ODOT plans overhaul of Broadway Extension

By Alex Cameron, NEWS 9

EDMOND, Okla. -- Crews will begin a major overhaul of the Broadway-Memorial Road interchange Monday.

About 60,000 to 70,000 motorists use the  interchange each day, Oklahoma Department of Transportaion officials said. Traffic is often congested because the intersection was not originally designed to be an interchange.

"But as businesses moved there and the area grew, people began to add lanes here and there and it became an interchange," ODOT spokeswoman Terri Angier said. "That's why we need to redo that interchange and bring it into standards and make sure it's going to be safe."

Plans call for straightening Kelley Avenue, so that motorist do not have to turn on Memorial to get from the north to the south legs. New on and off ramps will also be added.
Construction will take about a year and a half and there won't be a lot of room for work crews to operate.

"So at times they're going to be feet, possibly inches, from a barrel that keeps them and us separated. And it's not a concrete wall or anything like that, so we really want people to be thinking about the workers in the area," Angier said.

Angier said Memorial Road will be narrowed to one lane each way. Broadway Extension will be kept to two lanes open each way, but speed limits will be lowered. ODOT is encouraging as many commuters as possible to use Interstate 35 or the Lake Hefner Parkway during the construction period.