Oklahoma’s infrastructure is slated for a major update, now that the Oklahoma Transportation Commission has signed off on updated improvement plans for the state’s highway and county road systems over the next eight years.
This is a major turnaround, given that the largest of these plans had been delayed and forced to backtrack in several places last year, due to $840 million in cumulative state funding reductions. The Legislature has since stabilized funding for these efforts, and the result that ODOT’s Eight Year Construction Work Plan is back on track, with nearly $6.5 billion planned for use on updating state bridges and highways.
The primary goal of that plan is to get the state bridges to a less than 1 percent deficiency rate, through 686 highway bridge replacements or rehabilitation. In total, nearly 1,400 projects will be undertaken over the course of the plan, including more than 720 miles added in highway improvements and 152 miles of interstate pavement improvements. Urban congestion is being targeted, and millions are being pumped into a widening and improvement project on I-44, I-35, US-81, and US-70.
“It’s very exciting to be in the position of delivering on the promise of getting our highway bridges in a manageable condition after decades of having some of the worst bridges in the nation,” Mike Patterson, secretary of Transportation and ODOT executive director, said. “Now that state funding has stabilized, and the plan has been rebalanced, we’re focusing on the next priorities which are major highway pavement improvement projects involving mobility issues and further safety improvements that are desperately needed statewide.”
The Transportation Commission also approved a $473 million Asset Preservation Plan for the next three years, focused on maintenance projects and life extension of existing infrastructure. It will cover nearly 400 projects, including bridges and pavement. Alongside this was the County Improvements of Roads and Bridges Construction Work Plan for the same period, which will see $877 million to address local bridges and county roads.