Traffic resumes on I-40 bridge after hole repair

Traffic was again flowing in the westbound lanes of the Crosstown Expressway late Sunday after a hole was repaired.

Transportation Department officials said the repairs were completed and the roads reopened about 10 p.m. after having been closed for more than six hours.

Construction is seen on Interstate 40 westbound near Classen Boulevard on Sunday. BY John Clanton, THE OKLAHOMAN

All but one lane of westbound Crosstown Expressway were closed while crews repaired the hole in the bridge on Interstate 40 at S Classen Boulevard, said Mills Gotcher, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

In a November report, state transportation officials said special inspections of 64 bridges, including the Crosstown Expressway, found no structural deficiencies that would endanger motorists.

John Fuller, the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer, said then the expressway's bridge is prone to holes, bad joints and falling concrete, but that it "doesn't mean it isn't structurally safe to drive on.”