Tribe, ODOT partner to replace Salt Creek Bridge

Officials of the Sac and Fox Nation and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation have executed a Memorandum of Agreement to reconstruct the bridge over Salt Creek, pictured to the right, on State Highway 99 north of Stroud. The location is 1.26 miles north of US 66.

State highway officials have determined the current bridge is structurally deficient with a load rating of 43/100, and is functionally obsolete.

The current bridge, built in 1933, has an average daily traffic count of 3,300 vehicles.

ODOT will provide engineering design, construction management, inspection, and maintenance services.

Cost estimates are $2.5 million, with the Sac and Fox Nation providing 33% of the costs through a grant-in-aid to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

The ODOT Highway Commission will award a construction contract in March. Construction is scheduled to begin in May or June 2020 and the contractor will have 180 days to complete the bridge construction.

The highway will have two lanes remaining open to traffic during the construction period. A shoofly detour will be built on the west side of the current bridge. The new bridge will include two 12 ft traffic lanes with eight foot improved shoulders.

This is a state-tribal partnership project of the Tribal Transportation Program.

Photo/Chelsea Weeks