Foot traffic: OKC snags federal funding for third pedestrian bridge over Oklahoma River

Dale Denwalt, The Oklahoman
·2 min read

The U.S. Department of Transportation will fund yet another pedestrian bridge over the Oklahoma River, which would be the third new connection between north and south Oklahoma City.

Transportation officials announced Wednesday that grant funding for the Interstate 35 multimodal bridge had been approved. Once completed, it will offer pedestrians and cyclists a safe connection alongside the interstate and will link to the Oklahoma River trails.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2027.

The project announced Tuesday will receive $17.3 million from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. During this round of funding, the Biden administration awarded $1.8 billion to 148 infrastructure projects across the country that were requested by local governments.

pedestrian_bridge_okriver_map
pedestrian_bridge_okriver_map

"These are community visions. Many of them are long-standing dreams that wouldn't have happened except that they lacked federal support," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The funding of the new pedestrian bridge comes after a multi-year request from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for help building it. The U.S. Department of Transportation received over 1,000 grant applications requesting $13 billion in funding for 2024's RAISE program.

"Even with this historic amount of funding, there is more demand than we can meet with any given round, and anyone who succeeded, any community that got a project funded, has a lot to be proud of," Buttigieg said.

Portions of Interstate 35 bridge in OKC will also be rebuilt

Oklahoma's Transportation Department also has plans to rebuild the northbound and southbound lanes of the Interstate 35 bridge at that location. Construction on the vehicle portion of the bridge is currently planned for 2028. The recent announcement that Oklahoma City will host two events in the Olympic Games that year could influence that project's timeline, however. The Transportation Department reevaluates its long-term plans each fall.

Last week, construction began on a MAPS 4-funded pedestrian bridge near the OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark.

An Interstate 35 bridge over the Oklahoma River is pictured April 1.
An Interstate 35 bridge over the Oklahoma River is pictured April 1.

A third bridge, funding for which was included in a 2017 bond issue, will cross the Oklahoma River between Western and Exchange avenues. An existing but abandoned rail line will be converted for pedestrians.

All three bridges will add connections to the 100-mile Oklahoma City trail system, which includes paths on both shorelines of the Oklahoma River.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC to receive $17M federal grants for another Oklahoma River bridge