When is the anticipated date for the new Highway 123 Bridge to open?
The removal and replacement of the Highway 123 Bridge, also known as the Cherokee Bridge, is an Oklahoma Department of Transportation project. Because it’s not a City of Bartlesville project, City staff is not able to publicize timelines and schedules other than to say the project began in April 2022 and has a contract time of close to two years. So, theoretically, the bridge project should be complete sometime in spring of 2024.
It is staff’s understanding, however, the ODOT contractor plans to have the new bridge open by the end of this month. Most likely there will still be additional work to complete at that point, but it is safe to assume that any remaining work will be completed this year, according to the City Engineering Department.
When the project is complete, the new bridge will align with Delaware and will include a new signalized intersection at Delaware Avenue and Hensley Boulevard. This intersection will be owned by the State when completed, as this is an extension of State Highway 123. Based on traffic counts previously conducted by ODOT for the State-owned intersection of Cherokee Avenue and Hensley Boulevard, the signal currently at that location will remain.
Because the new bridge alignment will move State Highway 123 traffic from Cherokee Avenue to Delaware Avenue at Hensley Boulevard, the City will monitor the traffic patterns once the project is complete to see if any improvements or modifications are necessary on Delaware between Hensley and Frank Phillips Boulevard.
For more information about the bridge project, contact ODOT at 918.838.9933.
Is it too late to do that?
There are people who would like to save the old Cherokee/Highway 123 Bridge, to make it a walking bridge, instead of destroying it. What can be done to save it?
This Oklahoma Department of Transportation project has been in some stage of completion for many years. Several years ago, ODOT held at least one public meeting in Bartlesville to gauge interest in saving the bridge. Some citizens floated the idea then of turning it in to a walking bridge, but apparently no one stepped up with the money — then or since — that it would have taken to do that.
In 2016, the City declined to utilize taxpayer funds to preserve the bridge due to costs associated with upgrades and maintenance, as well as the cost to move parts of the bridge to a nearby park — an idea that was also presented. The City has maintained all along, however, there was no opposition to a private and/or volunteer group raising the funds to preserve it. While it’s no doubt too late in the game for this option to work now, this is an agreement that would need to be made with ODOT, not the City of Bartlesville.
For more information about this project, contact ODOT at 918.838.9933 or see Highway 123 Bridge FAQ or Cherokee Bridge construction underway. Information from ODOT’s May 16, 2016, public meeting in Bartlesville is available here:
- Video recording of meeting, held at Bartlesville Community Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET72sbL1fYw, Presentation: https://www.okladot.state.ok.us/meetings/a2016/160510/presentation.pdf
- Information from ODOT’s Dec. 20, 2018 public meeting in Bartlesville, Presentation: https://www.okladot.state.ok.us/meetings/a2018/181220/presentation.pdf
Outdoor watering = outdoor water use
Please define “outdoor watering” as referred to in the water restrictions in the next City Beat. I’m sure there are others who would like clarification. For instance, which of these situations are classified as “outdoor watering” and are restricted?
1) Watering with a sprinkler system (whether in-ground or above-ground, moveable).
2) Hand watering with a hose and spray nozzle.
3) Leaving a hose turned on under a tree or bush.
4) Filling a bucket or watering can and using it to water pots, hanging baskets, or plants in the ground.
There may be other situations that could be addressed, but these are the ones that come to mind.
Outdoor watering applies to any outdoor water use, so it would apply to all of the options listed. Although, regarding No. 4, it’s unlikely disciplinary action would be pursued for someone filling a watering can in their house through the faucet and watering plants on their front porch with that water.
The intent of the ordinance is to encourage water conservation in the most equitable manner possible. Outdoor watering, of course, typically involves a rather large volume of water, as with the sprinkler systems or even hand/hose watering. That’s what this portion of the ordinance is trying to address.
Sophisticated monitoring system
How will the City monitor and catch violators?
It seems fairly obvious enforcement will be primarily complaint-driven, but violations could also be observed first-hand by police or code enforcement.