Oklahoma roads costing drivers, ODOT says improvements are coming

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — A new national study shows that driving on Oklahoma roads and bridges is costing drivers thousands of dollars per year.

Oklahoma's roads have become the focus of a lot of jokes and Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Mike Patterson has heard them all.

"It's a little depressing, because I know it's getting better, but it's not where it needs to be." Patterson said.

New national data seems to back that idea up. Trip, a Washington D.C. based group, found that throughout Oklahoma almost 30 percent of local and state roads are in poor condition.

Rocky Moretti, Trip transportation Researcher, says it's not just rural roads.

"Nearly half of the roadways in Oklahoma City have pavement in poor condition. 45 percent of the roads are providing a rough ride for motorists," Moretti said.

It's costing drivers in more ways than one. The study estimates that Oklahoma City drivers have to pay more than $2,000 a year due to car maintenance from bad roads.

Trip also noted Oklahoma's progress on targeting deficient bridges. ODOT says budget cuts have been an issue and they want to focus on big projects like widening parts of Interstate 40.

"We have congestion problems, we have safety issues that we need to get to and then we have our surface that needs to be replaced," Patterson said.

Trip argues that being proactive is always better to avoid big projects down the line.

"So it's really not a mystery, if you're not keeping up with the repairs as they go, you're gonna see the conditions deteriorate," Moretti said.

ODOT tells FOX 25 their goal is to have less than one percent of state bridges structurally deficient by the end of the decade.