The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has long range plans for the I-35/I-40/I-235 (“Dallas Junction”) Interchange in order to reduce congestion and increase safety for motorists. Currently, the interchange is undergoing a study that looks at different alternatives to address ramp movements, add additional lanes on I-40 and I-35, and investigate solutions for the I-35 bridges over the Oklahoma River and BNSF Rai line. While the study was underway, a critical project was undertaken to reduce the long queuing of traffic on the I-35 to I-40 ramp movements. The traffic backups for those movements were causing safety and delay issues along the I-35 corridor. The project was developed under a shortened design time with the objective of adding additional lanes to the westbound I-40 to southbound I-35 and the northbound I-35 to eastbound I-40 ramps. To accommodate the new ramp lanes, auxiliary lanes were also added along I-40 with new signage and striping. The new ramp lanes also required shifting traffic and restriping the lanes on the existing I-35 Oklahoma River bridges, all while traffic continued to flow throughout the construction period. The project was designed and constructed in approximately one year and shown to reduce backups along the I-40 mainline immediately after completion.

Construction Cost – $5.7 million
Completion – 2018