OKLAHOMA CITY -
It is one of the
busiest interchanges in the city and it is about to be closed. The
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority says they are shutting down the bridge from the
Kilpatrick Turnpike to the Lake Hefner Parkway.
Construction crews
will be closing the bridge Nov. 5 and will probably remain so for 90 days.
"It will add a
little bit of extra time to my exits," agrees Gwen Roso, who is one of the 8,500
drivers who used the bridge every day.
Soon, all those people
will have to figure out something else.
"It will
definitely change the way I go to work and chance the way I drive," said Becka
Baugher, another driver.
Construction
workers will have to close the bridge in order to rebuild a pier support. Right
now, the support is in the way of the new lane.
"We realize there
will be delays, but we encourage your patience," said Tim Stewart, Deputy
Director of the Turnpike Authority.
But patience is
becoming harder to come by for some drivers, who question the need for the
year-long Kilpatrick widening project in the first place.
"I think there
should be work done elsewhere instead of here. I really don't think it's
necessary to widen this quite yet," said Tish Zitzow, another driver.
But Stewart says the
amount of traffic on the turnpike is growing 4 to 6 percent a year and it's
better to do the work now.
"We are trying to
stay ahead of demand so we can construct it as we are doing today, with minimum
disruption of traffic, because if we wait until it's totally congested and then
try and do the construction, that would be horrendous."
The bridge project
should take 90 days, but the contractor will receive bonuses if they are done
early. The engineer in charge tells News 9 he thinks that will happen.
"We intend to, the
maximum bonus," said Stuart Ronald.
In the meantime,
traffic will be detoured though the Portland intersection. The city will
adjust the timing of the lights to hopefully make things go more smoothly.
The cost of the
bridge project is approximately $607,271.89. It is paid for entirely by
tolls.
Crews prepare for construction on a fly-over bridge from Kilpatrick Turnpike to Lake Hefner Parkway.
