Odot

[MagzOK]

Yeah, and the time to start planning is now. Secure the new ROW. Even if today they decided they wanted a highway there, it probably wouldn't even start construction for another 3-5 years and that'd be with bonds. ODOT really needs to get it's planning stuff in order. Once the whole north-north west side gets filled in along with North Edmond, this area will truly become a nightmare for traffic as no freeway is nearby. Honestly, they should have built a 4 lane highway here back in the 90's.

Well with Waterloo not a highway it's not even a blip on ODOT's map. The way they work is the localities approach ODOT with what they want along the local rights-of-way and that's how things get started. I remember about 10 years ago talking with some folks in-the-know about atleast getting Waterloo milled and overlayed which eventually happened, but I understand it was a nightmarish mess having Oklahoma and Logan counties working together on funding it, backing out of commitments, etc. They had approached ODOT with the standard 80/20 match (80%fed/20%local funds) where Okla/Logan were to split the 20% but it kept falling through. And that was just to mill and overlay. Logan county didn't want to pay equal amount to the Oklahoma county amount b/c they were too obsessed with the fact that there were more Oklahoma County residents that would utilize the road than Logan. Anyway, not to ramble, but apparently getting the two counties to work together is the problem and that's what will need to happen for anything to happen on Waterloo, with the exception of Waterloo's connections to highways.

Now that's not to say that the Planning Division at ODOT shouldn't have their 2025 vision (or whatever it is called this year) with an eye on some sort of northern loop....

[Plutonic Panda]

Well with Waterloo not a highway it's not even a blip on ODOT's map. The way they work is the localities approach ODOT with what they want along the local rights-of-way and that's how things get started. I remember about 10 years ago talking with some folks in-the-know about atleast getting Waterloo milled and overlayed which eventually happened, but I understand it was a nightmarish mess having Oklahoma and Logan counties working together on funding it, backing out of commitments, etc. They had approached ODOT with the standard 80/20 match (80%fed/20%local funds) where Okla/Logan were to split the 20% but it kept falling through. And that was just to mill and overlay. Logan county didn't want to pay equal amount to the Oklahoma county amount b/c they were too obsessed with the fact that there were more Oklahoma County residents that would utilize the road than Logan. Anyway, not to ramble, but apparently getting the two counties to work together is the problem and that's what will need to happen for anything to happen on Waterloo, with the exception of Waterloo's connections to highways.

Now that's not to say that the Planning Division at ODOT shouldn't have their 2025 vision (or whatever it is called this year) with an eye on some sort of northern loop....

I agree which is why I think it would be perfect if ODOT took it over. Hell, I wouldn't even mind seeing OTA take it over and make it a tolled highway with two lanes of service roads one way on each side.

But to me having a highway placed on county lines is always good because it takes the hassle of both counties having to work together which usually adds time for anything to get done and places that on ODOT.

Thought they do seem to be planning something in the distant future because I think they have budgeted several million new ROW as they plan on widening Portland to Covell to four lanes so they do plan on eventually expanding SH-74 into a limited access highway further north which is good news.

I do agree with you unfortunately it seems like ODOT currently has no interest in Waterloo, at least publicly. They even plan on redoing the Waterloo interchange and widening Waterloo a half mile each way to four lanes, so that alone spells to me they don't plan on this becoming a limited access highway anytime soon. :/

I messaged them awhile back about it and they told me told me ACOG had did some studies and determined it wasn't feasible at the current time.

[rte66man]

As stated upthread, ODOT doesn't have the resources to "plan" for roads that are not a part of the State highway system. Now, if someone were to get it designated as a State highway, you might see it show up on an 8-Year plan.

[Plutonic Panda]

ODOT is going to have a decision on which alternative they are going with by the end of this spring. I really, really hope they go with alternative 2.

