OKLAHOMA CITY – Several public safety improvement projects in Chattanooga and Hobart, and near Apache, Cement, Cooperton, Corum and Granite, were approved recently by the state Transportation Commission.
A centerline rumble strip and pavement markings will be installed on state Highway 9, beginning near Caddo County Street 2590 near Apache and extending easterly for approximately 10 miles to the junction of US-277 and SH-19 near Cyril.
In Kiowa County, pavement markings will be installed from the junction of SH-9 and SH-9B and extending easterly to the junction of SH-9B and US-183 at Hobart.
In addition, pavement markings will be installed beginning near the US-183 and SH-9 west junction near Hobart and extending northerly for approximately seven miles to the Kiowa/Washita county line.
Another project will entail installation of pavement markings on SH-6, beginning at the Jackson/Greer county line and extending northerly for approximately 12 miles to near Sulphur Road north of Granite.
And multiple speed zone revisions will be imposed along a 4.1-mile stretch of SH-36, in Tillman and Comanche counties, in the vicinity of Chattanooga’s school.
Construction Contracts A bridge in Stephens County on SH-53 near Corum that crosses Walker Creek 7.1 miles west of US-81 will be replaced in a $3,672,080 contract awarded Dec. 2 to Treas Construction of Coalgate.
A bridge on north/ south Jefferson County Road 276 that spans a Beaver Creek tributary 1.1 miles south of the junction of SH-5 near Waurika will be replaced in a $1 million contract also awarded to Treas Construction.
Bridges on SH-115 that cross Saddle Mountain Creek and tributaries 1.7, 1.9 and 2.2 miles south of the SH-19 east of Cooperton will be replaced, and SH-49 will receive attention starting 1.1 miles east of its intersection with SH-54, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The Transportation Commission awarded a $4.3 million contract on those jobs to Wyatt Contracting of Weatherford.
The commission also approved a change order on a $14 million project in Grady County to improve US-277 east of Cement. That job began 1.5 miles east of the Caddo County line and extended east for 2.5 miles, ending near the US-277 bridge over Interstate 44 (the H.E. Bailey Turnpike).
Overland Corporation has rebuilt US-277 to create a pair of 12-footwide driving lanes and 8-foot-wide shoulders on each side, including construction of a bridge, said Kalie Eldridge, a state Transportation Department public information officer. That contract was awarded in September 2022 and is nearing completion, she said.
“That project is the first of five in this corridor,” Eldridge told Southwest Ledger.
Another project will begin at the east edge of Cement and extend east, ending 1.5 miles east of the Caddo County line where the other project started. That job will entail reconstruction of US277 to create two 12-foot driving lanes with 8-foot shoulders, Eldridge said. Portions of that project “will be on a new alignment,” she added.
The project is tentatively scheduled to be let in 2026 and engineers estimate it will cost more than $13 million, she said.
Additional projects on US-277 scheduled in ODOT’s eight-year work plan include replacement of the bridge over I-44 (in partnership with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority), tentatively scheduled to be let in 2030; replacing the US277 bridge over Smith Creek 2.7 miles west of US-81, tentatively scheduled to be let in 2026; and a contract to add shoulders to US-277 from the I-44 junction eastward 4.3 miles to US-81 (right-of-way and utilities to be funded in 2031).