OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Highlights of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission’s recent meeting include an update to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) response to the storms in late April, multiple national awards recognizing the department’s conservation efforts, and an update on two upcoming projects to resurface and add shoulders to rural, two-lane highways, one located on U.S. 59 near Stilwell and the other on U.S. 259 near Idabel.

ODOT Chief Engineer Brian Taylor briefed commissioners on ODOT’s response to the recent storms and tornadoes in southern and southcentral Oklahoma. Seven of the department’s eight statewide field districts were called to help with clean up. More than 75 employees and nearly 30 pieces of equipment, including dump trucks, were used to assist emergency responders in Sulphur, Marietta, and Holdenville.

The Wagoner County maintenance yard vehicles sustained broken windshields, and storms overturned several salt spreaders. Other districts statewide have been responding to flooding events and debris removal following receding waters, replacing signs and structures blown over, and keeping an eye on a driftwood buildup on the Neosho River bridge in Ottawa County.

“Our boots on the ground are just incredible individuals, and they’ve been working around the clock to help their communities. There is much to be said about them and their efforts,” Taylor said.

The department was recently recognized for its successful demonstration of the compatibility of environmental conservation with infrastructure building. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service again awarded ODOT for its innovative and successful implementation of the Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Program. ODOT was one of two departments of transportation to receive the Outside the Box Award for its exceptional achievements in this area.

In addition, two other awards were bestowed at this event. The national Asclepias Adder Award for the highest average milkweed stem count across southern and western U.S. transportation rights of way and the national Wind Beneath our Wings Award, which recognizes ODOT Natural Resources Biologist Vonceil Harmon’s positive communication with the Rights of Way Working Group and her willingness to mentor other transportation sector partners new to the national Monarch conservation program.

Commissioners awarded several contracts, among them two projects to resurface and add shoulders to rural, two-lane highways, a $23 million project located on U.S. 59 between SH-51 and Baron Fork Creek near Stilwell in Adair County and a $28.5 million second phase of three on U.S. 259 south of Idabel in McCurtain County. Both projects are 7 miles long and are estimated to begin in late fall and take about a year.

Commissioners also voted to award 41 contracts totaling $143 million to improve highways, roads, and bridges statewide.