Credit Oklahoma Department of Transportation
The Oklahoma Transportation Commission signed off Monday on an updated five-year work plan for county roads and bridges.
State lawmakers created the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges program in 2006 in order to help local governments pay for projects they couldn’t afford on their own. The updated plan covers work through fiscal year 2026. The nearly $755 million five-year plan includes the replacement or rehabilitation of 272 bridges, including 129 structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Additionally, there are 443 miles of county roadway that will be improved with this plan, said Oklahoma Department of Transportation Local Government Division Engineer Shelly Williams.
Credit Oklahoma Department of Transportation
State lawmakers say they are filing legislation to guard against massive utility bills in the wake of winter storms that put Oklahoma in the deep freeze in February.
Sen. James Leewright (R-Bristow) said the measures will set up a process for utility companies to package and sell off their debt from spiking natural gas costs, limiting how much of the impact can be passed along to consumers. If we do nothing . families, seniors on fixed incomes, single working families could be strapped with bills they struggle to pay, leaving them to choose between paying for necessities or paying the electric and gas bill. Businesses still reeling from the effects of the pandemic could be forced to make cutbacks, layoffs to pay off these high utility bills, Leewright said. Both of these scenarios will have rippling scenarios throughout our economy.
Pavement damage from recent winter storms is already appearing on Oklahoma roads.
Credit Oklahoma Department of Transportation
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has received $154 million from the federal coronavirus relief package passed in December.
State Secretary of Transportation and ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz plans to put a portion of that into the agency’s asset preservation fund. He said the timing of a cash infusion for road repairs couldn’t be better. I can’t emphasize enough the impact that two weeks of subfreezing weather conditions are going to have on our pavement structures for the springtime, Gatz told the Oklahoma Transportation Commission last week.