OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has approved nearly $9 billion in highway construction and safety projects in the newest edition of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Eight-Year Construction Work Plan.
The Eight-Year Construction Work Plan contains nearly $9 billion worth of needed transportation infrastructure improvements scheduled to be addressed in fiscal years 2025-2032. The improvements are designed to enhance safety and travel reliability of the interstate and highway systems across Oklahoma.
“Our Eight-Year Plan serves as a guide for the department’s construction and maintenance efforts and allows us to ensure we are addressing as many transportation needs as we can statewide,” ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz said. “Our main focus continues to be safety and reliability, and we are working to enhance safety by improving interchanges, adding shoulders to rural two-lane highways and addressing bridges statewide.”
Oklahoma, like many other states, has taken inflation and the changing economic climate in supply costs into consideration and adjusted plans accordingly. Construction costs have increased more than 60 percent since 2022. While some projects have been redistributed in the plan to accommodate these increases, no projects were removed from the Eight-Year Construction Work Plan.
- $8.6 billion in total investment
- 1,647 total projects
- Addresses 632 bridges, including 299 structurally deficient or at-risk bridges
- 3,755 miles of roadway improvements, which includes 954 miles of safety improvements on two-lane highways with deficient or no shoulders
- In the Oklahoma City metro area, the final three phases of I-35 at I-240
- In the Tulsa metro area, widening US-169 between 66th and 86th Street
- In Southeastern Oklahoma, US-70/Roosevelt Bridge replacement over Lake Texoma advanced from 2029 to 2026
- In South Central Oklahoma, widening I-35 to six lanes in Love County
- In Southwestern Oklahoma, new interchanges will be built along the Duncan Bypass in Stephens County, as well as along US-62 and Goodyear Boulevard in Comanche County
- In North Central Oklahoma, the final phases of widening SH-33 to four lanes between Guthrie and Stillwater
- In Western Oklahoma, an interchange improvement project along I-40 at I-40 Business in Custer County
- In Northwestern Oklahoma, adding shoulders to more than 6 miles of US-412/US-60 between Ringwood in Major County and the Garfield County line
An additional area of special interest is the southern I-35 corridor. Throughout the Eight-Year Plan, there are 14 projects totaling more than $377 million that will widen nearly 53 miles of I-35 between the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma-Texas state line.
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This marks the 22nd edition of the Eight-Year Construction Work Plan. Since its inception, ODOT has made major impacts to the safety and quality of the state’s transportation system. Oklahoma’s number of structurally deficient bridges has decreased from 1,168 bridges to fewer than 50, which are scheduled to be addressed in the Eight-Year Plan, and Oklahoma continues to rank in the top 10 in the nation for good bridge conditions.
Also presented at the recent commission meeting was the Four-Year Asset Preservation Plan, which includes nearly $500 million in investments for preventative maintenance aimed at extending the life of the state’s highway system in fiscal years 2025-2028. Asset preservation projects include pavement resurfacing, rehabilitation and bridge rehabilitation, painting, and joint sealing. The $494 million plan has 276 projects addressing 81 highway bridges and will resurface 1,964 miles of pavement.