Paving contract awarded for NW Expressway. Also of note, ODOT approved new 'groved' pavement markings.
https://newsok.com/article/5630661/n...-start-in-june
Great to hear! And its basically from Hefner Parkway to Turnpike! Also going to change all lights to LED. And most work will be done at night. And once done NWE will be changed over to OKC maintained (its not now)
“The Oklahoma Transportation Commission on Monday awarded a $6 million project to resurface nearly 7 miles of Northwest Expressway from State Highway 74 northwest to the John Kilpatrick Turnpike.”
Are they going to fill them with better paint instead of the stuff they use everywhere else?
But even roads with fresh markings become invisible in any night time rain, so the crap paint will last longer but it will still be barely visible.
The problem is we can’t use markers like seen in southern states the snow plows would scrape them off. So its a challenge. I’ll be happy with just better paint that glows in dark when headlights hit it. Most of our current markings all over the metro are peeled up and not very visible even in perfect weather/light.
I think OKC already took over between Classen and 44? The state was really pushing to making it city-maintained. The city was ok with it because they could re-pave it/etc more often than the state could.
They did—that section used to be a separate highway, State Highway 3A. OKC took it over and the SH-3A designation was removed from the system.
Yes, but the thread is referring to the stretch between Hefner Parkway and the Kilpatrick. I can't see the state turning it over as that would make OK3 discontinuous
Its already approved so basically a done deal once its repaced. This helps get things done faster and with bigger consideration for OKC. For example if OKC wants to run more buses up NWE all the way to Council they won’t need state approval to add a several stops along NWE. They can improve medians and add more/longer turn lanes without state approval. Can add trees or other items. Lots of things that currently take forever and we just cut out the fat in a manner of speaking.
Some other states allow state numbered routes to be physically owned and controlled by local entities (Vermont is a prominent example, as they have an entirely different design for highway markers used on locally-maintained routes, but the numbers are continuous between state- and local-maintained roads). In other states, this is not the case—state highway routes must be state maintained. Kansas is proposing some extremely silly routings for K-7 to allow them to turn over a stretch of the present-day highway to Olathe.
I am not sure which camp Oklahoma falls in.
I have just found the agenda for the meeting. They are proposing to turn over the section between Hefner Parkway and the Kilpatrick Turnpike. To keep SH-3 continuous, it will overlap SH-4 through Yukon until I-40, and follow I-40 to I-44. The section of Northwest Expressway between SH-4 and the Kilpatrick Turnpike will become a new version of SH-3A.
That is insane. Why would OKC take over a VERY substandard arterial? About 20 years ago, ODOT reworked NW Expressway from Portland to MacArthur (curbs, better left hand turn lanes, etc.) Other than offsetting some of the left turn lanes between MacArthur and Rockwell, they have done NOTHING to improve the road. The intersection with Rockwell is a disaster. Drainage is terrible as they have let the grass and dirt pile up so much that the runoff can't reach the bar ditches. Besides, those need to be formal storm drains. No sidewalks at all. The "bridge" west of MacArthur is so bad people have to walk in the eastbound roadway. The list of problems is huge. That is why I can't figure this transfer out.
I suspect it has to do with funding for future projects. If it is a state hiway, but the city wants to do something - like replace that McArthur bridge, they can't- and the state has no plans to do it. At this point the city may be better able to take care of it.
Heads up:
Oklahoma Department of Transportation
@OKDOT
OKC REMINDER: SH-3/N.W. Expressway will be narrowed to one lane in each direction between SH-74/Lake Hefner Pkwy and Meridian Ave. from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly and continuing on weeknights through October for a resurfacing project.
5:00 PM · Aug 6, 2019·
FYI, there is a survey out to give your input to the new long term plan for OkDOT:
https://www.oklongrangeplan.org/
Taking it now.
Interesting to see pictures of the streetcar as an example for one of the questions.
Pertaining to OkDOT:
https://rebuildsocal.org/senate-comm...-highway-bill/
Hopefully some monies in this bill go towards rebuilding and expanding our freeways in Oklahoma and especially SoCal. Though they have essentially blacklisted me from communications, every so often they answer back and I will email ODOT to inquire about a possible rebuild and redesign of the I-44/I-40 interchange.
does Oklahoma City have their own DOT? If not, it is high time for the city to implement one.
so tired of ODOT seemingly handling all city street/road/freeway projects where the idea is usually 1) cheap/on-the-cheap 2) no foliage/landscaping 3) no pedestrian interaction or consideration 4) no attention to existing city fabric.
Prime example of this is the "new" I-40 crosstown named Oklahoma City boulevard. It will be nice once ODOT hands that over that OKC-DOT redesigns it such that 1) the overpass at Classen is removed and instead replaced with either a grand traffic circle OR at least stop lights 2) Exchange Avenue and Reno cluster is rebuilt into another grand intersection (like before or a traffic circle) and 3) landscaping and foliage is added along the once redesigned TRUE BOULEVARD routing.
If we have to have it, then why not really have a grand boulevard that is a LANDSCAPED BOULEVARD and not just a I-40 Business Route that it currently will open as.
I'm not against the Oklahoma City boulevard at all but I am horrified at how ODOT designed and built it since it is NOT a boulevard except for the 4 or so blocks Walker to EK Gaylord and even then there doesn't seem to be any worthwhile landscaping or pedestrian interests (you know, contiguous grade separated bike lanes AND separated sidewalks AND theme lighting).
I think Eric Winger and staff could do better than what ODOT is implementing; but hopefully the city could just create a new DOT road/rail/bike lane/sidewalk design department/engineer different from Eric whose focus has been vehicular traffic flow (which is also needed btw, but i don't think one person/department can do/focus on both).
Oklahoma City, the RENAISSANCE CITY!
^^^ Agreed 100 percent!
I agree with it being called I-40 business route, that's basically what it is.
However, I don't see that classen overpass being removed. That would be seen as insane by most people in the city since millions of dollars was spent on it and it would take millions more to "fix" it.
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