I-235 / I-44 Interchange

[HangryHippo]

As I was driving towards downtown this morning, as I do every morning, I noticed that they had paved more asphalt on I-235. In the area that the new asphalt was put down, they hadn't swept any of the loose gravel and the vehicles in front of me were throwing it all over my car! I'm not talking about little tiny pieces of sand. I'm talking about good sized pieces of gravel. Did anyone else experience this? Very unprofessional of the paving company.

Pretty typical given the quality of road construction here in OKC, I'm sad to say. I've had it happen.

[OkiePoke]

As I was driving towards downtown this morning, as I do every morning, I noticed that they had paved more asphalt on I-235. In the area that the new asphalt was put down, they hadn't swept any of the loose gravel and the vehicles in front of me were throwing it all over my car! I'm not talking about little tiny pieces of sand. I'm talking about good sized pieces of gravel. Did anyone else experience this? Very unprofessional of the paving company.

Yup. I didn't feel too bad for the Lexus following too closely that was on his cell phone when I hit the patch of loose gravel, though.

[Anonymous.]

The resurfacing project finished ahead of schedule (nice bonus for the contractor). Making this stretch much more pleasant to drive on.

Next phase begins in January which includes the construction of the northbound 6 full lanes from 36th to just south of the interchange (current merge-point is 36th). And includes the demolition of 50th st bridge and replacement BNSF rail bridge.

[Plutonic Panda]

That is going to look crazy without the bridges for awhile. I hope some takes a lot of pictures.

[rte66man]

That is going to look crazy without the bridges for awhile. I hope some takes a lot of pictures.

You know I'll be documenting the whole shebang.

[Plutonic Panda]

You know I'll be documenting the whole shebang.

haha I figured. I'll be keeping a very close eye on this forum and AARoads. This will be very exciting to see see this transformation!

[catch22]

The resurfacing project finished ahead of schedule (nice bonus for the contractor). Making this stretch much more pleasant to drive on.

Next phase begins in January which includes the construction of the northbound 6 full lanes from 36th to just south of the interchange (current merge-point is 36th). And includes the demolition of 50th st bridge and replacement BNSF rail bridge.

Anyone who follows this more closely or knows the details know whether or not the replacement BNSF rail bridge will contain space for future tracks? I think it is 2 tracks right now, but would be nice if they planned for the future and made room for additional tracks.

[rte66man]

Anyone who follows this more closely or knows the details know whether or not the replacement BNSF rail bridge will contain space for future tracks? I think it is 2 tracks right now, but would be nice if they planned for the future and made room for additional tracks.

The plans do not call for extra track capacity. The I44 overpass only has room for one so it would also have to be expanded. So would the 63rd St overpass, etc. The cost to double track north of the 23rd St yard is beyond anything ODOT and/or BNSF can handle given greater needs elsewhere.

[baralheia]

It does not appear so, no - the rail bridge only appears to be wide enough for 1 track. Currently, the BNSF Red Rock Sub is single track from the north end of Nowers Yard (at approximately NW 42nd St) to near Britton (approx. NW 94th St). To my knowledge, BNSF does not currently have any plans to make the Red Rock Sub 2MT (2 main tracks); multiple sidings for passing trains exist over the Red Rock's length through the metro area, and current freight traffic volumes don't yet necessitate going 2MT.

[Pete]

[HangryHippo]

IMO, it is absolute horse**** that they're not putting in a flyover ramp from NB I-235 to WB I-44.

[BoulderSooner]

IMO, it is absolute horse**** that they're not putting in a flyover ramp from NB I-235 to WB I-44.

They are

[HangryHippo]

They are

I see a red cloverleaf loop there. Am I misreading the diagram?

[David]

North is to the right in that picture, west to the top of it.

[BoulderSooner]

North is the right side of this diagram.

So the flyovers are north 235 to west 44 in orange.
And east 44 to north 235/63rd street exit. Orange.

South 235 to east 44 will be a bigger cloverleaf but separated from the main north south bridge

And west 44 to south 235 will merge much better than previously

[David]

I'm looking forward to the two flyovers as I will probably use them a fair amount. Eventually.

