City Of OKC Making Plans To Replace NW Expressway Bridge After 2016 Collapse

Oklahoma City is in the beginning phases of looking for ways to improve the Northwest Expressway bridge. 

A truck hit the bridge at May Avenue, and the bridge collapsed in 2016.

The city said they're now planning on giving the bridge a complete makeover.

The City of Oklahoma City said the bridge is aging. 

Jalen Dorsey, a small business owner, said it’s definitely something he’s noticed. 

“It, like many other Oklahoma roads, don’t receive the maintenance that it should,” Dorsey said.

He said he's probably one of thousands of people that use the Northwest Expressway Bridge to go home, work or hang out with friends every day. He said he's looking forward to it being replaced.

He said the bridge has always been sketchy, even before it collapsed in 2016. 

He recalled the day it collapsed just hours after using it to drive to work.

“It was like an eerie. It's almost like when the wind gets knocked out of you, but also everyone is like, well that's creepy because we always thought that that bridge was always unstable or not really suitable for that much traffic as it receives,” Dorsey said.

The city said a semi-truck hauling a boom lift hit the bridge, and repairs were made to the deck.

In a statement to News 9, the city said: "The preliminary design will consider several bridge options to not only include the replacement of the bridge, but also enhance traffic access and safety as well as provide pedestrian access in the area."

Money to fund this project will come from a 2017 bond.

“As a resident, I’m excited and I hope that it really does stay together, but again I can only hope because in 2016 it collapsed and here, we are in 2023 repairing it again,” Dorsey said.

The city said they hope to start construction in about a year.