Oklahoma River To Be Drained To Build Pedestrian Bridge

Oklahoma River to be drained ahead of MAPS 4 project.

The Oklahoma River will look different at the end of the year as construction of a pedestrian bridge gets underway.

The river will be drained from November to March.

“You open the dam, and the water goes,” said Mike Knopp – Executive Director of Riversport OKC. “In the name of progress, all the way down to the mud.”

Knopp says there are always people on the river, but construction is scheduled during their least active time of year.

“MAPS 4 will be bringing a new pedestrian bridge to the river,” said Knopp. “They will be putting in the foundations for that bridge which will actually connect to the Okana Resort.

The Okana Resort is currently under construction beside the First Americans Museum. The location also the starting line for the 2000 meter rowing race.

“It’ll give people a really nice way to watch the start,” Knopp said.

He adds that putting the piers into the river bottom is much easier when the water is gone. It will also be easier to build the inlet and dock for a proposed river cruiser.

Knopp says it will be a challenge to move the rowers who use the river year round.

The High Performance program along with rowers from UCO and OCU will relocate temporarily to Lake Overholser or Exchange Boathouse.

Despite the logistics of that move, Knopp looks forward to what the bridge brings.

“We’re really excited about the synergy between Okana, The First Americans Museum, Riversport, downtown. It’s really going to be an unbelievable destination,” he says. “We just look forward to seeing how all of it connects together.”