ODOT And Cherokees Team Up

The Cherokee Nation is upping the ante to fix traffic troubles outside their Catoosa casino.  In fact, that interchange is nicknamed Dysfunction Junction. The Cherokee Nation is spending $11 million to jump start highway improvements.

I-44 will expand to eight lanes, and 193rd East Avenue will grow to six lanes.  Exit and entrance ramps will also be widened.  It's work that ODOT hadn't scheduled to begin until 2011.  Now construction will start in the spring.

"The Cherokee Nation has not only helped us with a problem that is for their facility. But, also a problem that people encounter every day on their way to work," said ODOT Director Gary Ridley.

"It's dangerous. It's crowded. It's inconvenient. So we're very pleased to develop that partnership," said Cherokee Chief Chad Smith.

An estimated 93,000 drivers use that stretch of I-44 every day.