I-44 Construction, Lawton

[Bobby5280]

Today work is starting on another I-44 project in Lawton that will have movements in the Cache Road & 2nd Street interchange disrupted for at least the next 9 months or possibly more than a full year. Four bridges in the interchange will be either repaired or replaced. I'm hoping for the latter since those bridges, especially the "tri-level," are very old.

The I-44 northbound (East) exit ramp to Cache Road is closed. The bridge spanning the 2nd Street ramp to I-44 EB will be replaced. According to the press release at ODOT the other 3 bridges (including the tri-level bridges) will merely be rehabilitated. IMHO, it doesn't make much sense to disrupt the busiest I-44 interchange in Lawton for a year just to do a patch job. Those very old arched concrete bridges look like they were built in the 1950's or something. The concrete is covered with rust streaks. ODOT is eventually going to have to completely replace those two old bridges in that tri-level. I don't know why they don't just get it over with already.

Drivers in Lawton already put up with a very long, disruptive project on I-44 recently. The road bed of I-44 between the Cache Road interchange and Key Gate on Fort Sill was completely replaced. The I-44 road bed between the Cache Road interchange and 11th Street exit was rehabilitated (joint repair, new shoulders, cable barriers, etc.).

[Bobby5280]

An additional comment: the timing on this bridge replacement and rehab project probably could not have been more stupid. Honestly ODOT should have handled these bridge replacement and rehab tasks back when much of the same interchange was closed for months on end just recently.

Nope. They had to wait around and then start the project just as a brand new shopping center is getting ready to open on 2nd Street just South of this interchange.

As various roads in and out of the Cache Rd/2nd Street/I-44 interchange are closed it's going to create some serious traffic headaches along several surface streets in that area, like 2nd Street, Ferris Ave., 11th Street & Gore Blvd. Ferris Ave. is a little 2 lane street, but I predict it will be choked with traffic heading to/from the new shopping center.

I spotted a couple odd detour signs at a couple points in Lawton that has me wondering if traffic from I-44 will be detoured into Lawton (along Rogers Lane, Fort Sill Blvd and Gore Blvd).

[Bobby5280]

Day 2 of this project: basically forget anything that was written in the ODOT press release. Apparently they're not following that schedule at all. More on and off ramps are closed than what they originally announced.

This morning the Cache Rd entrance to I-44 West (South really) was closed, detouring traffic onto 2nd Street & Gore Blvd. Coincidentally, 2nd Street is reduced down to 1 lane in each direction because of street construction in front of the new shopping center & Hilton Garden Inn hotel. Now that's a really serious bottleneck. Traffic from Cache Rd. onto 2nd Street has already been backing up at the Ferris Ave. traffic light. The Gore Blvd. light on the South end of this shopping center and hotel project is just plain horrible. There's next to no time for traffic on 2nd Street to move through that light toward Central Mall or turn left onto Gore Blvd toward I-44. The City of Lawton is going to have to change the timing of that light.

Hopefully all lanes of 2nd Street will be open once again by the time Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond and all those other stores open around the end of March. If not, 2nd Street will be a nightmare to deal with.

[leroys73]

Bobby, You about guessed it.  That Tri-level was there when I first moved to Lawton, America, in June 1961. I agree a safer replacement should be built. I remember some serious wrecks there.  I also remember my wilder days of seeing how fast I could take those without the rear end starting to break loose.   

I agree on the timing. Why didn't they do all that when the other work was being done.  I know money is always an issue since they waste so much but my God, plan ahead.  We know in a few years they will have to come back and either re repair it or replace it. 

I am not sure if it was there when I first visited in 1957 or 1958. I wasn't driving then (age 8 or 9) and was with my parents.  All I remember is staying at a motel (owned by Brownings I think but long gone) at the corner of Rogers Lane and then US277 with trips to Ft. Sill.

Little did I know in just a few short years my life would be changed forever by that visit.  I'm better because of it.  Mom married the guy she was dating (he was a great stepdad), I got a good education, always had a job or two or three, made some good friends, and met my present wife of 19 years.

Good to see you on again and mentioning good old Lawton, America.

[I94RoadRunner]

And now if the DOT could only build a free flowing interchange similar to I-44/Cache at Rogers Ln. Then keep making US 62 westward into a freeway to improve safety and traffic flow.  At least the two par-clo interchanges along Rogers were changed so that Rogers was the through route

[Scott5114]

...They weren't originally?

