OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Highlights of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission’s recent meeting include welcoming the new District 2 Commissioner, receiving a national pavement award, updating commissioners on the Work Zone Safe law, recognizing Mobility Week, and approving major construction projects on SH-37/4th Street in Moore and U.S. 270 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) Executive Director Tim Gatz and commissioners welcomed newly appointed District 2 Commissioner Eric Stuteville. He will represent the nine district counties of Southeastern Oklahoma. Stuteville replaces James Grimsley, who vacated the position after having served since May 2019.
The Oklahoma Asphalt Pavement Association presented the national Asphalt Pavement Alliance’s 2023 Perpetual Pavement Award by Design to ODOT’s District 3. The nearly $18 million winning project was a pavement rehabilitation on I-40 near Okemah in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. This award honors exceptional long-life asphalt pavements in the U.S. that demonstrate outstanding design, quality, and construction. The award is shared with Haskell Lemon Construction.
Gatz also recognized Oklahoma Mobility Awareness Week, a campaign that is a united effort by ODOT and its mobility service partners to promote awareness of safe transportation resources throughout Oklahoma. ODOT’s Mobility Management program connects transit providers with Oklahomans who have unmet transportation needs.
The department is celebrating the one-year mark since becoming the first state to require a work zone and first responder safety training course for teen drivers. The Work Zone Safe course is designed to teach teens how to be confident, capable, and safe drivers in work zones and show them that every decision they make behind the wheel can have an impact. Since becoming law, more than 63,500 Oklahoma teens have completed the program.
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The commission voted to approve a $30 million reconstruction project on SH-37/4th Street in Moore. Construction will remove an at-grade railroad crossing and create a new bridge over SH-37/4th Street with additional safety improvements. The project is anticipated to start in early 2025 and should be completed in summer 2026.
Also approved was a pavement rehabilitation project on U.S. 270 nearly 2 miles south of I-40 extending southeast into Shawnee. Work will include pavement work along with intersection ramp and safety improvements at the Kickapoo Spur interchange. The $26 million contract is anticipated to begin in early 2025 and take about a year to complete.
Commissioners voted to award 20 contracts totaling $183 million to improve interstates, highways, and bridges statewide.
