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[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ completely agree. I wish we’d abolish toll roads personally but that’s my 2 cents.

[In_Correct]

I see tolls as taxes, just more efficient.  Roadpricing should be everywhere.

No. That would be the equivalent of a regressive tax that disproportionally harms the poor. Unless you're going to tie the amount of tolls to the value of the car or the wealth of the driver, sort of like how in some countries, the more a person makes, the higher traffic tickets are. And I'm not against toll roads. I used a toll road literally an hour ago. But I don't believe they should be everywhere. There should always be a free alternative, funded by a gas tax. Even though there are no free alternatives to some toll roads.

Roads are not funded by gas taxes. The gas taxes are used to provide incentives for teachers. Tolls must be expanded to every Superhighway.

[splashflash]

I see tolls as taxes, just more efficient.  Roadpricing should be everywhere.

No. That would be the equivalent of a regressive tax that disproportionally harms the poor. Unless you're going to tie the amount of tolls to the value of the car or the wealth of the driver, sort of like how in some countries, the more a person makes, the higher traffic tickets are. And I'm not against toll roads. I used a toll road literally an hour ago. But I don't believe they should be everywhere. There should always be a free alternative, funded by a gas tax. Even though there are no free alternatives to some toll roads.

Roads are not funded by gas taxes. The gas taxes are used to provide incentives for teachers. Tolls must be expanded to every Superhighway.

From the arrival,

user fees are socially just because people are getting what they pay for. Far from putting a burden on low-income people, a user-fee-driven transportation system gives everyone a choice of the kind of transportation that works best for them.

In contrast, infrastructure that is paid for out of tax dollars usually ends up primarily benefitting high-income people because they have more political power. At least three-fourths of the subsidies to public transit come from regressive taxes, yet the median income of transit commuters is much higher than the median of all workers. Nineteen out of twenty low-income people don’t ride transit to work, yet they disproportionately pay for transit systems that are disproportionately used by high-income people.

[Plutonic Panda]

The project to widen the I-35 red river bridge along with the rest of the road to Thackerville has received a $50 million dollar federal grant:

I-35 Red River Bridge Project

In collaboration with the Texas Department of Transportation, this $50 million grant will be used to improve approximately 7.4 miles of I-35 across the Texas and Oklahoma border. The Red River Bridge Project will have significant positive impacts in both Oklahoma and Texas, including within the Chickasaw Nation. The infrastructure that is currently in place was built in the 1960s and can no longer accommodate current traffic volumes of 50,000 vehicles per day.

On March 15, 2021, Cole joined Inhofe in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of this funding for the I-35 Red River Project.

https://cole.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/oklahoma-awarded-100-million-in-competitive-highway-grants

This is a pretty significant project for southern Oklahoma. It will be great when I-35 is six lanes from OKC to Dallas. Hopefully OkDOT starts planning for widening I-35 to six lanes from Norman to Thackerville soon.

[Scott5114]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

[Plutonic Panda]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

Given what the area has seen, a project to widen I-35 from 8 to 6 lanes with service roads is pretty significant if you ask me along with adding two new bridges over the river. TxDOT seems to be interested into paying some of the cost in the state of Oklahoma if I’m reading it correctly.

[Scott5114]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

Given what the area has seen, a project to widen I-35 from 8 to 6 lanes with service roads is pretty significant if you ask me along with adding two new bridges over the river. TxDOT seems to be interested into paying some of the cost in the state of Oklahoma if I’m reading it correctly.

I believe that Texas's involvement is limited to the bridge itself and the adjoining section of I-35 in Cooke County (which is pretty subpar as it is now).

US-82 to Oklahoma exit 1 is 7.4 miles on the money.

[JMoses24]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

Cole could easily, if he wanted to, extend the project all the way to Norman because his congressional district covers that entire section of I-35. I would agree that his tribal interest is the key factor in how that section came to be first.

[Plutonic Panda]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

Given what the area has seen, a project to widen I-35 from 8 to 6 lanes with service roads is pretty significant if you ask me along with adding two new bridges over the river. TxDOT seems to be interested into paying some of the cost in the state of Oklahoma if I’m reading it correctly.

I believe that Texas's involvement is limited to the bridge itself and the adjoining section of I-35 in Cooke County (which is pretty subpar as it is now).

US-82 to Oklahoma exit 1 is 7.4 miles on the money.

Good to know. I believe there will be a net gain of 2 bridges over the red river being 4 bridges in total.

[dchristy]

The project to widen the I-35 red river bridge along with the rest of the road to Thackerville has received a $50 million dollar federal grant:

I-35 Red River Bridge Project

In collaboration with the Texas Department of Transportation, this $50 million grant will be used to improve approximately 7.4 miles of I-35 across the Texas and Oklahoma border. The Red River Bridge Project will have significant positive impacts in both Oklahoma and Texas, including within the Chickasaw Nation. The infrastructure that is currently in place was built in the 1960s and can no longer accommodate current traffic volumes of 50,000 vehicles per day.

