I-235 to close for three days
A stretch of highway linking Oklahoma City and Edmond will close for three days this month, affecting commuters and other travelers along Interstate 235.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has scheduled the closure for Saturday Jan. 20 until the following Monday so crews can move a pair of new railroad bridge spans in place. Winter weather could delay the closure by at least a week.
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. Two more closures are planned for the interchange after the bridge is moved.
Over three days, two 44-foot high, 275-foot long spans will be lifted, moved and placed into position above the
interstate, replacing an older bridge used by rail traffic.
The bridge is being constructed alongside the interstate rather than over it to minimize traffic disruption.
Visitors will be able to park nearby and watch the move from a designated viewing area, said ODOT Executive Director Mike Patterson. It can also be viewed via a livestream at the ODOT website.
“It’s a very tedious process. It involves cranes and large trucks to lift up the spans and put them into place,” Patterson said.
The bridge spans could have been placed on backto-back weekends to avoid workweek disruption, but the contractor proposed changing the project to three consecutive days. Patterson said doing so would save the department money and have less of an impact on the public.
During construction along I-235, and especially during the closures, ODOT recommends travelers use Classen Boulevard or Martin Luther King Avenue as they travel north or south within the city.
“This is one of the real critical points of the process is to get these bridges in place so that we can realign the railroad, and take down the old railroad bridge,” Patterson said. “Once we get that done, we can continue to widen I-235.”