Suspensions lifted for state highway projects
Oklahoma motorists can breath easier.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has lifted its suspension of work on nearly a dozen construction projects, including the I-240/I-35 interchange project in south Oklahoma City.
The department put the projects on hold last month and was studying a list of about 80 projects to see if more should be suspended after learning that the Oklahoma Legislature was contemplating reducing the department’s anticipated budget by about $251 million, said Mike Patterson, the agency’s executive director.
The agency was able to put all the projects back on track after a legislative budget compromise was reached and the agency learned its anticipated highway budget would only be trimmed by $153 million this coming fiscal year, he said.
“We’re able to continue with our current construction projects,” Patterson said Monday. “We’re really pleased that we’re not having to suspend our current construction activities.”
That means work is scheduled to continue uninterrupted on projects such as the Lindsey Street/I-35 bridge in Norman and the I-235 widening project from about NW 36 Street to NW 50 Street in Oklahoma City.
However, that doesn’t mean the agency won’t feel the impact of the cuts, Patterson said.
The agency will receive
$153 million less than it was expecting next fiscal year after receiving $323 million less than it was expecting during the current fiscal year, he said.
That will impact the department’s eight-year construction plan, with the agency having to slide some projects back into 2025, Patterson said.
“If there’s one dollar taken out of this agency, it’s going to affect the eight-year plan,” he said. “These are cumulative numbers, so if you look over the last six to eight years, the impact has been $800 million.”
The Transportation Department actually was appropriated a little more money for next fiscal year than it was appropriated for the current year, but in both cases received substantially less than state statutes called for it to receive had some of the funds not been diverted by the Legislature to help support other agencies, transportation officials said.
Revenue projections based on statutory funding allocations were used by the department to develop its eight-year construction plan, so adjustments must be made when the Legislature redirects funds.
The Oklahoma Transportation Commission on Monday approved a budget work plan totaling more than $1.58 billion.