The New I-40 (Construction Updates)

[oneforone]

I drove it after the game, around 9:45 tonight....was a breeze, and seems a little smoother than the east bound. Had no problem, and it was a full 5 lanes until the last mile or so before the I-44 connection....my wife commented that it seems like a different city, in a positive way, a very good road now.

That will get better as soon as the Agnew overpass for Westbound is built. If they get started on in the next few weeks, we may just see open by the end of summer at the latest. I think if the weather is descent the whole project will be done before next summer minus a few cosmetic items.

[Snowman]

That will get better as soon as the Agnew overpass for Westbound is built. If they get started on in the next few weeks, we may just see open by the end of summer at the latest. I think if the weather is descent the whole project will be done before next summer minus a few cosmetic items.

It has been a while but I want to say it was being projected as six to eight months after moving traffic completely off they would be finished with the major pieces of i40.

[OKCisOK4me]

It has been a while but I want to say it was being projected as six to eight months after moving traffic completely off they would be finished with the major pieces of i40.

Yep, I looked at the bid letting page on ODOT and it was put out for 240 days or so.

[SoonerBoy18]

Can someone PLEASE take some pictures of the new i-40 westbound I dont live in Oklahoma City and I really want to see some updated shots every now and then

[Pete]

You can see a video here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/OklaDOT#p/u/0/CnQ1bTdnQ58

[OKCisOK4me]

I wish they'd do another aerial video shoot. I can't picture in my head, tie-in ramps from southbound and northbound 235 traffic. I know where they tie-in at but I can't see the ramps in my head.

[Pete]

This whole project has had me confused from the word go!

I still don't understand what is left to be done and what it will look like when finished. I guess the good news is that it will soon all be complete and it won't matter.

[OKCisOK4me]

I got an email from my ODOT guy, here's what it says:

"Now that traffic is switched, the work (WP 3.4) will start on the old westbound at the west end any day now. Additional work for the boulevard interchange is in WP 3.5, jp 17428(81), which was let in January and awarded earlier this month."



From what I understand Work Project 3.4 is the Westbound lanes of I-40 over Agnew that has yet to be built and then Work Project 3.5 will be dozing all of the old I40 to the north and building out the bridge connectors for the interchange and the rest of the access roads and ramps along the westbound lanes!

As far as the east side of the project goes, he didn't really specify any details. :-(

[jn1780]

East end won't take long at all once the crosstown is demolished over there. There's just the ramps and another lane or two for westbound.

I wonder how long it will take to update the camera and speed site? There's a lot of cameras and sensors along the new route. I guess their not live yet. The lights in the central and eastern span isn't even on yet.
http://www.oktraffic.org/

[Larry OKC]

Are you still going to be able to go north on I44/Lake Hefner Pkwy from I40 westbound?

If you can get on I-40 to begin with you can. Tried doing it Tuesday after work and the signage has "I-40 west" signs in 3 different locations on Penn headed south from NW 4th...
1) The old on-ramp is blocked (but signage is still there)
2) Reno
3) At the top of the Penn bridge where the signal light is

Taking the Penn bridge one dumps you at Agnew where you have to turn South (towards the Stockyards or North back to Reno and then left/west (as Snowman described earlier). As pointed out on the maps, the Agnew/Villa on-ramp won't exist until sometime next year (2013). That leaves you with going down Reno all the way to Portland before you can get on I-40 (which puts you past I-44/Lake Hefner Pkwy). What I tried Wednesday was driving from Penn back to Western and the additional shift south that the relocation takes by then. The extra time and distance traveled isn't worth the hassle. Will end up taking 10th and going across until/if they ever fix the situation. One thing that would help is if they are never going to have direct access to I-40 from Penn, they need to add the "To" sign indicating as much (would also be helpful if they mentioned it was 2 miles away).
Something like this:
To
I-40
2 miles
<--

If they aren't going to have the indirect access open for several months or longer, they need to eliminate that access point & signage completely until it is ready. Just confuses things doing it the way they are doing it now.