Yes, I do like the flyovers, but it is only something like 10 million more than the other design and will allow for much smoother flowing traffic because one reason I hate that some left lane hoggers have an excuse for is the number of exits and entries on the left sides of the highways. I think that needs to stop completely. The left lane should be for passing only and it's hard for the to happen when you have people entering and exiting the highway there.

This would allow for all exits and entries to be on the right side of the highway(figuratively and literally).

[Plutonic Panda]

Alternative 1

Just for a reminder, here is alt. 1

It's basically an exact rebuild of the current config. with more lanes added on the ramps and and the service roads still reworked.

[baralheia]

Yeah, I definitely think Alternative 2 is the better option for not that much more money. I hope ODOT can afford to do Alt 2!

[HangryHippo]

ODOT shouldn't be allowed to build anything else until they fix the major interchanges in OKC and Tulsa that are still only two f*cking lanes and have left side exits.

[Plutonic Panda]

Good news for I-35 in North Edmond.

EDMOND — The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is asking for the public's input on a proposed highway interchange project.

The project would replace several bridges, widen Interstate 35 from four lanes to six and widen Waterloo Road from two lanes to five. The department said in a news release the changes are designed to help alleviate congestion at the I-35 and Waterloo interchange.

- Oklahoma transportation department seeks input on I-35 interchange | News OK

[Snowman]

While it may eventually need more capacity, that area is nowhere near the worst congestion in the metro

[Plutonic Panda]

I agree with that. It still needs to be widened though and am glad to see the interchanges being replaced. It will be nice to see Danforth, Coffee Creek, and Sorgum Mill have access to I-35. I do wonder if they are going to include service roads with this widened as Edmond is looking as the feasibility of making the service roads one way, and re-configuring the intersections with the on/off ramps. Now would be the time to start it.

[Just the facts]

ODOT shouldn't be allowed to build anything else until they fix the major interchanges in OKC and Tulsa that are still only two f*cking lanes and have left side exits.

There is a national movement to ban all new construction until all the existing stuff is fixed.

[TheTravellers]

There is a national movement to ban all new construction until all the existing stuff is fixed.

Was reading an article today that said our nation's deferred infrastructure maintenance will cost approximately $3.something TRILLION to fix.

[Plutonic Panda]

Here is the information regarding the widening of I-35 in North Edmond.

Press Releases
Friday, January 15, 2016

ODOT seeks public input Jan. 28 on future I-35 and Waterloo Rd. interchange

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will present a public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 28, to provide information and gather public input on a future project to replace several bridges and widen I-35 from four to six lanes and to widen Waterloo Road from two to five lanes. The project is designed to help alleviate congestion and delays at the interchange.

The meeting will include presentation of detailed information about the proposed project and opportunities for the public to ask questions and give feedback about a new configuration for the interchange and improvements to Waterloo Rd. After the public input period ends Feb. 11, ODOT will conduct environmental studies and prepare design plans before construction can begin. The construction project is scheduled in ODOT’s Eight-Year Construction Work plan for Federal Fiscal Year 2021.

I-35 and Waterloo Rd. Public Meeting

Thursday, Jan. 28

6 p.m.

Waterloo Road Baptist Church

3100 E. Waterloo Rd.

Edmond

- Oklahoma Department of Transportation

[Plutonic Panda]

This is pretty cool.

https://www.ok.gov/odot/Doing_Busine...Program_(TAP)/

[rte66man]

Define "build anything else". Does that mean all-new ROW or improving existing roads in non-metropolitan areas?

"Major" interchanges in OKC (from NW clockwise around the Metro):
Dead Man's Curve (I-44 and OK74) - no immediate plans to improve
Broadway Ext Clusterf*** - I235/I44 - under construction for the next 10 years
Adventure District (I35/I44 as mentioned upthread).
Fort Smith junction - already fixed.
Dallas junction - under construction.
Crossroads - scheduled improvements.
Amarillo junction - really needs help. Crumbling bridges and all those left exits.

