Tulsa Holds Ribbon Cutting As I-244 Bridge Re-Opens

Construction crews started moving concrete barriers off the eastbound bridge after Monday's ribbon cutting ceremony.

The re-opening of the "The Gateway to Tulsa" is a sign of the state's investment into Tulsa's infrastructure, Governor Fallin noted. She joked that the truckers driving by were obviously excited by the progress - honking their horns as they passed the ceremony.

Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation, Gary Ridley said, “Boy, the truckers really want to see us get open don't they? That's good. That's good. We want to get it open."

ODOT Director Mike Patterson agreed it's a big day for Tulsa, but drivers will still need to use caution as they "unwind the knot" and re-open lanes.

9/15/2014 Related Story: Some Lanes Of I-244 At Arkansas River To Reopen Monday

It all started four years ago when ODOT received a $50 million federal grant to build a double-decker bridge -- cars on top, railroad and foot traffic on bottom.

Most of the lanes on the eastbound bridge opened up Monday, including access to the south leg of inner-dispersal loop and the Seventh Street downtown exit.

The I-244 bridges over the Arkansas River landed on a list of 1,200 structurally deficient bridges across the state. After 50 years of traffic, the old east and westbound bridges had to come down.

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"These two were a couple of the worst on the interstate system, and we were seriously thinking that we were going to have to load post these bridges if something hadn't been done," Ridley said.

Now the two can be checked off the list.

"We're going to move from being one of the worst bridges in the nation to some of the best bridges in the nation, and that's a tremendous accomplishment, something we should all be very proud of as a state," said Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.