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The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is still looking at updating two bridges along Highway 123 in the Bartlesville area, which includes the historic Cherokee Bridge (pictured) that crosses over the Caney River.

If the project were to let in July 2021, ODOT Construction Engineer Jennifer Bullard said work would not begin until November 2021. Bullard said ODOT is currently working through plan development, environmental studies, and more that is moving the project to its letting date. She said the final set of plans will be provided at the beginning of 2021. The plans will then be reviewed before last minute tweaks to the project plan are made.

Late in 2018, ODOT called the Cherokee Bridge "functionally obsolete." On Friday, Bullard said the steel truss bridge is an older style of bridge that is not up to today's design standards. She said the bridge is too narrow and it would be costly to work on.

For the time being, the projects are estimated to cost $9.5 million. Bullard said that is based on ODOT's Eight Year Plan. She said she didn't have an updated construction estimate yet to give an accurate dollar amount for the projects.

Bullard said the Cherokee Bridge Project will see the bridge move slightly to the east. She said the old truss bridge will be removed.

The other SH-123 bridge near Bartlesville will also be removed and replaced.

It could take up to a year to complete the projects as ODOT is tying the two SH-123 bridge projects together. Bullard said ODOT will be conducting work on two projects at the same time including the SH-123 Cherokee Bridge Project in Bartlesville and a SH-123 Bridge Project off of Highway 60 that crosses over a creek near Bartlesville. She said both bridges will never be closed at the same time. Detours will be left in place regardless of which bridge is worked on at the time.

ODOT will not detour traffic onto local, city or county roads. Bullard said they only do highway to highway detours. She said drivers will most likely have to utilize Highway 60 or Highway 75 to get back onto SH-123.

Bullard said ODOT is excited to see this project come into fruition.

If you wish to get future ODOT Traffic Advisories, click here to sign up on ODOT's webpage.