Wow, ODOT.

[Bobby5280]

I remember when Rogers Lane was originally built back at the end of the 1980's and early 1990's. I was really disappointed to see it built as little more than a glorified divided city street. The exits for Fort Sill Blvd. and Sheridan Rd. were part of the original design. However, they had these INSANE at-grade left turn movements across the main lanes of Rogers Lane. At that time US-62 was routed along Cache Road.

Just a few years ago US-62 was re-routed onto Rogers Lane. When that change took place the very dangerous enter/exit designs with Fort Sill Blvd. and Sheridan Rd. had to be modified. I'd like to see some other changes to Rogers Lane, such as the addition of shoulders.

IMHO, Rogers Lane ought to be converted into an Interstate highway spur. There is a lot of traffic on that road and everyone driving on it already drives as if Rogers Lane was an Interstate highway. Additionally, there's so much traffic on Cache Road that a better relief route is needed. A group of local business and civic leaders have been studying just what to do about Cache Road. There's so much development alongside that street that it would be unfeasible to convert it into an urban freeway. Upgrading Rogers Lane would be a better alternative. If Rogers Lane was an I-x44 spur it might attract more of the volume of local and thru traffic. There is plenty of ROW space available on the north side of Rogers Lane. Fort Sill demolished the old housing in "Artillery Village" (between Fort Sill Blvd and Sheridan Rd). There's nothing on the other side of that sound barrier along Rogers Lane but empty space. I would think such an upgrade is do-able since other Army installations like Fort Bliss and Fort Benning have superhighways entering or crossing them.

As to the current situation with the I-44/2nd St./Cache Rd. interchange: it's still a big mess. And it's augmented with other construction projects going on around town. All the work on 2nd Street is nearing completion. Still, the traffic lights at 2nd & Ferris and 2nd & Gore are bottlenecks. Ferris Ave. between Fort Sill Blvd. and 2nd Street is going to be a mess. Those two little lanes are fixing to be choked with traffic. I don't know what's been going on lately with the stretch of Gore Blvd crossing I-44, but lately in the late afternoon it's been pretty jammed with traffic. The signals at I-44 and lights at the Comanche Nation Casino entrance have created a major choke point for the increased volume of traffic, some of it detoured away from I-44.

For all the traffic headaches that have been created, ODOT ought to be doing a hell of a lot more than a mere patch job on those half-century old "tri-level" bridges. They ought to be completely replaced.

[leroys73]

Bobby, you remember when Rogers Lane was concreted.  I remember learning to drive when it was dirt (before 60s and maybe into 70s) then they declared it paved with a thin layer of asphalt. Actually the asphalt was worse than the dirt. At least the dirt was graded after a rain to make it smooth but the asphalt was lumpy and bumpy with holes all the time.  That is where I learned a lot about "off roading". 

When they built the "new" Rogers Lane as you stated many of us knew the interchanges were a big joke.  But who listens  to the people who actually use the roads?

The excuse they used back then was that the city and county had to agree on costs.  Then later the excuse not to do something was getting the Feds to give up land from Ft. Sill.  I am sure they have new excuses. 

Cache Rd out to west of 44th Street (Old Cache Rd west needs improvement) would probably be good to go if Rogers Lane would have been built right from the get go.  An I-44 spur is a good idea. We know each year there will be more and more traffic passing through Lawton and coming to Lawton as more new businesses come to town. Even Duncan has a loop around.   

[rte66man]

<snipped> 

Cache Rd out to west of 44th Street (Old Cache Rd west needs improvement) would probably be good to go if Rogers Lane would have been built right from the get go.  An I-44 spur is a good idea. We know each year there will be more and more traffic passing through Lawton and coming to Lawton as more new businesses come to town. Even Duncan has a loop around.   

Sort of.  Even though Duncan should build a statue to Jari Askins for getting the funding for it, it won't be a true bypass until the southern leg from Bois d'Arc to Seminole Rd is finished in 5-7 years.

I often wondered why the Rogers Lane rebuild was short-changed.  Politics OK style as usual.

[leroys73]

<snipped> 

Cache Rd out to west of 44th Street (Old Cache Rd west needs improvement) would probably be good to go if Rogers Lane would have been built right from the get go.  An I-44 spur is a good idea. We know each year there will be more and more traffic passing through Lawton and coming to Lawton as more new businesses come to town. Even Duncan has a loop around.   

