I-44 Tulsa

[Gridlock]

Work has begun on widening I-44 between Riverside and Yale.

Does anybody know when work will begin on Yale to Sheridan segment?  Strange, this stretch (Yale to BA) has highest traffic counts, yet its the absolutely last section in the city to be widened.

[Scott5114]

All I can say is thank goodness.

[Chris]

Is Tulsa congested during rushhour? It seems to have quite an extensive freeway/tollway network.

[Scott5114]

I-44 in Tulsa is a pain at any time of day! Only two narrow lanes with lots of curves spells lots of congestion and hair-raising moments... it's a very outdated freeway. If I could scrounge up enough cash to bypass Tulsa via the Creek Turnpike, I'd always do it!

[SSOWorld]

Good thing I didn't drive it yet... I mainly used I-244 while I was in Tulsa in 2002. (of course that means I still have some clinching to do. )

[Gridlock]

IMO, Tulsa is not very congested during rush hours compared to most cities.  I-44 has 2 substandard 4 lane segments (original construction from the 1950's) which are congested and where chuncks of concrete from the bridges/overpasses periodically fall on the streets below (sometimes a whole forms a hole all the way thru the bridge deck!).  These are Riverside to OK 51 (reconstruction now underway) and I-244 merge to US 412/OK66 interchange in Catoosa area which is also scheduled for widening soon.  The Catoosa segment has gotten much more congested recently due to nearby casino which is expanding and being rebranded into a Hard Rock Casino/hotel/restaurant/resort.

OK 51 and US 169 are probably the busiest commuter routes but move well except at substandard cloverleaf interchanges (OK51/I-44 and OK51/US169) where backups occur every rush hour.  OK 51 has recently been expanded to 8 lanes well out into Broken Arrow.  US 169 is 6 lane from I-244 south to Creek Turnpike.

[mightyace]

I was looking at the aerial view on Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tulsa,+ok&sll=46.187437,-123.137512&sspn=1.2968,2.82074&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.173599,-95.737181&spn=0.023626,0.044074&z=15&layer=c&cbll=36.177105,-95.739985&panoid=iRgXrHQV0VnnVZQG183ykw&cbp=12,59.4068584102908,,0,3.24732229795521) and saw an apparently abandoned stretch of highway between the Will Rogers Turnpike and Historic Route 66.

Is this an earlier alignment of the Will Rogers, say before the Creek Turnpike was built?

[okroads]

I was looking at the aerial view on Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tulsa,+ok&sll=46.187437,-123.137512&sspn=1.2968,2.82074&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.173599,-95.737181&spn=0.023626,0.044074&z=15&layer=c&cbll=36.177105,-95.739985&panoid=iRgXrHQV0VnnVZQG183ykw&cbp=12,59.4068584102908,,0,3.24732229795521) and saw an apparently abandoned stretch of highway between the Will Rogers Turnpike and Historic Route 66.

Is this an earlier alignment of the Will Rogers, say before the Creek Turnpike was built?

That is exactly what it is. The Creek Turnpike in that section was finished around 2002, and I-44 was rerouted along U.S. 412 for an extra mile east to the Creek.

[mightyace]

That is exactly what it is. The Creek Turnpike in that section was finished around 2002, and I-44 was rerouted along U.S. 412 for an extra mile east to the Creek.

Do you think they'll ever release the ROW as its no longer in use?

[okroads]

That is exactly what it is. The Creek Turnpike in that section was finished around 2002, and I-44 was rerouted along U.S. 412 for an extra mile east to the Creek.

Do you think they'll ever release the ROW as its no longer in use?

Considering that we are talking about Oklahoma, probably not.  I don't know for sure, though.

[Scott5114]

Believe it or not, that section of bypassed freeway still has BGSes on it! (I saw some pictures of it on an urban exploration site.) I kinda want to explore it next time I'm around Tulsa...

It was also used as a prop in a Senator's reelection ads. The message basically was "Our roads suck! Vote for me, I'll fix them!" Yeah, of course that road sucks; it's been closed to traffic since 2002...

[bugo]

http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/newsmedia/i44riverside/pdfs/i44plans.pdf

Note that I-44 will be relocated in places.  Right now, work is being done on relocating a ditch just N of I-44 between Yorktown Ave and the Arkansas River, and between Yale and 41st Street.  Also some buildings on the S side of I-44 near Lewis just went bye-bye.  And the I-44 West to Peoria ramp is closed.   It's going to be a mess for a while.

[Scott5114]

Neat. Looks like we'll have some stuff to look at for the Tulsa meet.

[bugo]

The section of I-44 between OK 51 and Harvard is now open to six lanes of traffic,  It's concrete.  I fully expect it to be falling apart within 10 years, but it's nice now.
Post Merge: September 28, 2011, 19:53:23
I forgot to mention that the overhead signage is the ugly monotubes, some are half tubes while some go over the entire road.  And of course, the signs are in Clearview.  Nice roads, ugly signs.

