MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – The I-40 closure began Friday night with both the west and eastbound lanes affected through Monday morning.
“We’ve got Tinker traffic, we’ve got Choctaw traffic, it’s going to be a mess,” said Jill McBride who lives in Midwest City.
| Full I-40 closure in Midwest City/Del City area set for May 19-22 >
ODOT officials say this closure is part of the more than $170 million I-40 Douglas Blvd. interchange and widening project and will allow crews the space needed to safely remove the Engle Rd. bridge over I-40.
KFOR spoke with several people who said they either work or live in the affected closure area and they expressed frustration.
“It’s going to be a pain, yes, a hot mess,” said Bill Rogers who lives in Midwest City. “There are a bunch of kids graduating this weekend as well, that’s going to make things more stressful for drivers.”
“Well, if I’m being honest school just let out and we’re going to be moving kids,” said McBride. “But at the same time, I get it, we need more roads so that we can carry more traffic, I get why it’s needed. But there’s a lot of business right in the heart of it all so it is going to get pretty tricky.”
The closure began Friday around 7 p.m. and will continue, ODOT says until Monday 5:30 a.m. weather permitting.
ODOT says Choctaw Rd. Motorists also may consider using alternate routes such as US-62/N. 23rd St. or the tolled route of the Kickapoo Turnpike to US-62 or to I-44.
Crews plan to cut the portion of the bridge over I-40 and lift it onto a self-propelled motor transport to be moved off the interstate for demolition, which lessens the amount of time needed to disrupt traffic.
| ODOT working to remove outdated bridge, full I-40 weekend closure in Mid-Del >
“Oh I definitely think it’s going to mess up traffic quite a bit,” said Cade Patterson who works near Tinker Air Force Base. “Yeah with all of the high school graduations and colleges, it’s going to affect that quite a bit.”
“Oh my goodness, can you imagine? You’re going to have a lot of frustrated parents,” said McBride.
Overall, the people KFOR spoke with agreed that this sort of construction is needed.
“Yeah, I definitely think it’s needed,” said Rogers. “But, I think more needs to be done. Some of the roads in Oklahoma need more work done. So, if Governor Stitt is listening, maybe we could get some more funding for the roads?”
