Bryant bridge work begin in Edmond

Work is under way just north of 15th Street. Construction is expected to last about six months, City Engineer Steve Manek said.

“They will build the east half of the bridge and then move to the other side,” Manek said. “That is the first phase.”

An estimated 20,000 vehicles a day travel between 15th and Second streets on Bryant Avenue. Manek said he expects the traffic to be difficult during the construction.

“It will be congested, and people are asked to use alternate routes, if possible,” Manek said.

Flooding in the area has been a problem since 1996, when voters passed a sales tax to pay for a new bridge and other capital improvement projects.

Edmond is paying for 100 percent of the project, which is one of the last projects expected to be funded with the 1996 sales tax money.

The Bryant bridge project took a while to get started because other projects had to be completed first, Manek said.

“Three or four years ago, we widened Coltrane,” Manek said. “We had to do the work downstream first.”