You could make an argument that the Amarillo junction should be a higher priority than the Adventure District; but the reality is many of the bridges in the latter are seriously deficient. It would be a true waste to rebuild them without addressing the problems.

[Just the facts]

'build anything else' means no new capacity. Fix current capacity first. That means no new downtown boulevard and no widening projects. If a bridge needs to be replaced, replace it with a bridge designed for the same capacity.

If your roof is falling in you don't say we might as well add a game room while we are at it - lest we have to build a roof extension later, when your bathroom is still flooding the basement.

[Scott5114]

One thing that bothers me about ODOT is the way that their field divisions are split up.


Oklahoma County falls in Division 4, which is administered out of...Perry. Meanwhile, Cleveland County falls in Division 3, which is based in Ada! No wonder OKC seems to be low on ODOT's priorities list sometimes, they don't even have a field office here!

It makes no sense to me to have the OKC metro split up into two different regions like this. I would have to think it would make metro-wide planning more difficult having the southern suburbs in a different region (though maybe planning is done under a different bureaucratic division than maintenance). I'd like to see a Division 9 created that includes at least Oklahoma, Cleveland, Canadian, and maybe McClain counties, with a field office in OKC.

[MagzOK]

There is a Division 4 Annex for the metro area that has it's own head engineer, so in a sense it does have it's own division. And anyone who thinks OKC gets no attention is mistaken. Money is broken out in the divisions and OKC's I-40 project took the majority of the division's new construction funds plus some.

[Scott5114]

There is a Division 4 Annex for the metro area that has it's own head engineer, so in a sense it does have it's own division. And anyone who thinks OKC gets no attention is mistaken. Money is broken out in the divisions and OKC's I-40 project took the majority of the division's new construction funds plus some.

Okay, that does help matters, I'm sure; I wasn't aware of that since I'm pretty sure it wasn't mentioned or wasn't very prominent on their old website (haven't really looked at it since they redesigned it recently). Do you know if this annex includes Cleveland County as well? Splitting the divisions at S.E. 89th Street never made any sense to me.

[Plutonic Panda]

ODOT has proposed a diverging diamond interchange for Waterloo. Very cool to see! I'll try and post images when I get time unless someone else does it.

https://www.ok.gov/odot/Programs_and.../20160128.html

[Plutonic Panda]

Here is the information packet, too. It appears they are leaning towards the Diverging Diamond which is good to see.

http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/meeti...esentation.pdf

[Plutonic Panda]

Here is a good video showing what it is like to drive through a ddi

[d-usa]

I drove through one of those in Missouri a couple years back. I remember driving up to it thinking "what the hell, this doesn't make any sense, what is happening" and I wasn't even halfway through when I switched to "this makes total sense and works great".

[Plutonic Panda]

Oklahoma road officials consider diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 35, Waterloo Road | News OK

[rte66man]

'build anything else' means no new capacity. Fix current capacity first. That means no new downtown boulevard and no widening projects. If a bridge needs to be replaced, replace it with a bridge designed for the same capacity.

If your roof is falling in you don't say we might as well add a game room while we are at it - lest we have to build a roof extension later, when your bathroom is still flooding the basement.

Comparing a road to a house is silly (unless your family will double in size in the next 5 years). It is ridiculous to tell ODOT to rebuild a bridge to the same capacity IF added capacity can be added at minimal incremental cost. For example, if the Amarillo junction bridges on I40 were to be rebuilt, I would hope ODOT had the sense to expand the bridges to carry a minimum of 3 lanes in each direction. Zero right of way cost so the added capacity is incrementally slight. Same went for the I40 rebuild in Yukon. That pavement has to be replaced all the way down to the ground. It would have been extremely short sighted not to increase capacity as the substandard bridges (Mustang Rd and Garth Brooks Blvd) had to be replaced.

You've already lost the boulevard battle since over 50% is already completed. What widening projects should be deleted? Where would you spend the money saved?