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Transportation Commission Approves County Road Improvement Plan

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Oklahoma Department of TransportationDirector Mike Patterson praised the five-year County Improvement for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) construction work plan Monday during a Transportation Commission meeting. 

The CIRB plan, which was effectively created through the passage of House Bill 1176 in 2006, allows for county officials to suggest road and bridge projects to engineers, and ultimately the state, for completion. The plan will include structurally deficient county bridges.

CIRB, which was unanimously approved by commission members, will take more than $984 million of state and federal funding from fiscal year 2015 through fiscal year 2019, according to statistics presented by Division Engineer Shannon Sheffert.

Funding for CIRB has been altered in the plan to reflect increased funding provided by previous legislation.

Sheffert said 1,050 miles of roadway will be improved through CIRB. Seventy-eight percent of funding will be going to bridge and roadway projects.

Similarly, Patterson stressed the importance of continued funding for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which outlines road work projects the public can expect to see over the next four years.

The federally mandated STIP reflects the first four years of an eight-year Department of Transportation plan approved by commissioners in September. STIP was also unanimously passed by the commission Monday.

Patterson also announced the Department of Motor Vehicles will begin using its digital signs seen above major Oklahoma City highways to display estimated travel times during rush hour, as federally mandated. Currently, he said, the signs remain dark with the exception of Amber Alerts, road work warnings and other announcements.

It is not mandated for Tulsa DMV signs to display estimated travel times, but Patterson said he hopes the city will have a similar program set up by the spring of 2015.

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