Douglas Boulevard interchange with I-40 to be reconfigured

State transportation officials are making plans to widen and reconfigure the interchange at Interstate 40 and Douglas Boulevard in anticipation of dramatic increases in traffic.

An average of 54,574 vehicles a day currently travel on I-40 through that interchange, which is located just northeast of Tinker Air Force Base. That traffic count is expected to shoot up to 84,580 by 2045, said Lisa ShearerSalim, public information manager for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. During that same time span, traffic counts on the Douglas Boulevard bridge over I-40 are expected to grow from 26,100 a day to 47,980. The bridge was built in 1962 and is already considered to be functionally obsolete, she said.

To prepare for the increased traffic, I-40 needs to be widened to six lanes, the Douglas Boulevard bridge needs to be widened and the whole interchange needs to be reconfigured, ShearerSalim said. Construction on the project is tentatively set for federal fiscal year 2020, which goes from October 2019 through September 2020.

State transportation officials are considering three options for reconfiguring the interchange. Through Valentine’s Day, members of the public can submit comments on which options they prefer by going online at www.odot.org.

•One option is to build a single-point urban interchange similar to the one at I-40 and Morgan Road in west Oklahoma City, Shearer-Salim said. Transportation officials described that interchange as a basic diamond interchange with a single signalized central intersection at the center of the bridge on Douglas Boulevard. The configuration is designed to accommodate high volumes of traffic, trucks and left turns in an area where not a lot of space is available, she said. Its projected cost would be about $47 million.

•A second option would be a tight urban diamond interchange, which features four interchange ramps that form a diamond shape as well as the option to later add a flyover ramp that would improve the flow of traffic for vehicles traveling north on Douglas Boulevard that are turning west onto I-40. That option would cost about $45 million initially, but the cost would go up to about $56 million if a flyover ramp is added.

•The third option would be to expand, improve and widen the cloverleaf interchange design that currently is in place. That would cost about $45 million.

Plans call for the Engle Road bridge over I-40 to be removed as part of the Douglas Boulevard interchange project. The Engle Road bridge used to provide access to a residential neighborhood south of I-40. The neighborhood no longer exists and the property is now owned by Tinker Air Force Base, transportation officials said.

At the same time the Douglas Boulevard interchange is being constructed, transportation officials are considering tying it to another project to widen I-40 to six lanes from that interchange east to the I-240 junction, a distance of about five miles. That work is projected to cost an additional $32.96 million, Shearer-Salim said.

Other widening plans for the I-40 corridor currently scheduled to be funded include:

•Reconstructing and widening I-40 to six lanes at the Choctaw Road interchange and between that interchange and Peebly Road in 2017.

•Reconstructing and widening I-40 to six lanes from Luther Road to just east of the Harrah-Newalla interchange. That is set for funding in federal fiscal year 2021.