The commission voted to approve the annual update to the CIRB Plan for Federal Fiscal Years 2024 through 2028. The plan includes $804 million for reconstruction or rehabilitation of 176 county bridges and improvements to nearly 400 miles of county roads during the next five years. The CIRB program uses designated state funding administered by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation combined with federal, local, and tribal funds for the highest priority county transportation projects.
Approved at the commission meeting was an up to $105 million project to reconstruct the I-35 and SH-9W interchange south of Norman to accommodate heavy traffic in the area. The project will convert the interchange into a Divergent Diamond Interchange configuration. The project will also expand I-35 to six lanes from the Canadian River south to the Goldsby interchange. The reconstruction will begin this fall and is expected to complete in summer of 2026.
The commission voted to approve a $42 million contract to reconstruct and add shoulders to eight miles of SH-19 in Grady County, which will help improve safety along the corridor between Chickasha and Pauls Valley. The project is expected to begin in early 2024 and take about four months. In addition, a pavement rehabilitation project will take place on three miles of US-75 near Okmulgee slated to begin this fall and complete late summer 2024.
Commissioners also voted to award 12 contracts totaling nearly $150 million to improve highways, roads, and bridges statewide.
