A disappointing turn for OK roads, bridges
ONE of the disappointing things about state road projects having to be delayed or shelved due to budget concerns is that the eight-year plan used by the transportation officials is an example of government at its best.
The Department of Transportation’s rolling eightyear plan spells out specific road and bridge projects to be tackled, and funds them accordingly. The list is compiled by ODOT engineers and staff, and is free of the sort of political meddling that was routine for most of the state’s first century.
As a result of this approach, the number of structurally deficient bridges on Oklahoma’s highway system has shrunk from 1,168 several years ago to 251 today. ODOT was on track to drive that number down even further in the years ahead, but now won’t be able to do so as quickly as hoped.
Similarly, hundreds of miles of state highway have been repaired, shoulders have been added, median barriers installed and large reconstruction projects completed — the $71 million Interstate 35-Lindsey Street bridge-Highway 9 interchange, opened to motorists in July, is one of the most recent. The condition of Oklahoma’s roads, which had degraded considerably due to many years of underfunding, is much better today, although much work remains.
That work will have to be tempered going forward, due to ODOT losing $840 million cumulatively in state funding during the past seven years. The latest eightyear construction plan, approved by transportation commissioners this week, calls for delaying 42 percent of all projects for at least a year.
Forty projects have been taken off the books entirely. These include the realignment of U.S. 70 around Madill in southern Oklahoma and replacement of U.S. 60 bridges over the Neosho and Spring rivers in Ottawa County, in the northeast corner of the state.
Reconstruction of the Interstate 40 interchange with Douglas Boulevard in Midwest City and the widening of I-40 to the I-240 junction will be postponed five years. Reconstruction of a stretch of U.S. 75 in Tulsa is on ice for two years. In all, 620 scheduled projects are being delayed.
The eight-year plan, which runs through federal fiscal year 2025, still includes 1,448 projects, although that is almost 170 fewer than the previous plan. The projects include 764 bridges that will be replaced or repaired (60 fewer than hoped for), nearly 700 miles of shoulder additions and other improvements to two-lane highways, and 150 miles of interstate paving upgrades.
Mike Patterson, ODOT’s executive director, says the new plan emphasizes improvements that are needed in major transportation corridors that handle heavy truck traffic. This is a smart approach, given that our state’s highways are filled with these big rigs. On the other hand, Patterson noted, the inability to stay on schedule will cause the state to lose ground when it really cannot afford to.
The revisions are unfortunate, but they’re unavoidable given the state’s current financial challenges. Thankfully, almost a decade of improved state funding combined with solid planning by ODOT has many Oklahoma roads and bridges in far better shape than they would have been otherwise.