CDM Constructors, Inc.

Client:

Barbara Wells - Vice President, Senior Transportation Engineer

Scope Of Work

A $62 million, CDM Smith-supported FASTLANE grant was awarded to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) in 2016 to improve flow on bi-national Highway 69/75.

Travelers on the Bryan County, Oklahoma portion of U.S. Highway 69/75, which stretches from Canada to Mexico, were tired of delays, unsafe driving conditions and above-average collision rates caused by traffic. Thanks to a $62 million FASTLANE grant, ODOT can implement needed freight movement improvements to the corridor that will reduce congestion while increasing capacity and safety.

ODOT and CDM Smith worked together to develop and submit the grant application, explaining the need for funding and outlining the benefits of the proposed project. Of 212 FASTLANE grant applicants, only 18 were awarded, including Oklahoma’s. The grant will fund more than 50 percent of the $120 million expansion and improvement project, driving new economic opportunity along the corridor.

ODOT used the project as an opportunity to consider efficiency improvements within the system. CDM Smith helped ODOT make informed decisions by preparing a detailed cost-benefit analysis of options. The analysis revealed that reworking traffic signals and other obstacles, while requiring an initial capital outlay, would result in a $3.78 billion reduction in travel time expenses for road users and could help reduce the historically high commercial vehicle accident rates on this stretch of U.S. 69/75.