The Norman Transcript
By M. Scott Carter
July 14, 2009 04:44 pm
—
Construction on the US 77 -- Flood Avenue -- overpass has
reached a "major milestone" and the bridge will be opened late tonight,
officials with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said Tuesday
afternoon.
ODOT spokesperson Terri Angier said crews were "expected
to remove barrier walls Tuesday night" which would allow motorists to
use the bridge during morning rush hour Wednesday."
"It's opening about two weeks early, according to the contract," she said.
The northbound lanes under the bridge opened late Monday evening, she said.
Angier
said motorists on southbound I-35 also will see other improvements this
week, when the Robinson Street on and off-ramps are reopened Friday
morning.
She said construction on the bridge -- which carries
southbound traffic onto U.S. 77 over northbound I-35 -- was scheduled
to be completed by the end of July, in time for the fall school term.
"We
tried to incorporate the dates of the OU's fall semester and the
opening of the OU football season into the construction schedule," she
said.
In addition to its early finish, Angier said the overpass
incorporates aesthetic treatments which "add a distinctive Oklahoma
flair" to the structure.
The bridge -- painted cream and trimmed
with crimson-colored support beams -- features embossed designs of the
state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher.
"This bridge is one of
the first major products in the state we've done aesthetic treatments
on," she said. Angier said the design was chosen by Norman city
officials and is unique to the area.
"This design is specifically for Norman," she said. "We worked with the city a lot on this."
In addition to the new overpass, Angier said the southbound on and off-ramps to Robinson Street were extended and resurfaced.
Other improvements include additional lanes, and safety features such as concrete median barriers and overhead lighting.
The
project is part of a $40 million effort to widen the interstate from
Indian Hills Road to north of Main Street. The entire project is
expected to be finished in the summer of 2010. And while various ramp
closures are still expected, Angier said crews plan to keep two lanes
in each direction open to traffic during the daytime during
construction.
Currently, about 75,000 vehicles use that stretch of
I-35 daily, making it one of the state's busiest four-lane stretches of
highway.
At the time it was designed in the 1950s, the interstate was expected to carry 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles daily.
M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com
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Posted on
Tue, July 14, 2009
by Crystal Drwenski