Commuters to and from Owasso, prepare for delays.
The Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a $1 million emergency contract Monday to repair pavement damage over a stretch of U.S. 169 caused by February’s winter storms. About a quarter mile of the highway around State Highway 266 needs to be fixed. Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews performed some road repairs there last week, but pavement in other spots deteriorated soon after.
"This is a major commuter and heavy truck corridor with an average daily traffic count of 75,000 vehicles per day. The district forces do not have the capacity to make the permanent repairs over this large area," said ODOT Executive Director and State Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz.
The two left southbound lanes and the right northbound lane of U.S. 169 are closed until further notice. ODOT will have a timeline for repairs once a contractor is hired.
Gatz said the statewide response to February's storms has been costly.
"Thus far, our preliminary total cost estimate for the department of transportation not including the turnpike operations is in the neighborhood of $9 million. We expect that to increase a little bit as we get some invoices that come in for both for materials and for contractor assistance," Gatz said.
Gatz told the transportation commission on Monday the winter storm response has used 103,000 man hours and 55,000 tons of salt and sand mix.
