ODOT holds public meeting to decide Roosevelt Bridge's future

By Dawn Corbett

A beloved Marshall County landmark, the Roosevelt Bridge, is at risk. This is a big deal. The Roosevelt Bridge is one of the community’s most significant historic properties in the state of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) held a public meeting on July 25. The purpose of the meeting was to inform residents in attendance on the replacement alternative details on a safe crossing that accommodates current and future traffic demand.

Due to the historic property significance of the Roosevelt Bridge, ODOT is required to follow Section 4(f) process. The requirements of the process are before approving a Section 4(f) project the Federal Highway Administration must determine that there is no feasible and prudent alternative that avoids the Section 4(f) property and that the project includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the Section 4(f) property. Meaning, ODOT must study alternatives that would preserve the historic integrity of the bridge.

There are six proposed alternatives, including No-Use (impacts are not likely severe enough to impair the historical integrity), and Use (impacts are likely severe enough to impair the historical integrity).

Alternative 1: Do nothing - No Change, 2 Lanes, No Shoulders

Alternative 2: Rehabilitation (2 Options)

Option A - No Change, 2 Lanes, No Shoulders

Option B - Widened 4 Lanes with Shoulders

Alternative 3: One-Way Pair Rehab (2 Options)

            Option A (No Widening) – No Change, 2 Lanes, No Shoulders

            Option B (Widening) – Widened 2 Lanes with Shoulders

Alternative 4: Pedestrian/Bicycle – No Change (Shared Use Path)

Alternative 5: Monument – No Change (Not Used)

Alternative 6: 7 Full and partial north offset alternatives. This would include construction of a whole new four lane, lake causeway with the remaining bridge left intact for historical purposes.

According to the ODOT representative, the existing Roosevelt Bridge is becoming structurally deficient. These conditions are due to the deterioration of the deck, beams, and railings. It’s narrow, has no shoulders, and has low clearance at the truss span.

A review of the collision history found an elevated rate of severe collisions. Traffic projection analysis indicates that a four-lane highway and bridge will be necessary to accommodate future traffic volumes.

The major concerns regarding the Roosevelt Bridge, other than its stressed condition, are the number of wrecks on the bridge, blind spots, traffic flow, and bottlenecks. There have been 52 accidents that have occurred on the bridge from 2015 to 2019 with fatalities, that’s more than double of any other bridge of comparison.

There is an imperative need to start this project. In 2021, The Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) is 8,500 vehicles per day. AADT predicts that by the year 2050 there will be 27,000 vehicles per day. The Right-of-Way Acquisition will start in the year 2025 and construction in 2029.

At the end of the meeting residents asked questions and expressed concerns regarding the state of the existing bridge. The repeated answer was ‘current and future traffic is asking for trouble by continuing to use this old existing, historic bridge’.

Residents can submit a comment about this project by mail, email or online. To send by US Mail, the address is Environmental Programs Division, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, 200 N.E. 21st St. Oklahoma City, Okla. 73105-3204. The email is environment@odot.org. Residents can also go online at www.odot.org/public meetings to submit their comment or use the provided QR code.