[HangryHippo]

North is to the right in that picture, west to the top of it.

North is the right side of this diagram.

So the flyovers are north 235 to west 44 in orange.
And east 44 to north 235/63rd street exit. Orange.

South 235 to east 44 will be a bigger cloverleaf but separated from the main north south bridge

And west 44 to south 235 will merge much better than previously

My apologies. I withdraw my absurd outrage and will learn to read a diagram. Thanks to both of you for correcting me!

[TheTravellers]

So very glad we won't need to use 235 very much at all, if ever, due to where we moved to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So by the time it's done in 2022 or later, it will have needed to have all this done for at least 30 years because that's how long it's been over capacity/FUBARed, par for the course...

[turnpup]

So very glad we won't need to use 235 very much at all, if ever, due to where we moved to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So by the time it's done in 2022 or later, it will have needed to have all this done for at least 30 years because that's how long it's been over capacity/FUBARed, par for the course...

We, unfortunately, HAVE to use it frequently because of where we moved to! During school, twice a day in each direction. The little one won't graduate high school until 2025, so we're stuck with whatever hassles it brings. That's just the way it goes I guess. My husband was excited to hear of the northbound flyover to westbound 44, as it's his route to work.

[Urbanized]

My apologies. I withdraw my absurd outrage and will learn to read a diagram. Thanks to both of you for correcting me!

Now THAT is how to Internet. Well done, Bill Brasky!

[LakeEffect]

My apologies. I withdraw my absurd outrage and will learn to read a diagram. Thanks to both of you for correcting me!

A good engineer NEVER publishes a diagram that does not have north facing up (top of page), unless the item in question is too long vertically. In this case, it would have been easy to publish vertically... Also, they did a poor job labeling; if you rotate the image to put north on top, then the 63rd Street label would be upside down.

Your understanding of the graphic is ODOT's/engineer's fault, not yours!

/rant

[David]

They've been using that screwy west to the top layout for this project for years, I have diagrams saved with a 2010 timestamp on them that look like the above. I've never understood why.

[TheTravellers]

We, unfortunately, HAVE to use it frequently because of where we moved to! During school, twice a day in each direction. The little one won't graduate high school until 2025, so we're stuck with whatever hassles it brings. That's just the way it goes I guess. My husband was excited to hear of the northbound flyover to westbound 44, as it's his route to work.

I feel for ya, especially if it's anywhere close to rush hours. Now that we're in Venice, we're able to take surface streets to almost anywhere we want to go, don't know where your school is, but too far away for surface streets? During rush hours when I had to go to/from downtown, I'd just go down Western or Eastern, depending on where I was going, and it was almost always faster than Broadway/235. We just avoid Broadway/235 whenever possible, even when we lived in North B-F-Edmond, but it's just us two, no kids, so that may play into it...

[turnpup]

I feel for ya, especially if it's anywhere close to rush hours. Now that we're in Venice, we're able to take surface streets to almost anywhere we want to go, don't know where your school is, but too far away for surface streets? During rush hours when I had to go to/from downtown, I'd just go down Western or Eastern, depending on where I was going, and it was almost always faster than Broadway/235. We just avoid Broadway/235 whenever possible, even when we lived in North B-F-Edmond, but it's just us two, no kids, so that may play into it...

Western is our best alternative to the highway, but I'd sure hate to have to use it a lot. In the mornings, we take Broadway Ext to Britton and then over to school. Generally I use Western to come home because southbound Broadway is already stop and go all the way back to downtown. Good to have a street option. Some people will not be as fortunate.

[rte66man]

They've been using that screwy west to the top layout for this project for years, I have diagrams saved with a 2010 timestamp on them that look like the above. I've never understood why.

I asked my daughter (who works in the ODOT Bridge Division) why they do this. She said it is keyed off of how the initial survey is done. If the original survey is keyed to run in a particular direction, then all following blueprints, photos, etc have to follow that orientation; else you end up with the confusion shown above. All of the related software has to tie together for continuity. When that continuity fails in construction, then you have a real problem.

I'm assuming ODOT sees no need to re-orient the documents for public consumption, but that might be better answered by Public Affairs.