A $480 million interstate project to make the commute over Oklahoma’s Red River smoother is set to start this fall. The multiyear construction project will fund a new bridge over the Red River and widen Interstate 35.
“Oklahoma is the crossroads of America,” said Tim Gatz, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), in a statement. “We're served by three interstates, and they're major interstates.”
In 2023, ODOT says up to 150,000 vehicles traveled on I-35 daily, but they expect vehicle traffic to grow by as much as 1.4 million vehicles per day over 20 years.
“It is the number one fastest growing for population and job growth in the United States, so it's got our attention, it has to have our attention,” said Gatz.
The state department of transportation has long-term goals to renew interstates and roads across Oklahoma but realizes that it will take a lot of time and money.
For now, the focus is on Interstate-35, starting near the Oklahoma/Texas border.
“If you've ever traveled that during that peak period, you know what it's like; it's bumper to bumper traffic all the way down to Dallas,” said Gatz.
ODOT is working to make that drive smoother by partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
“We've done some widening down there at the Red River already, in support of the construction traffic control we're going to have to do during the bridge project,” said Gatz.
Gatz says it would take about $2.5 billion to widen all of I-35 to six lanes in Oklahoma. So, they’re starting slowly, focusing on the 10-mile stretch from the Red River into Oklahoma just to start.
“That bridge over the Red River is about a $480 million project; about $37 million of that is on the Oklahoma side,” said Gatz.
It’s a long process that Gatz says will be well worth the wait.
“We have to be attentive to not only the traffic we experience in our state but the traffic that's going cross country, and that's what we're trying to accommodate,” said Gatz.
The project is expected to start this fall and will take 3-4 years to complete. The goal is to always have at least 2 lanes of I-35 open during construction.
Source: News9.com, KXII.com