On March 15, 2021, Cole joined Inhofe in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of this funding for the I-35 Red River Project.

https://cole.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/oklahoma-awarded-100-million-in-competitive-highway-grants

This is a pretty significant project for southern Oklahoma. It will be great when I-35 is six lanes from OKC to Dallas. Hopefully OkDOT starts planning for widening I-35 to six lanes from Norman to Thackerville soon.

Will this grant mean that I-35 will actually be widened to six lanes from the Red River Bridge to Thackerville?  I couldn't tell by the press release.  If Texas gets involved it would be nice if that sharp curve immediately south of the bridge could be realigned.

[Plutonic Panda]

The project to widen the I-35 red river bridge along with the rest of the road to Thackerville has received a $50 million dollar federal grant:

I-35 Red River Bridge Project

In collaboration with the Texas Department of Transportation, this $50 million grant will be used to improve approximately 7.4 miles of I-35 across the Texas and Oklahoma border. The Red River Bridge Project will have significant positive impacts in both Oklahoma and Texas, including within the Chickasaw Nation. The infrastructure that is currently in place was built in the 1960s and can no longer accommodate current traffic volumes of 50,000 vehicles per day.

On March 15, 2021, Cole joined Inhofe in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of this funding for the I-35 Red River Project.

https://cole.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/oklahoma-awarded-100-million-in-competitive-highway-grants

This is a pretty significant project for southern Oklahoma. It will be great when I-35 is six lanes from OKC to Dallas. Hopefully OkDOT starts planning for widening I-35 to six lanes from Norman to Thackerville soon.

Will this grant mean that I-35 will actually be widened to six lanes from the Red River Bridge to Thackerville?  I couldn't tell by the press release.  If Texas gets involved it would be nice if that sharp curve immediately south of the bridge could be realigned.

That’s a good question. Some articles imply yes it will be widened to Thackerville others make it seem it will only be widened to the first interchange on the Oklahoma side.

[rte66man]

Less significant than you might think—this isn't the first step in a planned widening all the way from Texas to Norman. Notice which tribe was name-checked in the press release? Guess which one Cole is a member of? Guess who owns the casino where the widening stops, and who contributed money toward the Oklahoma portion of the project?

Given what the area has seen, a project to widen I-35 from 8 to 6 lanes with service roads is pretty significant if you ask me along with adding two new bridges over the river. TxDOT seems to be interested into paying some of the cost in the state of Oklahoma if I’m reading it correctly.

I believe that Texas's involvement is limited to the bridge itself and the adjoining section of I-35 in Cooke County (which is pretty subpar as it is now).

US-82 to Oklahoma exit 1 is 7.4 miles on the money.

Good to know. I believe there will be a net gain of 2 bridges over the red river being 4 bridges in total.

Nope. They are only keeping one of the existing bridges to serve the frontage road (I think the western one). IIRC, it will be 8 lanes to Exit 1 then 6 lanes to Exit 3. I will see if I can find the plans again.

[In_Correct]

There is no reason why they can not slide the other bridge over so that they can have two new Main Bridges and two Frontage Road Bridges.

[Bobby5280]

How do you "slide over" an existing bridge?

[In_Correct]

Are they widening the existing Bridge?

[Plutonic Panda]

The project to widen the I-35 red river bridge along with the rest of the road to Thackerville has received a $50 million dollar federal grant:

I-35 Red River Bridge Project

In collaboration with the Texas Department of Transportation, this $50 million grant will be used to improve approximately 7.4 miles of I-35 across the Texas and Oklahoma border. The Red River Bridge Project will have significant positive impacts in both Oklahoma and Texas, including within the Chickasaw Nation. The infrastructure that is currently in place was built in the 1960s and can no longer accommodate current traffic volumes of 50,000 vehicles per day.

On March 15, 2021, Cole joined Inhofe in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of this funding for the I-35 Red River Project.

https://cole.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/oklahoma-awarded-100-million-in-competitive-highway-grants

This is a pretty significant project for southern Oklahoma. It will be great when I-35 is six lanes from OKC to Dallas. Hopefully OkDOT starts planning for widening I-35 to six lanes from Norman to Thackerville soon.

Will this grant mean that I-35 will actually be widened to six lanes from the Red River Bridge to Thackerville?  I couldn't tell by the press release.  If Texas gets involved it would be nice if that sharp curve immediately south of the bridge could be realigned.

It looks like it will be widened to 8 lanes to Merle Wolfe or Red River RD(whatever that road parallel to I-35 is) and then six lanes to Rodgers RD.

https://www.odot.org/projmgmt/poi/Division%207/Project%20Status%20Report%20-%20I-35%20Love%20Co%2033481(04)31896(04).pdf

[kphoger]

I-35 south of Pauls Valley.  We were speeding up at the time.

First time I've seen a zipper merge in Oklahoma.

