I-35 reconstruction through Norman, OK

[Scott5114]

Another way, way overdue bump with content!

The third lane is complete on both carriageways, and the new Exit 113 overpass is done and open. NB traffic stays on the NB carriageway. Now work has shifted to the median; all traffic has been shifted to what will eventually become the #2 and #3 lanes. The Jersey barriers are now lining the far left (#2) lane. Through gaps in the barrier and overpasses, the old Brifen cable barrier has been removed already. Looks like they're prepping to pave that median over and add a permanent Jersey barrier. Portions of the median north of Tecumseh are already done and lighting installed. Bad news for truss-arm fans: it appears to be the same T-shaped lighting with straight arms that appears around the Shields interchange.

No further work has occurred on the Rock Creek Road overpass.

With regard to signage: Since they needed the room for the new lane to go in, they've removed most signage except for the bridge-mounted signage at Robinson Street, and one random cantilever at Tecumseh Road (the one that's missing its exit-direction arrow). One removed sign is living in the space between the service road fence and the Interstate north of Tecumseh. Signage now consists of small green signs with mixed-case Series D. Wonder if they're going to leave the Robinson Street signage or replace it when they post all the signage after the project is done. And I wonder how it's going to look...will it be Clearview or not? The use of mixed-case D on the temp signage makes me wonder...

[Scott5114]

Signage is in the process of going up along the widened stretch of Interstate. In a first for the state of Oklahoma, the signage appears to be mounted on curved monotube half-gantries. No panels are up yet, but from the look of the z-bars on a few of the gantries, some of them are going to be massive. If J.N. Winkler is reading this, I'd be interested in getting the signage plans for this.

Widening work appears to be complete, they're just going over the asphalt with more and more layers (thickness/reinforcement?) The signs on the Robinson St. overpass have been removed... Ever see a bridge that's had a sign on it for years, and then the sign's suddenly removed? There's a lot of ickyness on that bridge...

[J N Winkler]

Make sure you have a bucket nearby.  The signing for this is awful--Clearview 6-W (not 5-W or 5-W-R), against both green and yellow "EXIT ONLY" bottom panels, bad centering, fraction rectangles not constructed correctly, Series E Modified in exit tabs, standard arrow instead of true downward arrow used as downward-pointing arrows, etc.

The job piece number for this is 09034(05).

[bugo]

Make sure you have a bucket nearby.  The signing for this is awful--Clearview 6-W (not 5-W or 5-W-R), against both green and yellow "EXIT ONLY" bottom panels, bad centering, fraction rectangles not constructed correctly, Series E Modified in exit tabs, standard arrow instead of true downward arrow used as downward-pointing arrows, etc.

The job piece number for this is 09034(05).

Are the signing plans for the reconstruction of Skelly Drive (I-44) in Tulsa online?

[J N Winkler]

Nope, afraid not--the plans go away soon after the letting.

[Scott5114]

Oh God, this is terrible. In addition, a few of the old signs that were removed will be re-set for the construction, meaning we're going to have a mishmash of overhead Clearview signage and ground-level FHWA Series. The directions are not mixed case, and there's one two random signs that is are set in all caps ("CHICKASHA", "S 19TH ST") and one is missing its exit tab. Also, one of the signs for exit 108AB makes reference to SH-74A, which was decommissioned over a year ago (perhaps these plans were prepared earlier). The milemarkers appear to be that weird Series E(M) compressed to Series D width thing (the "prison font"). And of course those damn monotubes.

I sincerely hope the fabricators of these signs took a few liberties with the plans.

But it's not all bad...there are some good things! There are going to be a lot of interchange sequence signs a la Kansas City. And a few of the exit direction panels don't look too bad in and of themselves.

[Scott5114]

The signage is sitting on a trailer in an interchange just south of the project. I can only see a couple of the signs, but it looks like at least the exit tabs are in Clearview to match the rest of the signs.

[Scott5114]

A few of the signs have been posted. Most of them NB, when I was going SB, alas. But I took some pictures:


A comparison between one of the signs that was posted and the sign drawing found in the plans. Looks like the contractor is taking some serious liberties with the plans, which in this case, is a good thing. Here's hoping "CHICKASHA" was corrected as well.


One of the monotube half-gantries, so far devoid of any signage. This particular one is slated to be an interchange sequence sign, thus the large height of the z-bars.


