I dont know where to put this but I was wondering when does ODOT decide that its time to reconstruct a bridge or road surface? Does the city have to vote to make this happen?

I live in El Reno and the Country Club bridge ove I-40 only has one lane and the road surface in terrible, and its probable the most congested area in the city, When do people realize that its time to add new lanes and such?

I dont know where to put this but I was wondering when does ODOT decide that its time to reconstruct a bridge or road surface? Does the city have to vote to make this happen?

I live in El Reno and the Country Club bridge ove I-40 only has one lane and the road surface in terrible, and its probable the most congested area in the city, When do people realize that its time to add new lanes and such?


the state does these types of projects .. and it can not borrow money to fund road construction .. so call you senator/legislators

I dont know where to put this but I was wondering when does ODOT decide that its time to reconstruct a bridge or road surface? Does the city have to vote to make this happen?

I would recommend putting it under, Civic Matters > Transportation


I live in El Reno and the Country Club bridge ove I-40 only has one lane and the road surface in terrible, and its probable the most congested area in the city, When do people realize that its time to add new lanes and such?

ODOT most recent rating on the bridge was Functionally Obsolete verses the more severe Structurally Deficient, given how many bridges in the metro alone are in the more severe category major work by ODOT will not be anytime soon, there will be hundreds ahead of it statewide. Since it does not have enough volume to necessitate traffic lights, I doubt it has the volume to justify two lanes in each direction, adding left turn lanes could be done without adjusting the bridge (so more likely a budget reality) and/or traffic lights is more practical in the near term but would need partial or full funding by El Reno to happen anytime soon.


Structurally Deficient (SD) Status - A highway bridge is classified as structurally deficient if the deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert is rated in "poor" condition (0 to 4 on the NBI rating scale). A bridge can also be classified as structurally deficient if its load carrying capacity is significantly below current design standards or if a waterway below frequently overtops the bridge during floods.

Functionally Obsolete (FO) Status - Highway bridges classified as functionally obsolete are NOT structurally deficient, but their design is outdated. They may have lower load carrying capacity, narrower shoulders or less clearance underneath than bridges built to the current standard.

I would recommend putting it under, Civic Matters > Transportation



ODOT most recent rating on the bridge was Functionally Obsolete verses the more severe Structurally Deficient, given how many bridges in the metro alone are in the more severe category major work by ODOT will not be anytime soon, there will be hundreds ahead of it statewide. Since it does not have enough volume to necessitate traffic lights, I doubt it has the volume to justify two lanes in each direction, adding left turn lanes could be done without adjusting the bridge (so more likely a budget reality) and/or traffic lights is more practical in the near term but would need partial or full funding by El Reno to happen anytime soon.

Thanks for the great info Snowman, Is their a website I can go to, to look at briges in the metro that are in worse condition?

ODOTs site is http://www.okladot.state.ok.us

The 2011 bridge update is here with a map of obsolete/deficient bridges on page 7: http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/cwp-8-year-plan/pdfs/BridgeHighwayUpdate_2011.pdf

There is a larger resolution sectionals that I do not have the link handy to right now and the site is is a pain to find things at times.

By the looks of it, it looks like the country club is indeed structurally defecient. And the other bridge in the city. Why is there a lack of funding for this?

By the looks of it, it looks like the country club is indeed structurally defecient. And the other bridge in the city. Why is there a lack of funding for this?

Looks like it did get downgraded, in any case decades of deferred maintenance has caught up with us, there has been increased priority on renovating or replacing bridges all over the state the list is much smaller than it was a few years ago. ODOT can not borrow money like some other states so they have what the state budgets and the federal matches & grants, what they have to spend is just not enough to do everything they and the public want them to do. The bridges over the interstate commonly run between 10 and 30 million per bridge depending on length and complexity.

Would this be a state or county responsibility? If it is the county, may want to contact the county commissioner(s) and see if it is on the list for improvements or replacement. Know that they are reusing a lot of the steel from the old crosstown and the state is giving it to the counties for free (but the county will still have to bear construction costs etc). Good news for county taxpayers but bad news for state taxpayers (the state could sell the steel as it was valued at several million dollars).

Also, not sure about not being able to borrow to do it as bond issues are done just for that purpose (but does have to be approved/authorized by the legislature) which is what BoulderSooner was maybe getting at.

Also, government projects like this (city, county, state) can take years, and sometimes 10 or more, even after funding is secured with a bond issue or other means. We have that happen in OKC all of the time. Some projects can take 10+ years from when the election passes to when the project gets completed. Especially with bond issue funding but even happens with MAPS style sales tax methods.