I-35/I-44 Interchange

[vaflyer]

On Monday August 1st, ODOT awarded the contract for the I-35 bridges over NE 63rd St. That contact includes building the new ramp from I-35 north bound to I-44 west bound and the new ramp from I-44 east bound to I-35 south bound. The contractor has 745 days (just over 2 years) to complete the project.

[Plutonic Panda]

Fu€king unreal. This entire interchange could be finished in that time frame. Not blaming ODOT or the contractor I wish we could fund them better.

[BoulderSooner]

Fu€king unreal. This entire interchange could be finished in that time frame. Not blaming ODOT or the contractor I wish we could fund them better.

the time has nothing to do with funding .... this is a complicated project .. if they closed the road i'm sure they could do it all in a month or 2

[Plutonic Panda]

the time has nothing to do with funding .... this is a complicated project .. if they closed the road i'm sure they could do it all in a month or 2

I was referring to the entire project which is completely replacing and redesigning the interchange. This is the second phase. There will be 2-3 more phases after this one.

[HangryHippo]

Are there renderings available for this phase?

[rte66man]

Are there renderings available for this phase?

https://www.odot.org/contracts/a2022...FP_2984404.pdf

[Plutonic Panda]

Are there renderings available for this phase?

https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.p...625#post912625

They’re going to keep the I-35 mainlines together, widen them to 3 lanes each way, and remove the right exits/entrances from I-44 and place them on the right so they’ll flyover I-35. The ramps will also have two lanes each way. I-44 will be widened to 4 lanes each way to MLK BLVD.

This is separate from the plans to repave I-35 north of this interchange to I-40 and eventually fully reconstruct it and widen it to six lanes. The service roads on this stretch will also be redesigned to be one way, reconstructed, and some gaps completed so they are continuous.

Regarding the service roads, I’d expect at some point ODOT will also redo the two service roads south of this interchange to NE 122nd and make them one way with “Texas turnarounds” given the fact they plan to do that in Edmond and Moore/Norman.

[Swalell1960]

Lane closure signage ready in place starting at sb Wilshire entrance and MLK. Next phase starting?

[BoulderSooner]

Lane closure signage ready in place starting at sb Wilshire entrance and MLK. Next phase starting?

this is the start of phase 1 the contract that was let in August in the op .. (2 years )

phase 2 is years away and will be west bound 44 to north bound i35

I-35 BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION AT N. 63RD ST. NEAR I-44 IN OKLAHOMA CITY - OKLAHOMA CO.

Impact to Traffic

Starting Jan. 23, 2023, northbound and southbound I-35 will be narrowed to two lanes in each direction between N. 50th St. (mm 132A) and Wilshire Blvd. (mm 134) for bridge reconstruction at N. 63rd St. (mm 133) in Oklahoma City.
Drivers can expect lane shifts and narrowed lane widths as well as some short-term full closures at various times during the project for bridge demolition and bridge beam installation.
The speed limit is reduced in the work zone.
About the Project

The project reconstructs the northbound and southbound I-35 bridges over N. 63rd St. (mm 133).
This project also includes a northbound I-35 to westbound I-44 flyover ramp that will be a right exit and a new eastbound I-44 to southbound I-35 ramp.
This work is in preparation for a future project that will complete the I-44/I-35 interchange reconstruction, which will include a new eastbound I-44 to northbound I-35 movement.
The more than $66 million contract was awarded to Manhattan Road & Bridge Compnay of Tulsa.
All work is expected to be completed in spring 2025.

[OklahomaNick]

Work started today.
Anyone have any ODOT literature or graphics of what this will look like?
Trying to visualize what they are doing with the flyover ramps.

[Swalell1960]

Not being of sufficient deftness to obtain renderings of this project, I’m wondering if the little e/w crossover bridge from Bryant/WFrtg Rd to EFrtg road will remain intact. Early morning traffic/weather-covering news crews will suffer if not, lolz…

[BoulderSooner]

Not being of sufficient deftness to obtain renderings of this project, I’m wondering if the little e/w crossover bridge from Bryant/WFrtg Rd to EFrtg road will remain intact. Early morning traffic/weather-covering news crews will suffer if not, lolz…

i would guess that it will looks like that bridge has 4 full lanes on each side currently with room for another if they really wanted ..