And a full gantry. This will house the Robinson Street Westbound (110A) exit direction sign on the right. I'm not sure whether a 110B sign is going to go on the left or one for 109.

[agentsteel53]

yeah, the mixed-case South looks a lot better than the widely spaced all-caps version.  Too bad the exit tab got changed to Clearview.

[Scott5114]

Personally, I'd prefer that if they're going to do one part of the sign in Clearview, they should do it all in Clearview. Having part of the sign in a different font is discordant. (Did they ever mix the square fonts and round fonts on the same sign?)

As they post more signs, I get to see the lower layers of the sign trailer behind the signs they're posting. Looks like back up in there they still have all of the 2003-era (FHWA series) gore signs back up in there, unharmed and ready to be re-posted. Along with the incidental signage along the side of the road ("Cleveland Co. Fairgrounds, Exit 110B", etc.) at least the FHWA series fonts will maintain a presence along this section of the interstate.

[J N Winkler]

They also constructed the fraction rectangle correctly on the as-installed sign, which is good.

This may not necessarily be a result of the contractor "taking liberties"--the plans I sent are the as-lets, and Oklahoma DOT has the option of changing them after award through change order (though typically not without added cost because the contractor can charge a premium for changes to a binding contract).

[Scott5114]

The sign truck was busy last night. Here's some more photos from this morning:



This is the same full gantry posted above with no signs on it. Slight technical glitch here: the loops of the "9"s shouldn't have the state outline within them. (Also, what's up with the "y" in "Lindsey"?) "WESTBOUND" (and "EASTBOUND" below) have been centered appropriately.



Looks like the negative-contrast Clearview has survived. Negative-contrast Clearview is not particularly uncommon in Oklahoma, on both ODOT-installed and contractor signage; it seems ODOT doesn't take the prohibition against it in the FHWA preliminary approval seriously. Also, note how on both this and the preceding sign, the Type D (straight-edged) arrow has been replaced by a Type A tapered arrow.

Some more observations, not yet photographed: "CHICKASHA" has been fixed. The "[9] WEST" text at the top, however, remains left-aligned. This gantry was supposed to have all-new signs on a monotube bridge, but the old, FHWA Series signs for Exit 108AB and Exit 109 have been shunted to the right (preservation of greenout!) and the new Clearview sign placed to the left. Last-minute cost-saving measure, perhaps?

Also, the down-pointing Type D arrows on pull-thru signage remain One of these signs is an oddity, as well: going northbound, there is a sign posted for "Oklahoma City" -- only the second sign in the state that I know of that actually spells out the full name of the city instead of abbreviating to "Okla. City".

[Scott5114]

BUMP OF THE CENTURY

After two years, Phase Two of this project is about to begin. VMSes are up stating that "I35/MAIN ST ROADWORK BEGINS JAN 7TH". Unsure if this is just the Main Street interchange or if the I-35 widening is happening too. In any event, the OKC area's second SPUI is going to be taking shape soon.

[rte66man]

BUMP OF THE CENTURY

After two years, Phase Two of this project is about to begin. VMSes are up stating that "I35/MAIN ST ROADWORK BEGINS JAN 7TH". Unsure if this is just the Main Street interchange or if the I-35 widening is happening too. In any event, the OKC area's second SPUI is going to be taking shape soon.

It's both.

rte66man

[kphoger]

Is there a projected end date?

[Scott5114]

No idea what the end date is.

Construction has started with the loop ramps at the I-35/Main Street cloverleaf closing; straight-line ramps will remain open. Signage hints that there is a posted detour, but I have yet to take I-35 through the zone since it started.

Mr. Winkler, would you happen to have the signage plans for this sitting around, if they have been made available yet?

[J N Winkler]

I have the construction plans for this job, which has job piece number 09031(08).  It covers just the Main Street cloverleaf-to-SPUI conversion, although the I-35 typical cross-sections call for three lanes in each direction.  This project has a resubmission date (handwritten in an obviously feminine hand at the upper left-hand corner of the title plan sheet) of September 12, 2012, and the file timestamps of my TIFF copy are all dated September 27, so I think this was advertised for the October 2012 letting.

