By Conrad Dudderar
Associate Editor
Yukon motorists have been given a temporary reprieve before the intersection of State Highway 4 and SH-66 (Main Street) is shut down for more than a month.
An Oklahoma Department of Transportation contractor, Schwarz Paving Co. of Yukon, is starting the second phase of the SH-4 widening project in Yukon city limits.
Crews are finishing up drainage structure installation and utility line relocation in preparation for major road construction.
“The closure (of the intersection) was originally scheduled to begin Oct. 16th but has been pushed to Oct. 23rd due to some drainage discovery,” ODOT spokesman Bryce Boyer said
“The closure will be SH-4 and one lane of westbound SH-66 so the contractor can tie the new project into the existing roadway. We should be able to get two lanes of traffic through on SH-66.”
The closure, scheduled for 35 days, will be along Highway 4 from Main Street to Birch as Schwarz Paving crews install new concrete lanes.
Northbound motorists will use Wagner Road as an east-west detour route while the signalized SH-66/SH-4 intersection is closed to thru-traffic.
Schwarz Paving crews will reconstruct and widen about two miles of SH-4 from Main Street north past Wagner Road to the North Canadian River.
Since SH-4 is a state roadway, the project is under ODOT’s supervision.
“Our team doesn’t have a full completion date of phase two yet as we are waiting for an updated schedule from the contractor,” Boyer said.
ASPHALT SECTION
The SH-4 alignment will be moved west during phase two construction.
After the concrete section is finished on the north end between Main Street and Birch, the rest of phase two will feature two, 12-foot-wide asphalt lanes with eight-foot shoulders – just like phase one.
Two large drainage boxes will be installed – by the soccer fields and the span bridge at Wagner Road.
Phase two ultimately will tie into the south end of the North Canadian River bridge.
SH-4 will remain open to traffic during construction of the asphalt section.
In February, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission awarded a $12,628,932.55 contract to low bidder Schwarz Paving.
At that time, ODOT allotted 445 calendar days for the contractor to finish phase two.
ODOT contractor Manhattan Road & Bridge in spring 2021 finished the $13.1 million phase one of the SH-4 project, from the North Canadian River to Wilshire – Yukon’s north boundary.
This featured a new “super two-lane” road with wide shoulders and a new bridge.
A third phase, in Oklahoma City limits, will be from Wilshire north to State Highway 3 (Northwest Expressway).