[OKCisOK4me]

You have to remember though, that that feeder road from Pennsylvania to Agnew will eventually go straight through and merge back in with I-40 West... You're just not thinking fourth demensionally!

Remember that in 2013 the road will go through, so when you punch your car up to 88mph, the road will be there...

[catch22]

You have to remember though, that that feeder road from Pennsylvania to Agnew will eventually go straight through and merge back in with I-40 West... You're just not thinking fourth demensionally!

Remember that in 2013 the road will go through, so when you punch your car up to 88mph, the road will be there...

Post of the day award!

[OKCisOK4me]

Post of the day award!

Thank you Catch-22, thank you :-) I had to go back and add the 2nd part, lol

[Larry OKC]

You have to remember though, that that feeder road from Pennsylvania to Agnew will eventually go straight through and merge back in with I-40 West... You're just not thinking fourth demensionally!

Remember that in 2013 the road will go through, so when you punch your car up to 88mph, the road will be there...

Marty McFly: Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

[OKCisOK4me]

Hey, if we have flying cars in 3 years (according to the date in BttF 2) we built a helluva highway for no reason! ;-)

[lasomeday]

Here you go!


http://moller.com/index.php?option=c...d=49&Itemid=57

[sophiesdad]

It was my understanding that the "new" I-40 would not have the billboard clutter that was present on the old route. Too my dismay while driving East a few days ago on the North side there was another unsightly billboard going up. Again I thought the city council banned these from being erected. If someone is up to date on this issue I would like it explained.

[Pete]

Now that traffic is completely off the old crosstown, it occurred to me that they have a massive liability issue until it's completely down.

There is really no way they can stop people from getting on it and you know skateboards and others are going to start congregating up there. At the same time, they have to be dismantling it so this is a tricky short-term situation.

I wonder if they are going to start dismantling at multiple locations, rather than just working from east to west.

[Pete]

It was my understanding that the "new" I-40 would not have the billboard clutter that was present on the old route. Too my dismay while driving East a few days ago on the North side there was another unsightly billboard going up. Again I thought the city council banned these from being erected. If someone is up to date on this issue I would like it explained.

Yes, this doesn't make sense.

You should try contacting your Councilperson.

[BrettM2]

Now that traffic is completely off the old crosstown, it occurred to me that they have a massive liability issue until it's completely down.

There is really no way they can stop people from getting on it and you know skateboards and others are going to start congregating up there. At the same time, they have to be dismantling it so this is a tricky short-term situation.

I wonder if they are going to start dismantling at multiple locations, rather than just working from east to west.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe they can just dismantle the on/off ramps while they work on the main body. Should keep anyone outside of the clinically insane from getting up there.

[Pete]

They will probably need the ramps for the demolition crews, though.

I hope that thing comes down quickly.

[BrettM2]

I was wondering that as I'm not a demolition expert. Other than weather, there is nothing stopping a quick removal.

They are only maintaining the upright steal beams for reuse in the counties, correct? Or are they also using some parts of the actual road way?

[Pete]

The concrete is just being smashed out but it does get recycled.

The time consuming part is literally unbolting the thousands and thousands of joints that tie all those steel trusses together.

At this point, there is nothing to stop them having crews all over the different sections but I doubt they will do it that way.

[jn1780]

Now that traffic is completely off the old crosstown, it occurred to me that they have a massive liability issue until it's completely down.

There is really no way they can stop people from getting on it and you know skateboards and others are going to start congregating up there. At the same time, they have to be dismantling it so this is a tricky short-term situation.

I wonder if they are going to start dismantling at multiple locations, rather than just working from east to west.

There are concrete barriers blocking the ramps and signs that say do not enter. I think their ok in covering their rear end. lol

[OKCisOK4me]

There are concrete barriers blocking the ramps and signs that say do not enter. I think their ok in covering their rear end. lol

I'm pretty sure a loitering skateboarder could squeeze through or hop over those barriers...which is what he was getting at.