[jn1780]

They are making progress on the new flyover ramp.

[Pete]

[jdross1982]

Biggest frustrating with this project is the lack of renderings. The blurry pic of a laptop screen does not suffice.

[Plutonic Panda]

Biggest frustrating with this project is the lack of renderings. The blurry pic of a laptop screen does not suffice.

[bombermwc]

I'm sort of curious why this is even on the map. They've done quite a bit or work here already so i'm not really clear on the need for all of this. Really, it's the southbound to I35 that's the bottleneck because there just aren't enough lanes on 35. But what i'm seeing above, they really aren't making any major "how the traffic moves" changes, just making it be new road. AM I missing something?

[Plutonic Panda]

They are keeping the mainline of I-35 together so they don’t split up adding flyovers for I-44 connections removing the left ramps creating a more efficient flow of traffic. Auxiliary lanes will be added as well. It is a very much needed project to tie into the future widening of I-35 south of here. Better to get this done first IMO.

[HangryHippo]

They are keeping the mainline of I-35 together so they don’t split up adding flyovers for I-44 connections removing the left ramps creating a more efficient flow of traffic. Auxiliary lanes will be added as well. It is a very much needed project to tie into the future widening of I-35 south of here. Better to get this done first IMO.

Keeping the mainline lanes together is what they should have done with I-35 in S OKC/Moore and Norman. Glad this is happening here.

[Plutonic Panda]

Keeping the mainline lanes together is what they should have done with I-35 in S OKC/Moore and Norman. Glad this is happening here.

That’s being considered actually believe it or not. ODOT will study that with the Flood Ave Interchange and possibly the Shields ramps further down the line. More general purpose lanes, auxiliary lanes, and service road reconfigurations are all part of the study which will soon be released.

[BoulderSooner]

I'm sort of curious why this is even on the map. They've done quite a bit or work here already so i'm not really clear on the need for all of this. Really, it's the southbound to I35 that's the bottleneck because there just aren't enough lanes on 35. But what i'm seeing above, they really aren't making any major "how the traffic moves" changes, just making it be new road. AM I missing something?

because this entire stretch of I35 (44 south - I 40) will soon become 6 lanes and the 63rd street bridge needed to be replaced ... north 35 to west 44 will now exit on the right and join 44 on the right .. (as it should)

[BoulderSooner]

That’s being considered actually believe it or not. ODOT will study that with the Flood Ave Interchange and possibly the Shields ramps further down the line. More general purpose lanes, auxiliary lanes, and service road reconfigurations are all part of the study which will soon be released.

keep in mind that left side exits /ramps while bad are much less of an issue then left side on ramps ..

the interchange that badly needs to be redone is the Turner turnpike and I35 ... the north and south ramps merging onto I35 are both dangerous in different ways .

south bound has a protected lane but lots of cars and trucks then try to quickly move across 3 lanes of traffic to exit on 122nd .. which causes issues ..

north bound is a very very small merge area and is terrible .

[Plutonic Panda]

keep in mind that left side exits /ramps while bad are much less of an issue then left side on ramps ..

the interchange that badly needs to be redone is the Turner turnpike and I35 ... the north and south ramps merging onto I35 are both dangerous in different ways . .

I couldn’t agree more. I’m perplexed that there isn’t more accidents here as I see more close calls at this interchange than anywhere else I’ve been. ODOT is planning on continuing the third NB lane through here somehow. Not sure how it will be done and the only interim configuration they should do is add delineators to prevent traffic coming off of the Turner to cut across the freeway to make the exit ramp. I know it’s a big trucking area and that could impact business but safety is more important.

[BoulderSooner]

ODOT is planning on continuing the third NB lane through here somehow.

north bound has the constant 3 lanes all the way ..

south goes down to 2 lanes .. for a little over 1000 feet ..

there does seem to be enough room currently to add a 3rd lane heading south .... so it makes me thing ODOT is waiting until some point in the future when the 2 off ramps off the turnpike are fixed ..

[HangryHippo]

The on ramp from 122nd St to NB Broadway Extension (interfering with the Kilpatrick on ramps) is another fun one.