the Mississippi. Lol

yep cost is just a little bit different .....

[Snowman]

Well let's not get hyperbolic. Bridges like this have this happen sometimes. It in itself doesn't make it useless. Bridges over waterways like rivers have holes that pop up all the time. It's just a matter of the vibration and the concrete rubbing. Yes they need to fix it immediately. But that doesn't deem the bridge ready to doze. It's rare that I've been able to go over a bridge over the Mississippi River over the course of my life that one of them hasn't had a lane closed for this very thing. And those same bridges have been there for at least 60 years for sure.

It's the media's job to make as big a deal as possible to make you think everything is bigger than it is. So I would caution and just read that as a traffic alert. They actually did very little to blow that one out of proportion because the local news teams kept it to just a traffic alert too. Had I-35 been 3 lanes in both directions (which the bridge can accommodate), then even the alert wouldn't have made the news.

Yeah, even just thinking back to the old crosstown, it seemed like they had fixed hundreds of these on it in the last couple decades before it was replaced.

[bombermwc]

That's my point...and i realize im beating a dead horse that's already been shot and moved to the site of the road. I just very much disagree with ODOT's evaluation of the immediacy of this project compared to others.

On the Tulsa thread, the US77-I-44 interchange is a good example of how the money spent on this project, could have helped get that one more along the way for completion. It really does have a need that's present now. And we have Tulsa Bridge-henge because of the way they built what they did, without the rest of the money. And we're years away from that being done now because funds are being spent elsewhere.

I'm not going to promise to shut up on this because it think it's screams of pork barrel for someone that pushed it through for their own desires. But i'll try to keep the complaining to a minimum. It's happened and i'll have to get over it.

[jn1780]

There would be even more complaining if ODOT didn't throw Tulsa a bone and at least get the project started. Just like there would be even more complaining if they waited for all the I-240/I-35 money to come in. Ideally, it would be nice if ODOT could issue bonds to do all these projects at one time, but that's not how it works in this state.

A bad bridge deck is different than structural issues with the beams and piers. You can only put off replacement for so long. The state set out to replace all the structurally deficient bridges and its getting close to accomplishing that goal.

[DowntownMan]

Traffic shifted last night. South bound 35 has moved to the new northbound bridge. The old southbound bridge can now be torn down and rebuilt which is the last piece to finishing this project in this phase.

[soonergooner]

Ran by yesterday and glad the eb 44 to sb 35 merge lane so improved. They have already demoed the old deck and I recon they should have the old bridge removed this week.