Oklahoma Governor to Announce Plan to Cut Bad Bridges

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and state transportation officials are developing plans that Fallin says will dramatically reduce the number of deficient highway bridges in the state.

Fallin will discuss the plan Monday at the State Capitol.

Oklahoma ranks second in the nation, behind only Pennsylvania, in the number of bridges rated structurally deficient. But a report by Washington, D.C.-based The Road Information Program in April indicated the state had reduced the number of structurally deficient, state-maintained bridges by 32 percent in recent years, from 1,168 in 2005 to 797 in 2010.

Based on an anticipated $1.1 billion in appropriations for road and bridge repair through 2015, TRIP projects Oklahoma will reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges to 504 by 2015, a 57 percent reduction from 2005.