New eight-year plan to rebuild I-35 and I-240 junction, rebuild bridges statewide

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation on Monday awarded the single largest contract in its history for reconstruction of Interstate 40 and the highway’s junction with Doulgas Boulevard while also approving an eight-year plan funding future rebuilding of the Interstate 240 junction with Interstate 35 in south Oklahoma City. 

The eight-year Construction Work Plan was approved 20 years after the transportation commission started construction timelines. The plan, covering projects planned between 2023 and 2030, details $8.4 billion in transportation improvements. 

“Oklahoma’s highway and bridge network serves as the backbone of the state’s economy, moving people to work and goods to market while connecting Oklahoma with the nation and the world,” said Tim Gatz, secretary of transportation. “Simultaneously, many of these investments will ease commutes and travel for residents and allow them to spend more quality time with their families.” 

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Oklahoma’s bridges were ranked worst nationally when the transportation commission started the eight-year plans. Oklahoma had 1,168 structurally deficient bridges in 2004, but as of last year the state ranked fifth best in the country for bridges on state highways (bridges maintained by towns and counties are still listed among the worst in the country).  

Transportation commissioners on Monday also approved the department’s Asset Preservation Plan for 2023-26, which includes 330 projects totaling $502 million worth of maintenance and preservation work to extend the life of the state’s highway infrastructure. 

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The $171 million contract for the I-40 and Douglas Boulevard junction includes widening of six miles of the interstate between Industrial Road and I-240. The junction at Douglas Boulevard will be converted to an urban-style single access connection similar to one recently completed at I-40 and Morgan Road. 

The funding includes a $51 million federal grant awarded to Oklahoma with a requirement that the project be completed in 2025. 

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Construction returns to Interstate 35 in south Oklahoma City

The eight-year plan approved Monday calls for construction to start in 2023 with reconstruction of frontage roads, a railroad bridge and the northbound I-35 connection from eastbound I-240. 

The final phases, which will start in 2025 and finish in three years, will consist of two flyover ramps, similar to those built at Interstate 235 and Interstate 44. 

Plan includes rural bridge improvements

The 2023-30 plan addresses 340 bridges currently at risk of becoming structurally deficient and targets 659 highway bridges for reconstruction or major rehabilitation. Altogether, the plan contains about 1,745 projects valued at more than $8.4 billion. 

“Our next major focus is addressing rural two-lane highways with deficient shoulders and improving highway pavement conditions,” Gatz said. “This updated plan addresses 1,093 miles of rural two-lane highways with deficient shoulders and will improve 4,148 lane miles of highway pavement.” 

New website details current and upcoming projects

The new website, available on the Oklahoma Department of Transportation homepage at www.odot.org, allows users to easily locate projects and related information of interest to them. Projects can be sorted by the Transportation Department's field district, by Construction Work Plan projects, Asset Preservation Plan Projects or by plan year. 

Projects across the state in the eight-year plan include: 

• Widening US-169 in Tulsa at Memorial Road; 
• Rehabilitation of the SH-16 bridge over the Verdigris River (McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System) in Wagoner County and an I-40 pavement improvement project in Sequoyah County; 
• Resurfacing of US-69/75 between Durant and Caney in Bryan and Atoka counties and replacement of the SH-31 Blue Creek bridge in Pittsburg County; 
• Widening I-35 to six lanes from the Red River to mile-marker 15 in Love County; 
• Adding shoulders to SH-8 between Cleo Springs and US-64E in Major and Alfalfa counties and adding shoulders to SH-136 between US-412 and E 70 Road in Texas County; 
• Adding shoulders to SH-51 between I-35 and Stillwater in Payne County and adding shoulders and resurfacing US-177 between Blackwell and Braman in Kay County.