I-44 Construction Thread

[Nik]

So the westbound Peoria exit closed today and the westbound Riverside exit opened. At some point, they are going to have to cross Peoria so sooner rather than later, all of Peoria will be blocked around the bridge.

[Nik]

Someone mentioned in another thread that Peoria will indeed be closing very soon for 3 months.

Also, I saw on the news that ODOT has approved the widening of I-44 from Yale to 41st. Don't know the timeline yet on that.

[swake]

Someone mentioned in another thread that Peoria will indeed be closing very soon for 3 months.

Also, I saw on the news that ODOT has approved the widening of I-44 from Yale to 41st. Don't know the timeline yet on that.

Starts in January along with a new interchange on 75 at 121st in Jenks

[TUalum0982]

Starts in January along with a new interchange on 75 at 121st in Jenks

are they doing 121st or 111th?  My understanding was they will be doing a bridge over 75 at 111th?  I was on ODOT's website earlier tonight but could not find any info on it.  Their site isn't the easiest to navigate.

[swake]

are they doing 121st or 111th?  My understanding was they will be doing a bridge over 75 at 111th?  I was on ODOT's website earlier tonight but could not find any info on it.  Their site isn't the easiest to navigate.

Sorry, 111th is correct

[Nik]

Starts in January along with a new interchange on 75 at 121st in Jenks

Really? That soon? Guess I figured they would finish up the current project before starting the next I-44 project.

[sgrizzle]

Really? That soon? Guess I figured they would finish up the current project before starting the next I-44 project.

No, we need to have 244, I-44, and 75 all under construction simultaneously.

Only two highways left.

[swake]

No, we need to have 244, I-44, and 75 all under construction simultaneously.

Only two highways left.

I'm hoping for 75 that they quickly close access from 111th with the stoplight going away and leave 4 lanes in each direction. If they do that traffic will actually improve during construction.

[Lost Cause?]

Anybody know when the Yale to BA segment of I-44 will be widened?   It should have been done in conjunction with the I-44 / Yale bridge widening.

That has always been the most congested part of I-44 thru Tulsa, yet it will be the very last widened.  So after enduring construction on the Riverside-Yale segement, Yale-BA will still be a bottleneck.

With all the stimulus $ supposedly floating around, why cant all the I-44 projects be accelerated?

Another random thought... on the BA westbound at I-44, whose dumb idea was it to have 4 lanes + Memorial on-ramp merge down to 3 lanes before you get to I-44 West exit?  If just a little more $ had been spent, the 4th lane could have been extended over I-44 and been an exit only lane for I-44 West.

As it stands, you have a nice 8 lane highway from 161st into Tulsa that always bottlenecks at I-44.

[swake]

Anybody know when the Yale to BA segment of I-44 will be widened?   It should have been done in conjunction with the I-44 / Yale bridge widening.

That has always been the most congested part of I-44 thru Tulsa, yet it will be the very last widened.  So after enduring construction on the Riverside-Yale segement, Yale-BA will still be a bottleneck.

With all the stimulus $ supposedly floating around, why cant all the I-44 projects be accelerated?

Another random thought... on the BA westbound at I-44, whose dumb idea was it to have 4 lanes + Memorial on-ramp merge down to 3 lanes before you get to I-44 West exit?  If just a little more $ had been spent, the 4th lane could have been extended over I-44 and been an exit only lane for I-44 West.

As it stands, you have a nice 8 lane highway from 161st into Tulsa that always bottlenecks at I-44.

That's what the Tulsa World article called the Darlington bridge. Construction starts in Jan or Feb on that as well.

[Conan71]

Anybody know when the Yale to BA segment of I-44 will be widened?   It should have been done in conjunction with the I-44 / Yale bridge widening.

That has always been the most congested part of I-44 thru Tulsa, yet it will be the very last widened.  So after enduring construction on the Riverside-Yale segement, Yale-BA will still be a bottleneck.

With all the stimulus $ supposedly floating around, why cant all the I-44 projects be accelerated?

Another random thought... on the BA westbound at I-44, whose dumb idea was it to have 4 lanes + Memorial on-ramp merge down to 3 lanes before you get to I-44 West exit?  If just a little more $ had been spent, the 4th lane could have been extended over I-44 and been an exit only lane for I-44 West.

As it stands, you have a nice 8 lane highway from 161st into Tulsa that always bottlenecks at I-44.

Of course, one problem is our loop-around (244) is closed in the west-bound direction, so that's at least one reason I can think of projects can't be accellerated.  There's nowhere to go through town other than the Creek Turnpike or driving down city streets.

I almost go into an apoplectic seizure when I think of how bad it's going to be when they do I-44 & Lewis Ave.  Gads!

[swake]

Of course, one problem is our loop-around (244) is closed in the west-bound direction, so that's at least one reason I can think of projects can't be accellerated.  There's nowhere to go through town other than the Creek Turnpike or driving down city streets.

I almost go into an apoplectic seizure when I think of how bad it's going to be when they do I-44 & Lewis Ave.  Gads!

Midtown is going to be cut off from Parkhills! The horror!

[Conan71]

Midtown is going to be cut off from Parkhills! The horror!

Oh smile, hadn't even thought of that!!!!  TOTAL CATACLYSM!!!!

[Townsend]

Yesterday I was leaving DT heading West on 7th.  244 access is gone there now so I took Denver to hop on 51 at 11th...it was closed.  So I took Riverside thinking 44 access forgetting that was gone too...so I took 41st up to Lewis to 51st for 44 access there.  It was a bummer but I'm ok with it because there will be improvements by gum...there will be improvements.

That was just trying to get West of the river...yes yes, 21st St bridge, I know...I forgot 44 was closed.

[custosnox]

update on the peoria closing

http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20091011_11_A23_Peoria560129&rss_lnk=11

Peoria Ave. to be closed at I-44 for rest of year

By Staff Reports
Published: 10/11/2009  2:31 AM
Last Modified: 10/11/2009  2:31 AM

Peoria Avenue will be completely closed at the Interstate 44 junction for about three months starting Monday, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said.

The closure is to allow construction of an underground drainage structure 1.25 miles long on the north side of I-44 between Riverside Drive and Yorktown Avenue. The department advised that motorists use Riverside Drive or Lewis Avenue as detours.

The construction is part of a $360 million project to widen I-44 to six lanes from Riverside Drive to Yale Avenue. It is estimated to take four years