Fans Heading To Bedlam Game Face Some Slick Spots On Highways

The cold conditions aren't stopping one of the hottest rivalries in college football. Bedlam is a go but ODOT is still urging you to be cautious if you're driving to the game Saturday.

T. Boone Pickens stadium holds around 60,000, and the stands should be packed. Many fans are traveling from the Tulsa area, down Highway 412 to the Cimarron Turnpike.

We drove that route Friday, beginning at our station in the Brady District and heading west.

Just past the IDL, things got messy with slush, snow and ice. While a path has been carved in the right hand lane, ODOT is urging drivers to keep in mind what these conditions could turn into after an overnight freeze.

"I was a little bit worried," James Smith said.

Smith made the 70-mile trip to Bedlam from Tulsa a day early. He would have attempted it in a foot of snow to watch his beloved Sooners.

12/6/2013 Related Story: OSU: Boone Pickens Stadium Will Be Ready For Bedlam

"It would have taken a lot. I was in college for the Ice Bowl of '85," he said.

ODOT says it doesn't focus on any one road in particular, even for Bedlam. Crews are busy clearing 1,100 miles of road, crisscrossing both Sooner and Cowboy country.

"There were a few icy areas," said Cowboy fan Ashlee Taylor. "We would have been coming anyway, definitely, you can't miss Bedlam football."

No matter which team you root for, if you're traveling up Highway 412 tomorrow, there are a few precautions you'll want to take. Avoid the left hand lane, if at all possible, and keep it around 45 miles an hour, especially west of Sand Springs.

The tricky part on the Cimarron turnpike is the farther you head west, the clearer it gets, but there are still icy patches near bridges and wet spots destined to become black ice.

The most difficult part of the trip may be getting to the highway, but it's clear a little snow and sub-freezing temperatures aren't cooling off this 109-year-old rivalry.

"Of course, the Pokes are going to win," Taylor said.

"It's Bedlam, anything can happen," Smith said.

With an 11 o'clock kickoff, drivers will be hitting the road early and will be facing whatever has refrozen over night. At kickoff, the temperature is supposed to be around 15 degrees, so the roads will be far from melted.