More closures for I-44 widening project

TULSA - Work on I-44 is moving right along.

The widening project has another two-and-a-half years left.

Right now, lane closures are all over the place.

All westbound on ramps between 41st and Harvard are now closed; the frontage road between Yale and Harvard is also shutdown.

Drivers say getting through the area isn't always easy these days.

"As soon as you get to the construction you might as well put it in park," Tulsa driver Travis Adams said.

"Currently we're right on schedule, money wise, time wise, things are going well," Oklahoma Department of Transportation Project Manager Matt Casillas said there are currently two major jobs going on.

One project stretches from Yale to Riverside Drive; it's expected to be wrapped up at the end of next year.

Then there's the bridge work over Darlington Avenue.

"It's part of ODOT's overall goal for the I-44 corridor through Tulsa to make improvements. This project will be completed at the end of this year," Casillas said.

The $330-million widening project is scheduled to be finished in early 2013.

The interstate will then be six lanes through the heart of town.

Until then, drivers will just have to live with the construction and closures.

"It makes it challenging because you either have to plan a different route or come earlier," Sheree King uses I-44 everyday.

She says at times, it takes some careful navigation to get through here.

But, King says it will all be worth it one day, "I am for progress so this is going to make it better long term I'm willing to suffer for a short period of time."

The next big construction site will be from Riverside to Peoria.

The bidding has already gone out and ODOT officials said there's a good chance that work will start before the end of this year.

Remember, the speed limit has been dropped in the construction areas and traffic tickets double in work zones.