Some Lanes Of I-244 At Arkansas River To Reopen Monday

Commuters heading into Tulsa will have some changes in store when a new bridge opens. Drivers going over the Arkansas River have been dodging detours for more than three years now.

The signs are up, the stripes are down and all the Oklahoma Department of Transportation has to do is move barriers on the Interstate 244 eastbound bridge into downtown.

Drivers are just itching to get on to the new bridge and away from the detours.

“It will help out a lot,” driver Cody Bearshead said. “I mean, I go to work at 3 o'clock; by then traffic is packed. Crazy, it is just slow, takes me about 20 minutes to get through that section and after that I'm good then."

“Freedom there, I'm claustrophobic, so that's the only thing that bothers be about this construction, but I think it will be great," Jonnie Strader said.

ODOT says it spent a million dollars a year to maintain the old bridges.

It all started four years ago when ODOT received a $50 million federal grant to build a double-decker bridge -- cars on top, railroad and foot traffic on bottom.

When the westbound bridge opened, traffic in both directions moved to that bridge and demolition started old eastbound bridge.

Drivers won't see the bridges open up completely.

“It's a lot like tying a big knot and then trying to untie it,” ODOT's Kenna Carmon said. “It does take a little bit of time to try to get every big back to normal."

Construction crews have until next spring to finish up the work.

Most of the lanes on the eastbound bridge will open up Monday, including access to the south leg of inner-dispersal loop and the Seventh Street downtown exit.

“There'll still be some closures in this area, some lane closures, some ramp closures, but in the coming weeks we'll start to see those go away as some of the detour routes are broken down and traffic is restored to normal," Carmon said.

Drivers say the new bridge will be worth the wait.

“It has to be done,” Strader said. “You just have to put up with stuff like that if you want something better."

Driver Henry May added, “I think it will be really nice and it should make traffic easier, too.”

Gov. Mary Fallin and other dignitaries will be in Tulsa around 10 a.m. on Monday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, then after that, a flood of drivers will be headed into Downtown Tulsa.