[US71]

What's the status of 44 near the MO State Line?

[rte66man]

What about 44 from Riverside past Peoria?  I know the stretch from there to Harvard is still a year or so off.

rte66man

[okroads]

What's the status of 44 near the MO State Line?

It was still down to one lane each direction as of 9/12.

[codyg1985]

You have any pictures of it bugo?

[Rick1962]

What about 44 from Riverside past Peoria?  I know the stretch from there to Harvard is still a year or so off.

rte66man

Currently, all I-44 traffic is using the WB bridge over the Arkansas River. The EB bridge is closed for widening and the addition of an extra span at the east end. When that is completed, traffic will shift to the EB bridge with the same treatment for the WB bridge.

Construction on the new EB bridge over Peoria Ave. looks to be about halfway. Piers are up, and steel beams are in place for the decking. Once that is complete, traffic will be shifted to the new bridge, the old one demolished, and the new WB bridge built.

The plan for Lewis Ave. is to wait until both Peoria and Harvard are substantially completed before beginning major work, as Lewis will need to be completely closed at I-44. There is a substantial amount of earthwork that will need to be done there.

Harvard should be getting close to completion. Paving is just about finished under I-44, and most of the lighting and traffic control is up.

[bugo]

What about 44 from Riverside past Peoria?  I know the stretch from there to Harvard is still a year or so off.

rte66man

The new Peoria bridge is being built just south of the current one.  Peoria is down to 1 lane in each direction at I-44 and is a major pain in the ass.  I avoid SB Peoria altogether.  The section from Lewis to Peoria is mostly unaltered, the only stretch of the original Skelly Drive still in existence.

[bugo]

What about 44 from Riverside past Peoria?  I know the stretch from there to Harvard is still a year or so off.

rte66man

Currently, all I-44 traffic is using the WB bridge over the Arkansas River. The EB bridge is closed for widening and the addition of an extra span at the east end. When that is completed, traffic will shift to the EB bridge with the same treatment for the WB bridge.

Construction on the new EB bridge over Peoria Ave. looks to be about halfway. Piers are up, and steel beams are in place for the decking. Once that is complete, traffic will be shifted to the new bridge, the old one demolished, and the new WB bridge built.

The plan for Lewis Ave. is to wait until both Peoria and Harvard are substantially completed before beginning major work, as Lewis will need to be completely closed at I-44. There is a substantial amount of earthwork that will need to be done there.

Harvard should be getting close to completion. Paving is just about finished under I-44, and most of the lighting and traffic control is up.

51st Street along I-44 is pretty much complete.  The old traffic signals at 51st and Harvard are still in use, but the new ones are in place.  51st west of Lewis is closed WB, which means I have to drive past Harvard to get onto I-44.  It can't be any worse than using the Deathramp though.

[rte66man]

I'm assuming you are referring to the EB I44 entrance just west of Lewis?

rte66man

[bugo]

I'm assuming you are referring to the EB I44 entrance just west of Lewis?

rte66man

Yes.

The Deathramp:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2868.0

Video of Deathramp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP3ex2ucdw0

[bugo]

Construction on the new EB bridge over Peoria Ave. looks to be about halfway. Piers are up, and steel beams are in place for the decking. Once that is complete, traffic will be shifted to the new bridge, the old one demolished, and the new WB bridge built.

Peoria is down to one lane at I-44.  It's a bottleneck, it gets backed up a lot.  I was down there at 4 and traffic was backed up nearly to the Quik Trip at 45th and Peoria.

The plan for Lewis Ave. is to wait until both Peoria and Harvard are substantially completed before beginning major work, as Lewis will need to be completely closed at I-44. There is a substantial amount of earthwork that will need to be done there.

I'm not looking forward to that at all.  But maybe I'll be moved by then.  Lewis is going to go under I-44 instead of over it.  44 will have to be raised quite a bit and Lewis will have to be lowered quite a bit before this can be done.
 

Harvard should be getting close to completion. Paving is just about finished under I-44, and most of the lighting and traffic control is up.

The new traffic signals were in use as of 6:30 AM on Monday, September 3.  It looked to be complete, except for some orange cones.

[bugo]

I also noticed there is one of those signs that lists distances to exits above I-44 EB just west of Harvard.  It lists OK 51 but doesn't list US 64.  The Broken Arrow Expressway is both US 64 and OK 51 at the I-44 cloverleaf.  There's also an onramp onto the EB BA (64-51) just east of the Mingo offramp that only points to OK 51.  It seems that US 64 is "subservient" (did I just invent a new term?) to OK 51 through Tulsa.  On the ODOT section map, it shows the section as OK 51 only.  It is also subservient to US 169 as 169 is always the first highway listed and is the only highway signed on some signs (like the big green signs at EB 71st Street and US 169.)  What other US highways are dissed by state highways?  Are any Interstates subservient to state or US highways?  I-64/US 40 in the St Louis metro doesn't count, I'm looking for highways that come in second according the highway department.