Posted on 02/05/2021 3:23:03 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The highway headache in west Tulsa has only just begun.
As part of a project to widen Interstate 44 from west of the Arkansas River to Union Avenue, and to improve the I-44/U.S. 75 interchange, significant delays can be expected, especially during peak travel times.
“It’s definitely the hard part of the project right now,” Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kenna Mitchell said Tuesday.
“They’re going to be placing some additional signage further back in the corridor to alert drivers.”
Northbound U.S. 75 is narrowed to one lane at the interchange, causing northbound traffic to back up at least two miles, past 71st Street near the Tulsa Hills shopping center.
“On northbound 75, people are speeding. They get to 71st, and it’s causing a lot of issues there,” Mitchell said. “Drivers have really got to slow down and pay attention.”
I-44 is also narrowed to one lane in each direction, causing eastbound traffic to back up to 33rd West Avenue. Westbound I-44 traffic is often backed up past the east side of the Arkansas River bridge.
The narrowing of the lanes at the interchange is going to be the most challenging part of the two-year project for drivers, Mitchell said.
That is expected to last for at least two months, depending on weather, she said.
The eastbound I-44 off-ramp to northbound U.S. 75 and the southbound U.S. 75 off-ramp to eastbound I-44 at the interchange also are closed through early 2022.
Drivers are urged to use an alternative route, such as Interstate 244.
Skelly Drive on the south side of I-44 also is closed between Union Avenue and Olympia Avenue until further notice.
(Excerpt) Read more at tulsaworld.com ...
PING!
So it begins with the Obama III administration of “shovel ready” jobs and our “tax dollars at work”.
This has been planned for some time. I love living in Tulsa - except for the roads. Horrible. Takes forever to fix them. Result is usually worse than the problem.
Not OK but years ago (mid ‘70’s) we had to make several trips from CA to OH and highways in NM were always under construction - well, at least according to signs - all the way to Albuquerque...with signs:
Road work next 4.5678265716 miles - no kidding. No matter how much time there was between trips, those signs were always there and I don’t think we ever saw any construction. I always thought it was because no one knew just how to measure off those miles!
I moved from Oklahoma 30 years to California.
One day I was driving up Highway 101 when the CHP pulled me over.
I handed him my Oklahoma license(my car was still tagged OK)
He asked if I knew why he pulled me over and I responded “Well, I guess I was going a bit fast”
“Yes, you were going fast but, not why I pulled you over” He said. “I pulled you over because you were in the “Diamond Lane”
Squinting my eyes I said “Diamond Lane? What’s a Diamond Lane?”
So pointing at a sign he says read that sign.(It was a carpool lane sign)
I puzzlingly asked “What’s carpool lane?”
Laughing a bit he asked “You don’t have carpool lanes in Oklahoma”.
“No. We have swimming pools. What does a carpool lane do” I responded.
He goes on to explain something about tree huggers and designed to relieve congestion at rush hour.
He then asks “They don’t have traffic congestion in Tulsa at rush hour?”
“I guess. It might take 5 or 10 minutes longer to get somewhere but, I can live with that” I responded.
He then chuckled and said “You saw what the fine was for being in the carpool lane, right?”
“Yeah and $275 seems a bit onerous since I pay taxes to be in the lane” I responded.
Laughing a bit more he say’s “You are probably my best laugh for a stop this month. During those hours stay out of the lane and avoid a ticket. Here is your license” He chuckled “I’m going to cite you. Have a great day” and chuckling some more he returned to his car and I went on my merry way.
Livin’ on Tulsa time...
Oklahoma has one of the worst on time and on budget records of any highway department in the nation.
The surrounding states spend similar or less money on highways and ALL, every one of them, have a better road quality rating than Oklahoma.
Even compared to Oklahoma Kansas is poor as a bunch of church mice but still have better road quality. Missouri is now spending less than Oklahoma on roads and still have better quality roads.
Crossing a state line into Oklahoma is like entering one long speed bump, more like plowed ground.
I suspect that these projects were planned out before Butt-head and Commie were inaugurated.
Maybe they were trying to use kilometers, then convert them to miles.
I was only in OK once, going east to west during a road trip out to California in 2005. I was on I-40 the entire time. I guess that one’s not to bad, although back then, I had to take the old, crumbling Central Expressway viaduct through OKC.
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