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In that public meeting held at the Bartlesville Community Center on Thursday night, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation talked about work that would take place on State Highway 123 bridge that crosses over the Caney River in Bartlesville.

Design consultant Calvin Reed explains the bridge is “functionally obsolete" because it doesn't meet today's current design standards in terms of geometry. He says it has a 24-foot wide roadway with the bridge's current count of 5,670 vehicles per day which is one reason that makes it obsolete. It also has a 15-foot 6-inch vertical clearance to the wind bracing and sidewalks that don't meet ADA standards.

After Reed spoke, Jennifer Koscelny with ABLE Consultants went on to explain that this is probably one of the more complicated projects she has worked on.

One complication Koscelny mentions is the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 that revolves around Johnstone Park and the Pathfinder Parkway. That means the City of Bartlesville used federal funds to develop the Pathfinder Parkway system. She says they will have to coordinate with the Department of Interior since they have to deal with federal funds. It works well for the City and the State, however, as Koscelny explains the city will have net increase of 0.12 acres within Johnstone Park while the State can handle the previously City owned land so they can work on the bridge.

The other complicating factor is associated with the U.S. Department of Transportation Act which protects historical structures like the State Highway 123 Bridge unless a party like ODOT can give good enough reasons for the bridge work to take place. 

ODOT took public comments in the meeting Thursday night and will continue to take comments on the bridge work until Jan. 13, 2019. Beyond that, ODOT will move on to complete environmental studies. They will also obtain approval from the Federal Highway Association while acquiring a right of way. Then when they relocate utilities and complete engineering designs, they will begin construction in 2021. We will have more in the days to come.