Emergency repair work is under way at the Purcell/Lexington bridge on US-77/SH-39, which has been closed since late January.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) engineers, advised by consultants, have decided that the bridge must remain closed to all traffic until all cracked areas have been reinforced at 264 locations by specially manufactured brackets, which is estimated to be in June.

“We know we must reopen this bridge as quickly as possible, but public safety is always ODOT’s number one priority,” said executive director Mike Patterson. “It would not be safe to reopen the bridge to any traffic until all of the affected areas have been addressed.”