US-70 Roosevelt Bridge Replacement

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a $408 million contract on April 6, 2026. It’s the largest single award in ODOT’s history, and it buys a replacement for a 1945 bridge that state engineers said would slide into poor condition within three years without major rehabilitation.

Project Scope

The new US-70 crossing of Lake Texoma runs roughly two miles across 63 spans, with substructure elements reaching about 150 feet below the lake surface. Piers sit on 10-foot-diameter drilled shafts founded on bedrock. Construction is phased so traffic stays on the existing bridge throughout, and the finished structure carries four lanes with 10-foot shoulders, a median barrier, lighting and a barrier-separated bicycle and pedestrian path. That path will be the first pedestrian crossing of Lake Texoma.

ODOT procured the work through what it calls a modified progressive design-build, contracting with multiple teams during design and construction planning before selecting one. Three teams proposed in March 2026, scored on approach, technical solutions, schedule and cost. A Zachry Construction and Traylor Bros. joint venture won as apparent best value; Parsons was named lead designer a week later.

The bridge being replaced is 4,943 feet long with 87 spans on a 24-foot-wide shoulderless deck. It’s fracture-critical and functionally obsolete, with deck spalling, floor-beam corrosion, section loss, sheared bolts and failed railing connections. Its 250-foot Warren through-truss is the only remaining example of its type on an Oklahoma vehicular bridge and is eligible for the National Register.

Why It Matters

Traffic runs about 8,500 vehicles a day now and is forecast to pass 27,000 by 2050, driven largely by the Pointe Vista master-planned development going up at the west approach. The entire alignment sits in FEMA Zone A/AE floodplain, and major floods in 1990 and 2015 closed US-70 for days. The new profile is raised roughly ten feet for that reason.

The corridor is a designated Historically Disadvantaged Community, with the Marshall County side also an Area of Persistent Poverty and the Choctaw Nation Promise Zone about 6.75 miles east. For a rural crossing that carries freight, commuters and lake traffic on one narrow deck, the replacement is less a capacity project than a redundancy one. Completion is anticipated in fall 2029.

Project Team & Details