Edmond Drivers Brace For Construction At Busy Intersection

At times it can be a headache to get through the intersection of 33^rd and Broadway in Edmond. According to city economy officials, more than 50,000 cars pass through that area each day. Those drivers can expect changes beginning July 20.

The thought of road construction at 33^rd and Broadway was daunting for drivers. “It’s going to be really, really tough to get places,” one person said.

But the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the City of Edmond promised the improvements will outweigh the pain this project could cause. ODOT manages the project and funds 80 percent. Edmond funds the other 20 percent.

The year worth of work will cost $5 million. It will add left turn lanes to create dual southbound and dual westbound and new right turn lanes will be added to include eastbound, westbound and southbound.

The project also includes resurfacing for the intersection and new signals. Crews estimate 330 calendar days of construction.

And while they work on all that, Broadway could be down to two lanes and 33rd to one lane in the area.

That means cars will have to conquer those closures in order to get to dozens of businesses, including a metro donation lifeline.

“It’s going to be a mess,” said driver Dan Carli. Carli was giving blood at the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) office near Broadway and 33^rd when he spoke with News 9.

He said he plans to continue to traverse traffic while construction is underway.

OBI said that location is one of their busiest, so they hope the work won’t deter other donors either.

“Fight a little bit of traffic and construction and get out here and save some lives,” said Lindsay Hix with OBI.

Despite the slow-downs ahead, several drivers agreed the time is right for a change at the intersection, even if the road to get there is a lengthy one. “Anything that’s going to speed up the movement of traffic and the flow of everything is going to be really good,” said a driver.

ODOT said they do not have the phasing of the project available at the time of this report. So the closure schedule for each street was still unclear. But officials said they plan to send out traffic alerts before shutting down any lanes in that area ahead of time.

Sign up for traffic alerts from ODOT - http://ok.gov/odot/

ODOT officials said the construction start date is set for July 20; however work could begin in 60-90 days “to allow for contract execution.”