The Journal Record
By: Journal Record Staff
April 8, 2023
The University of Oklahoma will be taking a leadership role in a national effort to ensure the long-term sustainability of roads, bridges, and rail and port infrastructure subject to rising threats of changing weather and extreme weather events. OU was among nearly three dozen entities identified recently by the U.S. Department of Transportation to be regional hubs in the effort. The Southern Plains Transportation Center on the OU campus in Norman will receive funding annually, to be matched by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, to dedicate toward research to meet increasing challenges in the transportation sector. Oklahoma is part of the DOT’s Region 6, which also includes Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. SPTC co-director Renee McPherson said that over the past decade, about $25 billion has been spent annually across the region combating climate extremes. She said changing weather and severe weather events threaten economic growth and supply-chain disruptions, adding that several of the country’s most critical cargo ports are located in Region 6 and may be especially vulnerable. According to a strategic plan adopted by the DOT, the nation’s infrastructure needs to catch up with growing transportation needs to maintain economic strength and remain competitive in the global market. At the same time, climate change presents “a significant and growing risk to the safety, effectiveness, equity and sustainability” of the transportation infrastructure and its communities.
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