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OKLAHOMA CITY – As progress continues on the I-235 and I-44 interchange, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is working on a new railroad bridge.

“The area’s grown tremendously, there’s a lot more commuter traffic going through this corridor and the interchange has not worked well for a very long time,” said Cody Boyd with ODOT.

The current bridge crosses I-235 near 50th St. However, it is too small for the freeway expansion.

“We’re expanding this area to six lanes plus auxiliary lanes and shoulders. So, to accommodate all those extra lanes of highway traffic, the bridge that carries the railroad over the interstate has to be much, much longer,” said  Boyd.

ODOT says two railroad bridge segments are under construction and will be moved from the side of the freeway and installed over the road in January.

BNSF Railway will then complete the installment by adding tracks to the bridge.

Each segment of the new bridge will weigh more than 2 million pounds and the steel for the bridge will cost around $30 million.

As part of the expansion, ODOT says multiple drainage systems will be installed to prevent flooding in the future.

The overall project cost is around $273 million.