ODOT Re-opens I-44 Ramp Off Ramp To Peoria Avenue In Tulsa

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK --  The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has announced that the westbound I-44 off-ramp to Peoria Avenue is now open to traffic.

ODOT says it changed the ramp in order to make it safer.  It eliminated the "quick" turn-offs that allowed drivers to access businesses right off the ramp.

ODOT says eliminating those turn-offs eliminates the potential for wrecks caused by drivers  decelerating suddenly on the ramp in order to make the turn.

Now drivers will have to get onto Peoria to access the parking lots for those businesses.

ODOT says the ramp had been closed since October, to allow for the construction of a large underground drainage structure in this area.

The structure is called the Perryman Ditch. It is 1.25 miles long, and runs along the north side of I-44 from the Arkansas River to Yorktown Avenue.

ODOT says the I-44 widening project is just past the half-way mark and is ahead of schedule.  It's supposed to completed in the spring of 2011, but if the weather holds it may be done well before then.

Related story: 9/29/2009 Massive Drainage Ditch Under Construction On I-44 In Tulsa

The structure, which is 20 feet tall and 40 feet wide, is a key piece of the overall I-44 Riverside Drive to Yale Avenue widening project, according to ODOT.

Construction on the structure now continues to the east of Peoria Avenue, and the frontage road between Yorktown Avenue and Rockford Avenue remains closed at this time.

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