[Plutonic Panda]

OHP will need to start enforcing zipper merge or at least watching zipper merge areas and nabbing those who take up two lanes to prevent people from passing. It is one of the most annoying things I see on the road and I’m not even one of those who tried to jump in front. I was almost sideswiped by some prick who tried to block me on a perfectly legal zipper merge and we had words.

I’ve noticed New Mexico is really going crazy with zipper merging(which is awesome) and has multiple reminder signs that tell people to maintain speed and stay in lane until it the final merging point.

[kphoger]

At this Oklahoma location, they used a portable VMS to say "TAKE TURNS / AT MERGE".

[Plutonic Panda]

At this Oklahoma location, they used a portable VMS to say "TAKE TURNS / AT MERGE".

I believe NM was pretty much the same I don’t remember exactly what it said. They had about 2-3 of them in a mile before the final merging point.

[skluth]

How do you "slide over" an existing bridge?

They did this in St Louis with the I-55 bridge over the Mississippi (better known as the Poplar St Bridge)

[okroads]

Took a quick trip yesterday from Norman to the northern outskirts of the DFW area, then back to Norman. Sign replacement is underway on the southern 55 miles of I-35 (from the Red River to OK 7). A couple notes:

- The "EAST 40" error sign (sign where the exit tab said EAST 40 instead of EXIT 40) has been replaced and corrected on I-35 SB
- This project replaced some signs that were less than 10 years old, mainly in Ardmore & Marietta
- The overhead sign bridges in Ardmore are being replaced with monotubes. Some monotubes are already up but only one had signs attached to it. However, in typical Oklahoma fashion, there's an error...
- Monotube sign bridge on I-35 NB is at Exit 31A (former OK 199 East). Advance signage for the OK 142 exit is also posted. the sign should say OK 142 East TO OK 199, but the shields were switched, so it says OK 199 East TO OK 142. OK 199 used to start at I-35 and ran east, directly through Ardmore, but the western end was truncated to OK 142 (the Ardmore NE "bypass") a couple years ago.
- Many distance signs on I-35 NB now list Norman and Oklahoma City (plus the nearest city/town to the sign). Previously, Norman wasn't on any distance signs until past Pauls Valley (Exit 72, well north of the northern extent of the sign replacements).
- Speaking of distance signs, the new sign sizes are smaller than what they replaced.
- Yesterday afternoon on the trip back, work crews were installing new signs near Exit 55 (OK 7) on I-35 NB
- For the exits with new signage, advanced signs have also been added for 2 miles and 1/2 mile. Previously, there were just signs for 1 mile out, then at the exit.

Pictures can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okroads/albums/72157719536478671

[rte66man]

Took a quick trip yesterday from Norman to the northern outskirts of the DFW area, then back to Norman. Sign replacement is underway on the southern 55 miles of I-35 (from the Red River to OK 7). A couple notes:

- The "EAST 40" error sign (sign where the exit tab said EAST 40 instead of EXIT 40) has been replaced and corrected on I-35 SB
- This project replaced some signs that were less than 10 years old, mainly in Ardmore & Marietta
- The overhead sign bridges in Ardmore are being replaced with monotubes. Some monotubes are already up but only one had signs attached to it. However, in typical Oklahoma fashion, there's an error...
- Monotube sign bridge on I-35 NB is at Exit 31A (former OK 199 East). Advance signage for the OK 142 exit is also posted. the sign should say OK 142 East TO OK 199, but the shields were switched, so it says OK 199 East TO OK 142. OK 199 used to start at I-35 and ran east, directly through Ardmore, but the western end was truncated to OK 142 (the Ardmore NE "bypass") a couple years ago.
- Many distance signs on I-35 NB now list Norman and Oklahoma City (plus the nearest city/town to the sign). Previously, Norman wasn't on any distance signs until past Pauls Valley (Exit 72, well north of the northern extent of the sign replacements).
- Speaking of distance signs, the new sign sizes are smaller than what they replaced.
- Yesterday afternoon on the trip back, work crews were installing new signs near Exit 55 (OK 7) on I-35 NB
- For the exits with new signage, advanced signs have also been added for 2 miles and 1/2 mile. Previously, there were just signs for 1 mile out, then at the exit.

Pictures can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okroads/albums/72157719536478671

Did you notice if they corrected the series of BGS's at the OK32 Marietta exit? That 'JCT' on all of them is grating.

[I-35]

Did you notice if they corrected the series of BGS's at the OK32 Marietta exit? That 'JCT' on all of them is grating.

They have not.  I actually called the local ODOT engineer overseeing the project to let him know of a typo on a distance sign (Gainsville...) about a year ago, and mentioned the JCT issue at SH 32 then.  He said he thought the JCT was there because it was a full intersection, but I pointed out SH 7 was a full intersection and has never had the JCT added.  He agreed, but I don't think he followed up on it.  I get it, the guy is probably busy.  This signage project has dragged on for more than a year now.  At least they're replacing Clearview with Gothic 

[Scott5114]

Photo by Eric Stuve, on Flickr

To that ODOT engineer—if SH-32 didn't junction with I-35 there wouldn't be a sign there at all, now would there?