I-235 Closure Will Impact 100,000 OKC Motorists

I-235 from North 36th Street to I-44 will be closed from Friday night at 8:00 p.m. to Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. Construction crews are working on a 3-year project.

This is the largest dollar contract, $88 million, and the longest time frame of a contract in state history, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

Spokeswoman Lisa Shearer-Salim said, “When the interstate reopens on June 7, it’s going to look a lot different than it does today.”

The closure this time is for five full days. These are phases three and four of a seven-phase project, expected to be completed by 2020.

By Wednesday, the contractor is expecting to get a lot done. The bridge on North 50th Street will be demolished. The lanes on I-235 near North 50th will be lowered 3 feet to make clearance for the future railroad bridge. The asphalt work will be completed to move traffic over onto temporary lanes. The I-44 Eastbound ramp will be reconnected to the I-235 Southbound Ramp. Some drainage work will also be accomplished.

Shearer-Salim also said the contractor has an incentive of over $500,000 to re-open I-235 before Wednesday night.

After this, there are more scheduled closures that ODOT will announce. However, Shearer-Salim said this one is the longest closure they have planned.

“The remaining closures are scheduled for 2-day weekend closures at this time,” she said.

For more information on the closure and a detour map click here.