I-35 a real mess near Red River, ODOT still working on a solution

The rock slide which shut down Interstate 35 near the Oklahoma-Texas state line late last week will be an issue for some time to come, as state transportation officials are still weighing their options about how best to deal with the situation.

The slide, triggered by massive rainfall, occurred in Murray County not far from Ardmore, in the Arbuckle Mountains.

Sunday, crews were able to open a southbound lane, but travel is restricted to one lane in each direction.

Terri Angier with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation tells KRMG they should know tomorrow, or early Wednesday, what approach they will take.

She said it will likely be a combination of removing some of the rock that's still unstable, along with finding a way to shore up the remaining rock in a manner that will stabilize it and prevent future slides.

That stretch of I-35 sees as many as 35,000 vehicles in a single day, and since there are two other projects that also narrow the highway to one lane in each direction within 40 miles of the rock slide, travelling that corridor has become somewhat time consuming.

Angier said motorists who aren't travelling to or from Oklahoma City might consider using US Highway 69 to the east or US Highway 81 to the west to avoid the I-35 bottleneck.

She said they believe once they decide on a plan, it will take weeks, rather than months, to clear the highway and shore up the rocks.

The price tag will depend largely on the solution they choose, but she expects it will be in the millions, not tens of millions of dollars.

No one was hurt by the slide.