Sort of.  Even though Duncan should build a statue to Jari Askins for getting the funding for it, it won't be a true bypass until the southern leg from Bois d'Arc to Seminole Rd is finished in 5-7 years.

I often wondered why the Rogers Lane rebuild was short-changed.  Politics OK style as usual.

You are correct, the by pass is actually not complete since 81 east is still a bit slow.  You are right on the OK politics. 

Wyatt Acers, wow that brings back memories.  When I moved to Lawton in 1961 (7th grade) those homes were so expensive my parents did not know how anyone could afford them.  Some were so expensive, maybe as much as $25,000.  It is still a very nice area. 

I lived in Lawton, America, for over 30 years. My wife was transferred to Dallas by Goodyear in late 1996 to a regional office then laid off a few years later.  It was a good run and she has another very good job.  We are still here. I taught math so I had no trouble finding a job.  Always good to see a Lawtonian posting.

 

[leroys73]

Bobby, I rode my motorcycle up to good ol' Lawton Saturday to have breakfast with some old teaching buddies and visit my sis and brother-in-law (returned home same day).  I see what you mean about the I-44/Cache road interchange.  God, what a mess.  The signage is a bit lacking also.  Heading out of town east on Cache Road to come back to "Big D" was a pain.  I figured real quick I would have to go to Gore to get back on I-44 but someone not familiar with Big L Town might have been a little confused.  Then you add in the 2nd street mess. 

[Bobby5280]

I just hope ODOT rebuilds as much of the I-44 & Cache Rd interchange as possible while most of its ramps are closed to traffic.

I'm pretty disappointed they are merely refurbishing three of the four bridges in this project. They're keeping the existing concrete support pylons and steel I-beams in the two "tri-level" bridges and the bridge for the Cache Rd entrance to I-44 that spans the I-44 exit to 2nd Street. Maybe they know something I don't. Considering ODOT completely replaced the I-44 WB span over the 2nd Street entrance to I-44 EB a couple or so years ago and are now replacing the I-44 WB exit to Cache Rd bridge over the 2nd Street entrance to I-44 EB I would have figured they would completely replace those other bridges as well. They're just as old and worn, if not older and more worn.

I don't know if ODOT will bother repaving the exit and entrance ramps in the I-44/Cache Rd/2nd Street interchange. ODOT put in new concrete slab on the I-44 main lanes during the last project through this interchange. But the ramps connecting 2nd Street and Cache Rd were left as is (in pretty dilapidated shape). I'll be pretty disappointed if they don't rebuild those roadways while they have to opportunity to do so. It would be ridiculous to have new or refurbished bridges connected by bumpy, crumbling ramps.

One bit of progress: the section of 2nd Street running by the new shopping center and Hilton Garden Inn has all lanes open now. The traffic light at Gore Blvd is still a bottleneck though. However most of Railroad Ave. is now open, so some drivers (including me) are bypassing that traffic light by turning off 2nd Street, cutting through the shopping center's thru streets and then getting on Railroad Ave to get down to East Gore Blvd. and points farther South.

[rte66man]

27050(04) 7 US062 1.120 $5,680,000
INTERCHANGE COMANCHE US-62 AT I-44 INTERCHANGE IN LAWTON (IM EARMARK)
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Bobby, do you know whether this is the Cache Road interchange or yet another "fix" for the Rogers Lane interchange?

[Bobby5280]

I would imagine it would be for the Cache Road interchange. I don't know the latest news on construction progress, but it still has things really screwed up in downtown Lawton. I think the new shopping center on 2nd street is suffering badly over this extremely poorly timed project. ODOT should have done this work years ago when the interchange was previously closed.

I have a feeling as crews proceed through various phases of this project they're going to uncover a lot of additional crap that has to be fixed. Those old tri-level bridges might have all sorts of problems lurking under the surface.

I'm not aware of the Roger's Lane exit needing any immediate improvements (of course that would all change in the unlikely event of ODOT converting Roger's Lane into an Interstate quality road).

[I94RoadRunner]

I would imagine it would be for the Cache Road interchange. I don't know the latest news on construction progress, but it still has things really screwed up in downtown Lawton. I think the new shopping center on 2nd street is suffering badly over this extremely poorly timed project. ODOT should have done this work years ago when the interchange was previously closed.

I have a feeling as crews proceed through various phases of this project they're going to uncover a lot of additional crap that has to be fixed. Those old tri-level bridges might have all sorts of problems lurking under the surface.

