Now they're talking about tearing down I-244 in downtown Tulsa

[Plutonic Panda]

ODOT needs to get on the ball then and just build a new freeway and ensure it won't be torn down for at least 70 years.

A complete rebuild of the north leg of the IDL was completed in 2011. All the way down to the dirt, all new concrete. It is pretty much is new now.

Amazing. And they didn't have the foresight to remove the left exits.

Foresight?? The cost to do what you have described would be hundreds of millions of dollars, which would siphon off all available funds for more worthwhile projects statewide. Not meeting current design standards? Yes, but unless ODOT wins the lottery, it ain't gonna happen.

We've gotta get off the cheap train.

So money grows on trees now. Got it.

There's a reason basically every major road improvement in Oklahoma in the past 20 years has been a city-owned freeway (Tisdale/Gilcrease) or a turnpike.

Yep. That's exactly it. Money grows on trees. Nothing more to be said because that's exactly what I said. Streets ought to be paved with gold. That's exactly what I suggested. [Personal attack redacted. -S.]

[Scott5114]

"Oklahoma doesn't have enough money to do this" and "Oklahoma should have enough money to do this" are two ideas that can both be true.

[The Ghostbuster]

If money grows on trees, then $100 bills fall out of my rear end every time I visit the john.

[Plutonic Panda]

"Oklahoma doesn't have enough money to do this" and "Oklahoma should have enough money to do this" are two ideas that can both be true.

Bullshit

[Scott5114]

"Oklahoma doesn't have enough money to do this" and "Oklahoma should have enough money to do this" are two ideas that can both be true.

Bullshit

How so?

[Plutonic Panda]

"Oklahoma doesn't have enough money to do this" and "Oklahoma should have enough money to do this" are two ideas that can both be true.

Bullshit

How so?

I was being facetious sorry i should've added an /s tag. But to be fair ODOT could've done this the right way if they wanted to and simply was being cheap. That's my point. Moving the exits to the right isn't a pie in the sky proposal here. They can do it.

[BigOkie]

"Oklahoma doesn't have enough money to do this" and "Oklahoma should have enough money to do this" are two ideas that can both be true.

Bullshit

How so?

I was being facetious sorry i should've added an /s tag. But to be fair ODOT could've done this the right way if they wanted to and simply was being cheap. That's my point. Moving the exits to the right isn't a pie in the sky proposal here. They can do it.

You have more faith in ODOT than I do then...

[DJStephens]

Amazing. And they didn't have the foresight to remove the left exits. 

I took a look at the area with GE and was reminded that whichever ODOT engineer designed 244 in the 60's was in love with left exits. Leaving aside the IDL interchanges, they put them in WB at the Detroit/Cincinnati exit for no apparent reason. They also put them in both directions at Sheridan and Memorial. An argument could be made the one at Memorial was needed to separate the traffic signals at the top of the ramps from the ones at Memorial and Admiral but there is no good reason for the ones at Sheridan that I can see especially as there are service roads on both sides.

As someone who uses those left exits on the regular (I live just down the road from I-244 and Memorial) I can tell you the distance from the signals on both Memorial and Sheridan cause an issue; but it's also Easton St intersection to the south of the Sheridan exit that can be problematic.

Just not sure why all the hate for left exits.  These seem to serve a purpose.  I guess as someone who was born and grew up here, it never really affected me in that manner.

Maybe said Engineer, or group of engineers were from Connecticut.  Believe at one time, I-84 going through the state, had more Left exits than any other state in the country.   

[bugo]

The neighborhood wants I-244 torn down, not the state.

This is where the pro-demolition crowd is being dishonest. There is no "neighborhood" that would benefit from the highway being removed. There is only a church and OSU-Tulsa north of I-44. There are some multistory apartment buildings near Greenwood and Archer, but they are a result of gentrification. It would not improve the quality of life there to tear down I-244. I worked at the site for the Greenwood museum at Greenwood and Archer, and the highway isn't particularly intrusive there. The Greenwood underpass is wide open and brightly lit at night, and there's nothing preventing walking under the freeway. I imagine a lot of the naysayers don't even live in that part of town.