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The Cherokee Bridge Reconstruction Project is set to start this week. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is set to replace the Highway 123 Bridge over the Caney River and realign the intersection directly to the east of that location.

The State of Oklahoma owns the bridge located north of Hensley Blvd. and Cherokee Ave and the Bartlesville City Council recently approved a resolution with ODOT to put in a traffic signal at the new intersection. Director of Engineering Micah Siemers had this to say on the agreement:

“Maintenance and operation of traffic signals has always been the responsibility of municipalities. The City of Bartlesville operates and maintains all of the traffic signals on U.S. Highway 75, U.S. Highway 60 and State Highway 123, which are located within our city limits.”

ODOT conducted a traffic study in an effort to determine the need for a traffic signal with the new alignment. ODOT contract workers will relocate the utilities and construct the new bridge piers before closing Highway 123 and removing the existing Cherokee Bridge. The project is expected to take two years.