(Goes and looks on the Oklahoma DOT server)

As it happens, the construction plans are still online:

http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/contracts/a2012/plans1210/095_1810_IM-NHIY-0035-2%28289%29_0903108/

Permanent signing and pavement marking plans are the "k" part of the plans distribution--sheets "k 007" through "k 011" are sign panel detail and sign elevation sheets, while "k 001" through "k 006" are sign layouts.  The sign designs are significantly cleaner than has been the case for recent ODOT projects in the Oklahoma City area.  There is also one page of details for mast arm signs ("m 023") and several of custom detour signs ("n 005" through "n 006").  (Gotta love that negative-contrast Clearview!)

[Scott5114]

Update...

The majority of the work is going on at Main Street. The cloverleaf ramps are closed and have been stripped of their pavement. ODOT plans to leave the diamond ramps in place and open throughout the project. Lanes are narrowed within the vicinity of Main Street, which causes a spectacularly bad merging situation going from the SH-9/Lindsey C/D lane to NB I-35.

Further south, a collection of cranes has shown up at the bridge over the Canadian River. They have removed the gantry containing signs for exits 108A-B NB and 106 SB, making up for it with some tiny orange signs.

[Scott5114]

The I-35 bridge over the Canadian River has been narrowed to 4 lanes (from six) so that the bridge can be widened where the Ed Noble Parkway ramp can come in. Strangely enough, the northbound lanes are getting the same treatment–are they widening the entire bridge to 8 lanes for some unknown reason?

[Scott5114]

Some updates:

• All ramps at Main Street are now closed and torn up (though for the most part signage still reads as if the interchange is open). The new bridge for the SPUI is taking shape.
• Widening continues on the Canadian River bridge. The deck appears to be mostly done, and rebar is in place for the permanent Jersey barrier at the edge (no concrete work for the barrier yet).
  
• And now for the rant: this project is a major safety disaster. Both northbound and southbound, the SH-9/Lindsey onramps have extremely truncated acceleration lanes; i.e. you have about 10 feet to merge into traffic before hitting a temporary Jersey barrier. I have already been involved in 2 minor accidents due to this work zone, and everyone you talk to around here knows someone that has a similar story. ODOT's response is that they are working in a constrained space and that the design was signed off on by FHWA, so they're not interested in doing much about it. They blame the safety problems on people speeding on mainline I-35. ODOT and/or their contractor needs to be investigated for the negligence on display here.
  

[agentsteel53]

i.e. you have about 10 feet to merge into traffic before hitting a temporary Jersey barrier.

what is the real amount of feet?  10 is shorter than a parking spot.  when the Templin Highway entrance to I-5 southbound had a Jersey barrier (and trucks bombing down the Grapevine doing 90 that you had to merge into), I measured the length of runway before the barrier at 120 feet.  I wonder if this is shorter.

[Scott5114]

i.e. you have about 10 feet to merge into traffic before hitting a temporary Jersey barrier.

what is the real amount of feet?  10 is shorter than a parking spot.  when the Templin Highway entrance to I-5 southbound had a Jersey barrier (and trucks bombing down the Grapevine doing 90 that you had to merge into), I measured the length of runway before the barrier at 120 feet.  I wonder if this is shorter.

I have no way of measuring, as there is no satellite imagery of the project available and it's impossible to get near the project site on foot.

It is possible to "cheat" and cut over early by crossing a painted gore, but that is dangerous as well because not all people are willing to do such a thing, so you have some people merging early and some following the lines.

[Scott5114]

Here's a video still from a news site of the NB merge:


News articles on the problems, with video:
http://kfor.com/2013/01/28/multiple-accidents-force-construction-changes/
http://www.news9.com/story/20808050/odot-working-to-change-dangerous-portion-of-i-35-north

Both of these news articles focus on the NB merge, but the SB merge (the one I had problems with) is just as bad.

[Scott5114]

Sometime this past week, traffic has been shifted onto the new bridge, and demolition started on the old one.

[Bobby5280]

I guess the completed SPUI at Main & I-35 will give Main Street a strange northward bend as it crosses the interstate.

The Morgan Road crossing over I-40 in Yukon has a westerly bend in that SPUI.

These bends aren't very pleasing looking from an aesthetic sense, but I suppose it's a far lesser evil than putting the new street bridges directly in place of the old ones (which would require completely shutting down that crossing for months).