The New I-40 (Construction Updates)

[jn1780]

From ODOT

[Bellaboo]

Pretty cool video.

[corpsman]

Amen to that

I drive through five days a week and the off ramps are almost bare now that people understand the exits. It is so much safer than the old crosstown. I can't wait for the move over to the new west bound road.

[OKCisOK4me]

Pretty cool video.

Amen to that!

[Pete]

The good news about the steel from the old crosstown being repurposed is that it means that old rusting behemoth will come down rather quickly. For once, ODOT will have something to motivate them rather than their own, ever-changing 'deadlines' that never come close to being met.

I almost wish there were more issues with the two eastbound exits as that would be a big motivator to get the new boulevard done. Without that, I'm sure the schedule will crawl along for years.

[BrettM2]

I almost wish there were more issues with the two eastbound exits as that would be a big motivator to get the new boulevard done. Without that, I'm sure the schedule will crawl along for years.

We'll have to hope that the City can keep them focused and on task. With the Boulevard being a major component of C2S and downtown in general, I would hope that city leaders can keep some amount of pressure on ODOT so that it doesn't slip. May be wishful thinking, but I'm feeling dreamy...

[SoonerBoy18]

Is the old i-40 cross town completley demolished yet?

[jn1780]

Is the old i-40 cross town completley demolished yet?

No, the westbound lanes haven't even been switched over yet. They only started demolishing a small stretch of eastbound bridge leading to the approach and the approach itself because its in the way of the onramp coming from northbound and southbound I-235.

[OKCNDN]

Is the old i-40 cross town completley demolished yet?

No, westbound lanes are still being utilized by westbound traffic. The move for the westbound lanes will happen soon though.

[king183]

Last week I said it looked like they had torn up part of the new concrete for the eastern ramp for westbound traffic because there was a large bump in the middle of it (they opened that ramp very briefly a few weeks ago, then posted a bump warning sign, and then switched back to the old ramp). Anyway, I'm not sure if they tore up the new concrete because of the bump or for some other reason, but they've now replaced it. Unfortunately, it again looks as if there is going to be the same large bump.

You can tell just looking at it that the ramp has a sudden change in the angle of decline. I predict some problems are going to arise over it unless something is fixed prior to the opening of the wesbound lanes.

Maybe someone can look at it next time they drive by and see if I'm just imagining it.

[jn1780]

Last week I said it looked like they had torn up part of the new concrete for the eastern ramp for westbound traffic because there was a large bump in the middle of it (they opened that ramp very briefly a few weeks ago, then posted a bump warning sign, and then switched back to the old ramp). Anyway, I'm not sure if they tore up the new concrete because of the bump or for some other reason, but they've now replaced it. Unfortunately, it again looks as if there is going to be the same large bump.

You can tell just looking at it that the ramp has a sudden change in the angle of decline. I predict some problems are going to arise over it unless something is fixed prior to the opening of the wesbound lanes.

Maybe someone can look at it next time they drive by and see if I'm just imagining it.

Their changing it back tonight. So I guess we will see how bad the bump is tomorrow morning.

I-35 ramp to I-40 closes tonight
The northbound I-35 off-ramp to westbound I-40 will be closed from 8 p.m. to midnight Monday as part of
Crosstown construction. Drivers should expect delays and use I-240 or I-44 as an alternate route

I think Robinson may be the primary reason westbound is being held up. Without Robinson there are zero access points to eastern and central downtown. Well, without having to go north on I-235 anyway. That's a hard concept for some people. lol

[Larry OKC]

Out of curiosity, are the funds already appropriated? If so, would more time until completion give the city more time to make improvements or modifications to the boulevard?

It depends on what you mean by "appropriated". Will try to locate it but in the Oklahoman that stated that even though it is finally on ODOT's 8 year plan, they actual funding for the Boulevard isn't expected to be in-hand until a couple of years AFTER it is currently scheduled to be completed. And that is based on anticipated revenue increase that may/may not materialize.

ON EDIT: here is the article:
http://newsok.com/downtown-boulevard...adlines_widget

Downtown boulevard included in Oklahoma's transportation plan (Oklahoman, 8/30/10)

...Unlike the highway relocation, the boulevard wasn't funded in the state Transportation Department's eight-year work plan — until now.

Officials recently announced the boulevard, expected to cost about $80 million, has been funded. Mayor Mick Cornett said it gives the city reason to be optimistic that the boulevard can be finished as planned in 2014.
...
State Transportation Department Director Gary Ridley said the state was able to add the boulevard to plans partly because of additional funding expected from the state budget beginning in 2016, ...

[Larry OKC]

Not sure about the safer claim as in just the past 2 working days I have encountered more traffic dead-stops in all 3 lanes due to accidents (almost causing additional accidents) on the new than I ever did on the old. this was during morning rush-hour @ 7:30. Both were in the Agnew/Penn exit area. Not sure the reason for the accidents?

