Interchange will debut in Elk City
ELK CITY — Construction is expected to begin in late summer or early fall on Oklahoma's first diverging diamond interchange, which is expected to improve traffic flow between Interstate 40 and State Highway 6 in Elk City.
The City of Elk City is partnering with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to fund aesthetics work on the highway bridge.
A second diverging diamond interchange is planned for the interchange between Interstate 35 and Waterloo Road near Edmond. That project is expected to go out for bids in federal fiscal year 2022.
A diverging diamond interchange differs from a traditional interchange in that traffic is redirected to the opposite side of the road prior to the highway bridge crossing the interstate to permit free-flowing left turns onto the interstate. Two phase traffic signals are installed at the roadway crossover points.
The first diverging diamond interchange in the nation was constructed to link Interstate 44 and the Kansas Expressway in Springfield, Missouri, in 2009, state transportation officials said.
Since then, nearly 100 of the interchanges have been built nationwide.
The design has been gaining popularity because studies show it creates safer, less congested interchanges, reduces travel times and the interchanges are viewed positively by motorists, Oklahoma transportation officials said.
The Elk City interchange will cost nearly $16 million. It was part of a larger, $28.6 million project that the Oklahoma Transportation Commission awarded to Frontier Bridge Inc. of Okarche on March 4. The project also includes work on the Interstate 40 Business highway at the North Fork River near Sayre.