A groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of a project to replace the Roosevelt Bridge on US-70 over Lake Texoma. The bridge connects Bryan and Marshall counties and carries more than 11,000 vehicles each day between southern Oklahoma, northern Texas and southern Arkansas.
The Oklahoma Transportation Department held the event with its design-build team and federal, state, local and Tribal officials. Transportation Secretary and ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz served as emcee. Attendees included Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, members of the state Legislature, community members and representatives of Zachry Construction and Traylor Bros.
The project is expected to cost more than $408 million and is intended to replace the roughly 80-year-old structure while improving the corridor’s safety and reliability. Funding includes $124 million from the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Investment Program, along with state and federal investment.
Plans call for a new four-lane bridge, upgrades to the US-70 approaches and additional safety features. Those features will include full shoulders, lighting and a path for pedestrians. ODOT also plans to coordinate with local communities and regional partners during construction.
Zachry Construction and Traylor Bros. are leading the design-build team. The team was selected through a competitive procurement process using a modified progressive design-build approach. The source did not provide a construction completion date.
