ODOT moves $65 million I-44 project forward
Construction on a concrete structure through the Perryman Ditch, seen here in late May, is part of the Interstate 44 expansion project.
By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 11/2/2009 10:17 PM
Last Modified: 11/2/2009 11:05 PM
As work continues on the massive underground drainage ditch near Interstate 44, work on the road itself will start soon, thanks to a $65 million project that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation approved Monday.
The department’s commissioners gave the go-ahead to Sherwood Construction Co. to start a 1.5-mile project to widen I-44 from between Lewis and Harvard avenues to just west of Yale Avenue. The project will widen the highway to six lanes, improve the on- and off-ramps at Harvard Avenue and replace the Harvard Avenue bridge.
The bridge, built in 1956, is considered functionally obsolete — too small for the traffic it carries.
Randle White, the department’s division engineer, said construction would likely begin early next year and would mirror the work at I-44 and Yale Avenue.
The project is the first paving phase of a $330 million overhaul of I-44, which includes the construction of the $42 million Perryman Ditch, which will funnel stormwater from the Peoria Avenue area to the Arkansas River.
The four-year project will also widen and repave the interstate from Riverside Drive to Yale Avenue and upgrade the on- and off-ramps near Riverside Drive and Harvard, Lewis and Peoria avenues.
“It’s a huge, huge project for the area,” said Kenna Mitchell, a department spokeswoman.
White said two lanes would be kept open in each direction during peak traveling hours.
The Harvard Avenue bridge will also remain open during construction of its replacement.
This will be Tulsa’s second road project to cost more than $60 million in recent years.
The state is repaving the north and west legs of the Inner Dispersal Loop for $67 million.
An additional $21 million will go toward improving U.S. 169 from Interstate 244 to just north of 46th Street North.
The commissioners also gave approval Monday to that five-mile project, which will widen U.S. 169 to six lanes and add a concrete barrier to its center.
Becco Contractors Inc. will also repair the deck and some beams of the Pine Street bridge, which was struck by a truck this year. The bridge is structurally deficient, which means it needs significant maintenance, repairs or replacement.
White said drivers could expect delays and asked that they be patient and check the department’s Web site, www.odot.org, for traffic information.
“It’s a very important project,” he said. “If you drive that section of highway daily, you know we have had a lot of growth in that area.”
As with the I-44 project, two lanes of U.S. 169 will remain open during peak traveling hours, he said.
The department also announced Monday that it had awarded 89 percent of the $465 million it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal stimulus package. More than 160 projects have begun, with 33 already completed.
“We’re progressing very quickly,” said Tim Gatz, the department’s capital programs director. “We feel like we’re doing very well. The state of Oklahoma is getting the money into the economy.”
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I-44 work to start in earnest," which was published on 11/3/2009. So far, 13 comments have been made.
