Where Are You?

CROSSING OVER. Prior to its raising, this bridge, photographed in 1951, saw buggies and teams pony up a quarter to cross it via a primitive ferry system. Model Ts paid fifty cents.
Photo by OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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Truss Fund

A well-traveled Route 66 icon gets a makeover.

By LORI WILLIAMS
Published November 1, 2011

The trusses may be reinforced steel, but the route is pure Mother Road. Renovated between September 2010 and October 2011, this Oklahoma City bridge has crossed a well-known river since being erected for $57,000 in 1924. It was later displaced by a more efficient four-lane highway built just north of it in 1958. 

Although its role has diminished as a thoroughfare, the bridge is an iconic landmark in far western Oklahoma County. 

The $4 million renovation involved straightening and strengthening it with weathering steel so the new additions to the bridge will rust and resemble the old truss. Also among the improvements were floor beam and deck concrete replacements. 

As road designations have changed over the years, the bridge has served as the Postal Highway/State Highway 3, Route 66, and the Will Rogers Memorial Highway. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it now joins the MAPS 3 trails project, which will add more than fifty miles of trails to Oklahoma City by 2016. Since the bridge’s reopening on October 11, pedestrian traffic and reduced-speed two-way vehicle traffic traverses its lanes. 

What is the name of this bridge?

Mail entries with name and address to “Where Are You?”, P.O. Box 1468, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 or email to whereareyou@oklahomatoday.com before November 15. The answer to last issue’s contest was Garth Brooks’ former house in Stillwater.