Smooth Travel Ahead
(Photo from Oklahoma Department of Transportation)
(Photo from www.okctalk.com – to see more photos, go here)
Have no doubt, after waiting the past dozen years to see the new Interstate 40 open up south of downtown, that day is near. It is very near. Today I’m hearing the eastbound lanes could be open within the next couple weeks. Because this road isn’t as depressed into the ground as first designed, expect it to provide millions of travelers an entirely new impression of our city.
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Comments
While not as much below grade it still has the retaining walls that amount to the same thing but the tunnel effect I first envisioned with the original intent is certainly mitigated by the 5 lane (?) width in each direction
Walt: I dont have the numbers handy but I think you are in the right ballpark (but that doesn’t include the replacement Boulevard that was part of the original price tag). As cost kept going up, they kept subdividing the relocation project to where the Boulevard is being considered a separate project now.
Am glad to see they are so far “ahead of schedule”. Well, that is after the several years they are already behind (was to have been completed, including the Boulevard by 2010)
Have you heard an update on the price tag recently? It was originally supposed to be under $300 million, and last I heard it was over $800 million.