Emergency Repairs Close Section Of Tulsa's Interstate 244

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- The Oklahoma Department of Transportation shut down a section of the Inner Dispersal Loop in downtown Tulsa Friday morning for emergency repairs. 

The section of the IDL closed is on the north leg of the highway, in the eastbound lanes. The road closed Friday morning, so ODOT could work through the weekend without traffic. 

It is scheduled to reopen to traffic on Monday. 

The repairs lead to a new closure of Interstate 244 downtown. The eastbound lanes on the north leg of the Inner Dispersal Loop – which means all lanes in both directions are shut down for the weekend.

It is a one-mile portion of the Inner Dispersal Loop that is closed in both directions. Westbound, it's a long term rebuild. Eastbound, it's an emergency repaving job just to get by for the next few months. 

The reconstruction work on the Inner Dispersal Loop reached a new level - after the condition of the highway hit a new low. The pavement in the eastbound lanes started peeling up, forcing ODOT to lower the speed limit - as cars navigated a minefield.

ODOT officials say it was that last snowstorm that really did a number on the road. 

"It's got to the point where we're patching and patching, and it doesn't seem to be doing any good," said ODOT Division Engineer Randle White.

ODOT tried patching it, hoping to get by, but the patches didn't work.

2/11/2010 Related Story: Rogers Co. Pothole Patcher May Give Longer-Term Fix

"We've tried patching it, and it's simply old deteriorated payment that's seen better days," White said.

Early Friday, ODOT closed off the eastbound lanes alongside the Jail - leaving cars a final exit to the Tisdale Expressway. Workers are milling down the pavement and loading it onto semi trucks.

On the bridges - they're breaking up the loose concrete and patching the holes. After sweeping aside all the debris - on one small section, workers have already begun laying down new material.

ODOT says this major emergency repair was due to the weather.

"We really started seeing it go downhill and deteriorate with the last winter storm and the rain. We had people out as soon as the storm ended, patching potholes, they continued through the weekend, and Monday morning it looked like we had the problem under control and started falling apart again," said Randle White, ODOT engineer.

The job means a new backup on the IDL, which in one section, is closed in both directions. And while the emergency repairs get going - the larger $75 million reconstruction continues on the westbound lanes.

ODOT hopes to reach the halfway point in the project by April.

 The lane closure will impact drivers coming into downtown from the west - who will have go around the south side to get where they're going. The portion of highway they're repaving this weekend will be torn out in April - for a total reconstruction.