Calling it a landmark investment to help improve the safety and conditions of county roads and bridges, House Appropriations & Budget Committee Chairman Representative Trey Caldwell and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Senator John Haste are celebrating House Bill 2758’s signing into law. It provides $75 million dollars in the next state fiscal year for counties to access funds for critical bridge and road repair.
It is one of the largest single-year investments in county transportation infrastructure according to Caldwell and Haste.
“This puts this critical funding directly into the hands of our counties to fix the roads and bridges they know best,” Caldwell said. “This will keep Oklahomans safe as they travel. It will keep commerce moving through our rural and urban areas to the economic benefit of all Oklahomans, and it will lead to job growth and support the long-term future of Oklahoma’s infrastructure. We’re proud to stand with county officials in delivering the resources they’ve long needed.”
Counties will be able to receive up to $4,000 per mile of county roads to support that counties target repairs and infrastructure modernization.
Haste, the Senate author of HB 2758 says this is a significant increase.
“This legislation is about solving real problems in every corner of our state. Oklahoma currently has 1,764 structurally deficient county bridges, making this historic investment critical to public safety and infrastructure modernization. HB 2758 delivers the funding counties need to begin replacing them, and to upgrade thousands of miles of rural roads that are vital to public safety, agriculture, and economic development,” said Haste.
