The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently held a groundbreaking event to kick off construction on the next phase of the $252 million I-44/US-75 interchange improvement project outside the City of Tulsa, OK; a project known locally as “Traffic Henge” or “Tulsa Stonehenge.”
[Above photo by the Oklahoma DOT]
That unique moniker stems from empty bridge piers built and left standing at the interchange – through which roughly 150,000 vehicles pass on a typical day, including about 21,000 trucks – since the completion of the first phase of the project in early 2023.
That first phase included widening I-44 between the Arkansas River and Union Ave., reconstructing five bridges around the interchange, as well as reconfiguring several ramps and constructing the “Traffic Henge” piers.
The agency said the piers were built at that time due to available funding, to save time, and reduce the impact on traffic flow during the remaining work.
“The I-44/US-75 interchange in Tulsa is Oklahoma’s largest single investment in transportation infrastructure ever and will update a very busy interchange along two equally busy corridors,” explained Tim Gatz, Oklahoma DOT’s executive director, in a statement.
“I-44 and US-75 carry a significant amount of both local and regional traffic through the Tulsa area,” he added. “This project will make the interchange function much more efficiently while also improving safety for the traveling public.”
The agency noted the “next phase” work on this interchange project includes widening US-75 between 71st Street and 4st Street;
replacing the US-75 interchange at 61st Street; building a new frontage road between 61st Street and Skelly Drive; extending and connecting 51st Street under US-75; constructing a pedestrian bridge over the railroad along 51st Street near Elwood Ave; and constructing 17 bridges in the project area.
[Editor’s note: Building the many road signs that accompany such projects is often the duty of in-house “sign shops” operated by state departments of transportation. The video below provides an inside look at the sign shop operated by the New York State Department of Transportation.]
The Oklahoma DOT noted that it has received two separate federal grants to help fund the Traffic Henge project.
In August 2022, the agency received a $10 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity or RAISE grant to help fund extending and reconnecting 51st Street under US-75, which was cut off when the highway was built. That grant also funded pedestrian improvements as well, including a bridge crossing the Union Pacific Railroad.
Then, in January 2023, Oklahoma DOT received an $85 million National Infrastructure Project Assistance grant, or “Mega” grant, to help fund three planned phases of the construction around the interchange. Those three phases were combined into the current project, the agency noted.
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