Dec. 11—The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority began nightly lane closures Sunday on the Will Rogers Turnpike that will last about 10 days.
OTA spokesperson Lisa Shearer-Salim said the turnpike would be reduced to one lane westbound from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night.
“[The closures will] be through the weekends too because they are trying to get this done as quickly as possible, to reopen it to traffic … as well as not impact any Christmas holiday travels,” Shearer-Salim said.
The closures are making way for repairs to the 540 and 550 Road bridges, which a truck driver struck Nov. 21. Shearer-Salim said the driver damaged three beams on one bridge and two on the other. The bridges have been closed to all traffic since Nov. 22.
The authority awarded an emergency repair contract to Built Right Construction from Savanna.
Built Right will repair the 540 Road bridge first and then fix the 550 Road bridge, Shearer-Salim said.
Shearer-Salim said the work will cost about $275,000. According to News on 6, OTA will bill the trucking company for which the driver who struck the bridges works.
“We’re grateful to get this work started as quickly as possible,” Shearer-Salim said. “Once the work is complete, then those county bridges will be reopened to traffic.”