NONDOC
By Joe Tomlinson
December 19, 2022
Edmond officials are in preliminary discussions with Oklahoma Department of Transportation staff on transitioning portions of U.S. Route 66 and U.S. Route 77 to arterial city roads.
East 2nd Street and South Broadway, while two of the busiest streets in Edmond, are technically state highways Route 66 and Route 77, respectively.
“The discussion we have with ODOT is, ‘is there a future where they do a full reconstruct of (Route) 77 and 66 to our standard and once they do that we’ll take it on as a city street, which means that alleviates them from ongoing (operations and maintenance) costs, but we get a street that’s more conducive to economic development,'” Edmond City Manager Scot Rigby said.
Due to the state’s jurisdiction over those roads, there are added bureaucratic steps and decisions that must be made prior to any changes to those routes. The transfer of those highways to arterial roads would give the city more streamlined control over those routes, said Montie Smith, ODOT’s administrator of legislative affairs.
“When you start dealing with the state, and then you get some federal involved too, there’s always extra added layers of scrutiny, and what you have to do and the steps you have to take to make any changes,” Smith said.
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