I-235 and I-44 interchange work is ahead of schedule
Construction will again shut down part of Interstate 235 this year so workers can lift, move and place a new railroad bridge over the busy commuter artery between Edmond and Oklahoma City.
The bridge replacement is part of the I-235 and I-44 interchange project, which is still years from completion. The highway construction project’s final phase is expected to begin in 2020.
Work along the highly traveled route forced a highway closure in June, but the contractor finished work quickly enough that the highway reopened sooner than expected.
Mike Patterson, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said there are two more closures planned for the interchange after the bridge is moved.
Travelers can see early stages of the railroad bridge’s construction alongside the interstate. The 300-foot-long elevated railroad will be placed sometime this winter.
“We’ve cordoned off three days. We’ll see how quickly it gets done,” Patterson said.
Patterson marveled at the technology behind moving a new bridge into place, something that hasn’t been tried in Oklahoma yet.
“Everything moves real slow and they have to move in unison,” he said. “It’s a wellcoordinated dance.”
The Utah Department of Transportation has released videos of bridge transportation projects showing dozens of remote-controlled hydraulic presses that can lift the massive structures and wheel them into place.
Patterson said the closures will be highly publicized, giving commuters ample time to plan alternate routes. The portion of I-235 that connects to Interstate 44 handles more than 100,000 vehicles each day.
Before then, there likely will be more lane changes and narrowing in August as the southbound lanes are paved.
Overall, the project is on budget and weeks ahead of schedule, Patterson said at a Transportation Commission meeting on Monday.
“It’s the most expensive contract ever issued here at the department. But we’re fine with that, because it is a monumental, game-changing project here in Oklahoma City,” he said.
Patterson also gave an update on another major project, the interchange between Interstates 240 and 35.
The most important operational change in the state, he said, is making eastbound-to-southbound movement safer.
“It gets very dangerous. It starts because it backs up on I-240. You have people sitting on I-240,” Patterson said. “But when you get down to I-35, the merging of I-35 traffic is very difficult, as well.” Construction has already begun. “The entire interchange will take multiple years to get reconstructed and reconfigured to a modern-day transportation interchange that it needs to be,” he said.