I'm not aware of the Roger's Lane exit needing any immediate improvements (of course that would all change in the unlikely event of ODOT converting Roger's Lane into an Interstate quality road).

I know that there are two loop ramps to be built at the Roger Ln/I-44 junction for Eastbound I-44. Not sure about the time frame of the project though

[Bobby5280]

I learned about plans are in the works to modify the Rogers Lane interchange with I-44 a couple weeks ago. The City of Lawton Mayor, Fred Fitch was at my civic club meeting a couple weeks ago and mentioned the project as one item on a short list of things ODOT plans to do in Lawton. Fitch said something about a "cloverleaf."

I'm wondering if ODOT has any schematic plans showing how the on/off ramps will be changed, at least any plans available to the public. I would be surprised (perhaps pleasantly) if it turned out ODOT was going to convert the intersection into a SPUI. But those kinds of interchanges cost a lot more than $5 million. Still, the Rogers Lane exit has a couple ramps that really suck. There's not a hell of a lot of room there to build cloverleaf ramps large enough to be bigger than hairpin turns.

One thing Rogers Lane really needs is a direct connector flyover ramp for Eastbound Rogers Lane traffic going to Eastbound (North really) I-44 traffic. ODOT built a new ramp for Westbound I-44 traffic exiting to Westbound Rogers Lane traffic a few years ago. It's not an elevated flyover ramp, but it does have a bridge crossing a new entrance road onto Fort Sill.

In Lawton, the interchange most in need of being entirely re-built as a SPUI is the Gore Blvd exit. The current configuration is a pretty bad traffic bottleneck. Gore Blvd goes through two traffic signals crossing I-44 and immediately has a 3rd signal at the entrance to the Best Western Hotel & Comanche Nation Casino. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic crossing I-44 there, either on the bridges that were NOT designed for any pedestrian traffic at all or people jaywalking across I-44 to get directly to the casino. A couple of people have been hit by vehicles on I-44 in the past year; one was killed. A SPUI would reduce the number of traffic lights there, improving traffic flow. Plus pedestrians would finally have some way to get across I-44.

BTW, the Cache Rd & I-44 interchange project is nearing completion. The main lanes of I-44 are open through both directions of the interchange. The exit from WB I-44 to 2nd Street has been open for a couple weeks now. Crews are still working on the road surface of the two tri-level bridges as well as the ramps leading to them. The two other bridges being rebuilt still need more work. Last time I looked the first bridge on the I-44 ramp to WB Cache Rd (crossing the 2nd street on ramp to EB I-44) just had the I-beams on the bridge supports and little if any deck work started. The word I've heard is some additional parts of the interchange may open by late September -perhaps the EB Cache Rd ramp to EB I-44. It's probably going to be October at the earliest before the I-44 off ramp to Cache Road reopens.

[Bobby5280]

Update.

Two of the previously closed on ramps from Cache Road onto I-44 are now open. The ramp from Cache Road onto I-44 Eastbound (the top bridge of the tri-level) opened about 10 days ago. A couple days ago ODOT opened the ramp from Cache Road onto I-44 Westbound.

The exit from I-44 Westbound onto 2nd Street opened several weeks ago. The exit from I-44 Westbound onto Cache Road was open throughout the duration of the project.

A small crew is still finishing work on a bridge at the beginning of the off ramp from I-44 Eastbound onto Cache Road. That ramp remains closed. That bridge spans over the 2nd Street ramp onto I-44. The 2nd Street entrance to both I-44 and Cache Road remains closed. It's not clear when those remaining ramps will open. It could be before the end of the month or perhaps sometime in November.

Even though ODOT had most of the Cache Road/2nd Street interchange with I-44 shut down for much of this year there is still work left to be done. The tri-level bridges weren't completely rebuilt, just refurbished. The finished project looks nice. The bridges have a decorative paint job and molded buffaloes in the concrete bridge railings. But I don't know how long those bridges can last. ODOT laid down new concrete on portions of some of the ramps they closed, but it's obvious a lot of the old pavement on those ramps wasn't replaced. That leaves open the possibility they'll have this interchange shut down for a lengthy period sometime in the future, perhaps pretty soon.

Other than funding issues, I don't know why ODOT didn't just completely redo that interchange when they had it closed down the first time at the beginning of this decade.

