Any idea when they're supposed to wrap up this project? The road fully re-opened after the holidays, but no streetlights have been installed and I don't see much other work happening.
Any idea when they're supposed to wrap up this project? The road fully re-opened after the holidays, but no streetlights have been installed and I don't see much other work happening.
They've recently closed the furthest left lane on WB I-40 at Sooner Rd. and have ripped up a section of the new concrete where it meets the bridge. No idea what's going on there.
I noticed there was a dip when driving through that area, maybe that's what they're fixing.
It’s been right at a year since this stretch was “finished” and reopened, and there’s still not a single streetlight installed… pretty disappointing honestly
The next phases of this project will be gearing up in 2028. ODOT Has released videos and links to plans that show the preferred alternatives. Eventually, this road will be expanded to four or even five lanes in each direction, which will be great. The more lanes the better. It looks like this will become a completely different road to drive on which currently is one of the worst in the metro. This can’t happen soon enough.
https://i-40section1.transportationplanroom.com/
All I can say is wow...that's quite ambitious. I really would have thought they would have gotten 35 up to 6 lanes first though. I know this isn't on an 8 year plan yet, but i REALLY would prefer they work on the 44/40 interchange first....and work out something better for 44 down to 240.
Well, yeah for now it’s just the bridge. As you said, the mainline work is unfunded and not even on the eight year plan. We’ll see if it gets put on the new eight year plan in a month or two, but I doubt it. That’s gonna cost a pretty penny. I’m just extremely anxious and interested to see what their plans are for the section that runs between Tinker Air Force Base and Southeast 29th.
np
It will be interesting to see what the study says about section 2. That will be the most difficult.
I’m happy to see 5 lanes each direction. More highways in OKC need to be built to be expanded for this for future growth so we won’t have to keep coming back adding a lane all the time because we didn’t add enough to begin with.
What do you think they’re going to do with that section? it seems like there is enough room to slightly move Southeast 29th to the north a little bit which would require some row acquisition. They could always do a cantilever design similar to how US 75 is in Dallas, where the service roads slightly hang over the freeway. as far as I know, the section is only going to be three lanes each which should be sufficient. However if they were going to do something expensive, it wouldn’t hurt to design to be expanded to 4 lines, each way in the future. I’m very curious on what they plan to do. You could probably squeeze three lanes through there with substandard designs, but I don’t think that you would be able to get federal funding for that
I've posted some images before, but honestly, there's only about a 1/4 mile section that isn't already large enough to do this in section 2. There is a substantial median and shoulder that gives plenty of room. They will have to take out another couple of bridges (rail and road) to make it work, but they've both been abandoned for decades already and are not in use. The rail is already cut at many locations along it's path back on to the N/S line this spur came from.
Anyway, there's really only the section right at the Mathis Brothers Mattress store and Uhaul that we'd have to figure out. And honestly, it can be done with very little disruption to the 29th street area. Really, it can be done with only having to buy up a could of lots.
Drove it again yesterday. How did this pass any sort of quality control? The approaches to the Sooner Rd. bridge(s) feel like a massage chair.
And I don't understand the sequencing of these projects. Douglas was in desperate need of a fix, but why do they skip sections rather than say working from the interchange east?
While I would be fine with planning to expand to five at some point in the future, it seems like an odd segment to prioritize going to five now. If any corridor needs to be 5 both directions now based on current traffic it is i44 between i240 and 66. I-35 between Downtown OKC and Norman also seems like should be a higher priority for expansion to/past 4 lanes, especially since the new highway on the east side is not being done in a way to provide a good alternate daily route for those on the east side of Norman to OKC, which it could have. Plus long term the new turnpikes on south side are likely going to more pressure on i35 and i44 on the south side.
This was a bout bridge status more than the sequence. The 15th st and Sooner bridges were structurally deficient. Sunnylane is only slightly better, but that's why its next on the radar. Douglas was done partly because of the push for 6 lanes out to the 240 Junction making it 6 lanes all the way to the turnpike. The Douglas interchange couldn't fit the lanes underneath it, so it had to have work done to accommodate the extra lanes. Now why they didn't just make it from the east of the junction, i'm not sure. I dont recall anyone saying the Douglas interchange was structurally deficient. And actually, the new one causes traffic flow stops that don't exist today since there will be a stoplight on it. And why they chose to go ahead and rip out the other bridge to get those 6 lanes from that point as well? No sure...but also not complaining :P
I'm curious in sequence 2, if they do anything near Air Depot to make that turn less acute. It's going to require some land purchasing to straight that out a bit though. That realignment shouldn't be terrible to do, but i think the utilities will be the biggest issue, like the natural gas interchange just north of 40 and south of 29th right on the west side of Air Depot.
So yeah, that sequence 2 is gonna be some fuuuuuun.
https://i-40section1.transportationplanroom.com/
I 40 section 1 plans
I think it has to do with the antiquated state of the road. I-35 though it needs more lanes was upgraded more recently. I agree something needs to be done about I-44 on the south side but I think a lot of that will be alleviated when the I-44/I-40 interchange is completely rebuilt. That will be a massive project.
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