Published: November 25, 2009 10:30 pm      

Stimulus funds two county bridges

DUNCAN — Stephens County Commissioners were more than OK with a short meeting Monday and approved all items on the agenda.

They did share information of the progress of several bridges being constructed throughout the county. One of those is a bridge being built with federal stimulus money, said Commissioner Todd Churchman.

The bridge is located six miles west of Duncan off Beech and has been estimated to cost about $750,000. The bridge is 127-feet in length, he noted.

“We also just got the fifth bridge opened that we built ourselves,” Churchman said. That bridge is about four miles out of town near Terry and Refinery Roads.

Asphalt production is also taking place on State Highway 7, using some federal funds.

In Commissioner Dee Bowen’s district, a 90-foot bridge project at $550,000, was completed two weeks ago, he said. It also was done using stimulus funds.

Churchman said another bridge is in the process of being demolished, located between Duncan and Velma.

“That will probably be it as major projects go, for the remainder of the year,” he said.

“The stimulus projects had to be done in a certain amount of time. There were a lot of counties that didn’t get any funds and Stephens County got two,” Churchman said.

Oklahoma has 77 counties.

Bowen said there are other bridges being worked on, but not with stimulus funding.



— Toni Hopper is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. She can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 132 or by e-mail at: toni.hopper@duncanbanner.com.