On Tuesday, engineers in Oklahoma City presented preliminary design reports for a project to replace a deficient bridge carrying N May Avenue over Northwest Expressway.
According to the reports, the project would cost $10.5 million.
The bridge's height limit is lower than modern standards and it has partially collapsed twice from trucks hitting crossing beams.
The project would replace the current bridge with a 260-foot long and 75-foot wide steel I-beam span bridge, implementing a diverging diamond interchange design.
Other proposed improvements include:
- reconstruction of the on- and off-ramps;
- new traffic signals for a new intersection at the crossover traffic point;
- building a 10-foot trail along the center of the bridge; and
- adding ADA-compliant sidewalks, bridge rails and traffic parapet barriers.
Public Works Director Debbie Miller said city staff and engineering consultants researched less expensive options, but the $10.5 million proposal was the option city planners recommended because it would offer the biggest improvement to traffic safety and because it was the only one the association grant would support.
