Local, state and federal officials celebrate the opening of the eastbound I-244 bridge over the Arkansas River.
"Boy, the truckers really want to see to get us open," Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Gary Ridley said after being interrupted by a honking semitruck.
Ridley said the last three years and $78 million spent on the eastbound and westbound bridges were a necessary investment.
"If you evaluate a bridge from zero to 100 ... these two were a couple of the worst on the interstate system, and we were seriously thinking that we were going to have to load post these bridges if something hadn't been done," Ridley said.
Work on the eastbound bridge began in June 2013. Since then, all traffic has been on the westbound bridge. Oklahoma Transportation Commissioner Peter Regan said Tulsans have been very patient with the project the last three years.
"This project was — my wife told me not to say this, but real quickly — this project was like a kidney stone," Regan said. "You don't know what — you just got to wait it out, you got to mitigate it, you got to do what you can do, and the public's been so patient with us and we're very, very appreciative."
Some lane and ramp closures could remain for several weeks as the last of the sign work is completed and traffic is shifted.
The final part of the project is linking a pedestrian bridge to trails and a viewing deck. That’s expected to be done in the spring.
