Tulsa Drivers Excited For Reopening Of I-244 Eastbound Bridge

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation announced it will soon reopen the heavily traveled I-244 eastbound bridge, and drivers from all over welcomed the good news.

Since spring of 2013, the closure has led to a number of detours and even more headaches for drivers. Now crews have one week to make the bridge ready for cars to travel.

While opening the bridge on the eastbound side will be an obvious improvement, ODOT reminds drivers it's just one phase in the project and to continue to give yourself some extra time for your commute.

9/8/2014 Related Story: New Eastbound I-244 Bridge Over Arkansas River To Open September 15th

There are about 68,000 vehicles that travel along I-244 in Tulsa every day. Monday, one of them happened to be Debbie Westbrook from North Carolina.

"I just looked at my odometer and I've traveled 1,132 miles to this point,” Westbrook said. “I was OK until now.”

Tulsa greeted her with detours, construction and narrowed lanes.

“I got this far without a problem. I got all the way across the country, and then the detour just threw me. I didn't know where I was going. I missed the first sign and tried to follow it through and I ended up here,” she said.

On September 15th, things will get a bit easier as the eastbound section of the bridge reopens to traffic.

“It sounds like it's gonna be a good thing, but I hope it's not too cluttered, because I'm tired of taking all the lights home,” said Tulsa resident Bella Womak.

The project isn't all about what's happening on the upper level of the bridge, down below it is about re-working the trails so they can connect them to a pedestrian bridge. ODOT told trail users not to get too excited, though, because that phase will not be for public use until the entire project is finished at the end of next year.

Drivers, however, can get excited as there is just a little more waiting for the $40 million project to wrap up on top.

The governor and a number of elected officials are supposed to be out for the reopening of the bridge on Monday; the ribbon cutting starts at 10 a.m.

A number of the other exits are still set to be closed and detours in place, so drivers still need to keep a close eye on where they're going. ODOT said, specifically, exits in the southwest corner of the IDL.

Also, 244 westbound will stay narrowed for sign work and detour removal in the next couple weeks as well.