[OKCisOK4me]

Not sure about the safer claim as in just the past 2 working days I have encountered more traffic dead-stops in all 3 lanes due to accidents on the new than I ever did on the old. this was during morning rush-hour @ 7:30. Both were in the Agnew/Penn exit area. Not sure the reason for the accidents?

People not paying attention to the people trying to pay attention...is usually the cause.

[bombermwc]

While everyone still gets used to the new flow, i'm sure it will be an issue. I've yet to run into stop and go traffic on the new road though. And i used to have that every day in rush hour.

[Snowman]

Is the old i-40 cross town completley demolished yet?

That is expected to take like eight months

[king183]

Their changing it back tonight. So I guess we will see how bad the bump is tomorrow morning.

Just drove it myself. It's not nearly as bad as I thought, so I guess I was imagining it. You can definitely notice the sudden angle change if you're paying attention, but it isn't anything major and shouldn't cause problems.

[Popsy]

It depends on what you mean by "appropriated". Will try to locate it but in the Oklahoman that stated that even though it is finally on ODOT's 8 year plan, they actual funding for the Boulevard isn't expected to be in-hand until a couple of years AFTER it is currently scheduled to be completed. And that is based on anticipated revenue increase that may/may not materialize.

ON EDIT: here is the article:
http://newsok.com/downtown-boulevard...adlines_widget

Downtown boulevard included in Oklahoma's transportation plan (Oklahoman, 8/30/10)

Larry, the article you referenced clearly states the boulevard is funded. The reference to additional appropriations by the state in 2016 indicates that the state delayed a project or projects to enable funding of the boulevard now.

[Larry OKC]

Maybe that is what they meant, but that isn't the way it reads. Yes it does say it is funded but then goes on in the apparent contradiction...guess it all depends on the definition of "funded" or "appropriated". The reason why I am reading it the way i am is the state has a horrible habit of spending money based entirely on projected revenues. If you or I were to do it, it would be akin to writing a "hot check" and one could be in some trouble for doing so. Something that they can't seem to get quite right (in either direction). One year they were something like a billion dollars ahead of the forecasts and other years multi-hundreds of millions below the forecasts. Year-to-year projections are notoriously hard to pin down. But long-term ones seem to be easier (see the City's excellent track record with projecting MAPS revenues over the long-term). Financial events go thru cycles and they tend to even out over the long-term. Where the City got into trouble with the Arena improvement tax shortfall was strictly bad timing and the relative short duration (15 months).

[Larry OKC]

I do like the much longer Penn off ramp and one can see the Stockyards Arch/neon sign easily from the new I-40 before even taking the Agnew exit.

If having exits in close proximity is really a safety issue, why didn't they eliminate other exits? I noticed this morning that the Agnew and Penn exit are a 1/4 mile (mol) apart which seems fairly close as it is but throw into the mix there is going to be a Boulevard exit in between the two?

[ljbab728]

I still don't understand all of the fuss other than that some people had to adjust their driving patterns a bit. We lost the Walker exit and substituted Shields for Robinson with Shields able to handle a larger volume than Robinson. I suspect that a year from now no one will even think about it being a problem.

[Snowman]

I do like the much longer Penn off ramp and one can see the Stockyards Arch/neon sign easily from the new I-40 before even taking the Agnew exit.

If having exits in close proximity is really a safety issue, why didn't they eliminate other exits? I noticed this morning that the Agnew and Penn exit are a 1/4 mile (mol) apart which seems fairly close as it is but throw into the mix there is going to be a Boulevard exit in between the two?

Agnue and Penn do not have full on/off ramp pairs, there is a 1/2 mile difference between the two, lower volume entering/exiting Agnue/Penn than at downtown and there is much more land allocated in that area to make ramps and distributor roads.

[oneforone]

I still don't understand all of the fuss other than that some people had to adjust their driving patterns a bit. We lost the Walker exit and substituted Shields for Robinson with Shields able to handle a larger volume than Robinson. I suspect that a year from now no one will even think about it being a problem.

The crazy thing about it is we are going to go through another cycle of it when the West side opens here in a couple of weeks. One genius writing in to the Oklahoman seems to think the old section can still be used.

http://newsok.com/article/3642005

[Bellaboo]

The crazy thing about it is we are going to go through another cycle of it when the West side opens here in a couple of weeks. One genius writing in to the Oklahoman seems to think the old section can still be used.

http://newsok.com/article/3642005

That person is outright stupid....what about all of the crumbling support coulmns that are failing.....(maybe they are just not informed of the entire situation with the crosstown)

[jn1780]

That person is outright stupid....what about all of the crumbling support coulmns that are failing.....(maybe they are just not informed of the entire situation with the crosstown)

Or the fact its an ugly elevated bridge that chokes off economic development south of it.