The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is maximizing new dollars to plan for more than 1,600 critically needed highway construction and safety projects in the next eight years.
With more than 300 new projects added to the Eight-Year Construction Plan for 2022-2029 approved on Monday, Oct. 4, the department will commit an additional nearly $2 billion into highway infrastructure and the state’s economy. This brings a total impact of nearly $8 billion by the end of the decade. Commissioners also approved a $484 million investment in preventative maintenance through the companion Asset Preservation Plan for 2022-2025.
“Oklahoma truly has some great momentum in bringing our highway system back to a manageable condition, and this year’s update to the Eight-Year Plan and Asset Preservation Plan will help us continue to preserve and enhance the transportation system,” Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation and ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz said in a statement. “We remain laser focused on maintaining Oklahoma’s Top Ten national status for good bridge conditions and will continue our work completing corridor upgrades, adding shoulders to rural, two-lane highways and improving pavement conditions."
With the restoration of $180 million in state appropriated funding and an anticipated 2023 increase in the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety (ROADS) Fund annual cap from $575 million to $590 million, ODOT said it was able to budget for more critically needed projects in this plan update.
The department said Oklahoma is one of the first states to take advantage of the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Rural Project Initiative at the U.S. Department of Transportation to accelerate rural, two-lane improvement projects already in the Eight-Year Plan.
The FY 2022-2029 Eight-Year Construction Work Plan includes 1,657 total projects; addresses 685 bridges through rehabilitation or replacement, including the last few remaining structurally deficient bridges; and nearly 2,296 miles of roadway improvements, which includes more than 1,013 miles of safety improvements on two-lane highways with deficient or no shoulders.
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SOURCE: Oklahoma Department of Transportation
