Highway 169 To Be Widened In Owasso

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a new 8-year plan this week that starts in 2020 and includes thousands of projects around the state. 

Traveling through Owasso might just be getting easier in the next 8 years thanks to part of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation's new 8-year plan.

"It is huge for Owasso because a lot of our people that live in Owasso work in Tulsa, and a lot of the people who live in Tulsa make up our employees in Owasso. It is really important for accessibility safety reasons,“ said Owasso City Manager Warren Lehr.

ODOT says this plan is part of their goal to get OKlahoma to be a top 10 state in infrastructure. The new 8-year plan starts in 2020 and will address infrastructure issues all over the state - improving roads, bridges, pavements and adding lanes. Lehr says several groups have been advocating for this project and the city was pleasantly surprised to see it in the plan.

"It is outstanding. It is something we have looked forward to for a long time. We still have more to go but every little bit helps,” said Lehr.

The plan calls for replacing the Highway 169 bridges over 76th street north. The next step will be widening Highway 169 from 66th street North to 86th street.

"The widening has stopped just south of Owasso there at 66th street north so it is really important that we get the widening all the way into our city,” said Lehr.

To see the full 8-year plan, click here.