I-235 work goes rapidly; road to reopen today
Oklahoma City’s busy Interstate 235 thoroughfare is expected to open for the Tuesday morning commute.
The interstate originally was targeted to reopen by 8 p.m. Wednesday, but work was moving ahead of schedule, said Mike Patterson, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Transportation officials sent out news releases on social media about 8:30 p.m. Monday night announcing the early reopening.
“I-235 between the I-44 interchange and N 36th St. is set to open sometime in the overnight hours ahead of the Tuesday morning commute. Based on progress today, work is progressing at this time with crews applying striping along the new temporary travel lanes,” Transportation Department spokeswoman Lisa Shearer-Salim said in the release.
“Even with opening to two lanes in each direction, motorists are still encouraged to use their alternate routes as two years’ worth of construction work remains on the project, which is estimated to complete in early 2020,” she said.
State transportation officials shut down traffic at 8 p.m. Friday on I-235 in the NW 50 Street bridge area to assist construction crews with efforts to demolish the highway bridge and a nearby railroad bridge.
Motorists should remain cautious because the road will look significantly different with
northbound and southbound lanes shifted to the west and the N 50 Street bridge removed. The speed limit will be reduced through the work zone.
“At some point, those lanes are even going to get skinnier. They’re going to get tighter. So we need people to get off their cellphones ... and pay attention to what’s going on,” Patterson said. “It’s going to be changing rapidly.”
In coming weeks, motorists who continue to use I-235 will see a replacement railroad bridge being built along the interstate. Once it is complete, I-235 will be shut down again for a time so a new bridge can be moved into place.
“The patience of the public has been outstanding,” Patterson said.
The section of I-235 now under construction handles about 100,000 vehicles a day and is part of a major north-south traffic artery linking Edmond with Oklahoma City.
The current I-235 construction phase is a three-year, $88 million project expected to be completed by 2020. The project involves adding lanes and replacing bridges along a two-mile stretch from NW 36 to slightly north of NW 50.
The work is part of a larger interstate widening and interchange project that is not expected to be complete until 2024, Patterson said.