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Two bridges in Washington County along Highway 123 are scheduled to be advertised for construction bids in November 2021.

In a letter to the Washington County Commissioners, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said the Cherokee Bridge over the Caney River in Bartlesville and the bridge over an unnamed creek off of Highway 60 near Bartlesville along SH-123 would go out for bid in the fall. In past conversations with ODOT's Jennifer Bullard, she said this would necessitate closure of the bridges and the approach roadways in each area.

It could take up to a year to complete the projects as ODOT is tying the two SH-123 bridge projects together. Bullard said both bridges will never be closed at the same time. She said 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.

The projects are in the developmental stages. ODOT told the Commissioners that any comments relative to the road closure such as time and duration of closure and any other potential impacts to the surrounding community such as school bus or emergency route impacts are appreciated. ODOT hopes to receive feedback by July 16.

To see the letter from ODOT for yourself, click here.