[leroys73]

Good to hear the progress.  I haven't been up there is several months.  I'm heading up sometime in November so have to check it out. Thanks.

[leroys73]

Made it up past Wednesday on my motorcycle for breakfast with some old teaching buddies. 
Went in on Lee and out by way of Cache Road/I-44/287 back to Dallas area.  Glad to see it open.  Like Bobby said, why they didn't completely redo the entire interchange.  Oh well, surface is better.

I'll be back up in two weeks. Then I'll get a chance to see the rest of it.

[Bobby5280]

Yesterday ODOT had I-44 shut down between the Lee Blvd and Gore Blvd exits due to a serious natural gas line break. Other roads in the immediate area were blocked too. The gas smell was very obvious in the SE part of Lawton when the break happened. Crews were working on a new access road South of Comanche Nation Casino. They pierced the gas line when drilling a pier hole for a new light post. I guess those guys didn't think to call 811 for a locate.


It took several hours for Centerpoint Energy/Arkla to repair the leak. I-44 was re-opened just after 6:00pm.

Meanwhile, the last two ramps on that I-44/Cache Road/2nd Street interchange stubbornly remain close, despite the fact it looks like all the work has been completed for at least the last week or so. I don't know why ODOT is dragging its feet on removing those "road closed" signs from the 2nd Street entrance to I-44 East and the I-44 East exit to Cache Rd. They need to get it done already. I've had it with commuting via the surface streets in Lawton. Too many motorists here drive deliberately slooowwwww, or play with their smart phones or do other things to not pay attention. When a traffic light turns green here you're often going to be stuck waiting and waiting if other drivers are in front of you. They may not like that particular green light and want to wait for a different green light, and go back to Facebook while they wait for it.

[leroys73]

OMG, that had to be a mess with 44 closed. 

A buddy of mine up there swears the reason ODOT leaves barrels, road closed signs, etc out so long is they do not have any place to store them.  So they are left there until the next job. 

[Scott5114]

I-35 around the Main Street interchange is still marked as a work zone with a 55 MPH speed limit, despite the fact that the interchange opened in April. Of course, since it's marked as a work zone there, any speeding tickets incurred would have their fines doubled.

[leroys73]

Yep, I see that sort of stuff all around the country.  At least some states state, "Fines double when workers are present." 

[Scott5114]

I think Oklahoma's does state "when workers are present", but the work zone extends down into the SH-9 interchange rework, where there are workers present, so determining whether a fine incurred at Main where there are no workers present should be doubled or not would probably require a lawyer. It would be cheaper to just pay the fine, even if it were doubled.

[Bobby5280]

Finally. The I-44/Cache Rd/2nd Street interchange is 100% open once again. This past weekend ODOT finally removed the "Road Closed" signs at the 2nd Street entrance to I-44 East and the I-44 East off-ramp to Cache Road.

While it was nice to be able to drive through the previously closed stretches of road, I wasn't too pleased to see some aging segments of pavement still remained. Of course this will give ODOT a good excuse to close down much of the interchange yet again at some point in the near future whenever they want to piecemeal in those repairs.

I hate to call ODOT and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority cheap, but I get that impression about Oklahoma's network of roads & bridges, particularly when it comes to the Interstate highways and turnpikes in how they compare with neighboring states. I was in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin this past weekend (traveling between both places via I-35). Obviously Texas has a far greater population and tax base than Oklahoma, but I'm still kind of blown away by what they're building down there versus what Oklahoma has not been doing here.

Aside from being unable to build stack interchanges with huge flyover ramps, Oklahoma can't even manage to preserve the right of way in painfully obvious transportation corridors, like OK-9 and OK-4 -which would have made up the Southern half of an Kilpatrick Turnpike outer loop. The OTA wants to build this. But they (and ODOT) couldn't do something sensible like have the foresight to build a divided street with a huge median, like Texas has been doing for decades, well before commercial and residential development encroaches all over the ROW. It would not have cost OTA & ODOT a ton of money to copy the Texas model, when they should have done it 10-20 years ago when the opportunity was very obviously present. Instead, they went on the cheap, doing as little as possible. Now, if ODOT or OTA actually desires to connect the H.E. Bailey Turnpike Extension to I-35 near Norman and I-40 in Mustang they'll have to spend a whole lot more money doing it. Pushing it through Mustang directly to where the Kilpatrick Turnpike ends is probably impossible now. Mustang has grown too much in the past 10 years.