A bridge on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike is set to have “substructure repairs” performed on only half of the bridge later this year. The bridge is located on the turnpike and the intersection for the New Castle Gaming Center.

The more southern half of the bridge to be repaired is owned and managed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, a private corporation. The more northern half is owned and operated by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the state.

The project will cost an estimated $800,000.

“It’s not uncommon for the Turnpike Authority to split ownership of roadways and bridges. In this situation, we will only repair our half of the bridge,” said Jack Damrill of the Turnpike Authority.

The issue that remains is how safe is a bridge that is only half repaired.

David Meuser, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation said, “If it’s a public safety concern, we will fix it. We’re not going to leave motorists hanging.”

“In some situations the Turnpike Authority will go a head and repair both sides of a ‘split ownership’ bridge when the state is short on funding. The problem we face is when a state inspector checks out a bridge and says it needs to be repaired, so we are obligated to fix the bridge, but in some ‘split ownership’ cases, the state may not have the funds to do their part but we are still obligated to do ours. Even though it still wouldn’t pass inspection if we only did our part,” said Jerry Rhodes, Supervisor for the Turnpike Authority-H.E Bailey office.

“On this particular bridge I can only speak for our half. I don’t know what the engineers for the state are planning on the half they are responsible for,” added Damrill.

As of yet it can’t be determined if the states portion is “unsafe” for use. Meuser said,

“We will run this issue across the engineer’s desk to see what actions are planned or what actions are necessary to make the bridge safe.”