Work to expand West Gore Boulevard could begin as early as April

City Engineer Joe Painter said engineers anticipate that a project to rebuild West Gore Boulevard could begin as soon as April.

The project, which city officials have been eying for more than 20 years, will rebuild the last two-lane section of the arterial into five lanes between Northwest 67th and Northwest 82nd streets, after about two years of utility relocation work.

The City of Lawton is sharing the cost of that project with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), which committed in 2018 to funding 80 percent of the construction cost, leaving the City of Lawton to cover 20 percent of construction, plus design plans, right of way acquisition and utility relocation. But, construction costs have soared in recent years while ODOT’s funding commitment was based on 2018 costs. Therefore, the lone bid that ODOT opened from Duit Construction Company is $2.12 million over those original engineering estimates.

Painter said ODOT agreed to increase the funding it has allocated toward the project, action the council formally approved Tuesday with the acceptance of a supplemental funding agreement from ODOT. Under the agreement ODOT agreed to provide an additional $1.8 million, meaning its share of the $13,782,348.85 project is $8,626,791.70. Lawton’s cost will be $5,155,557.15.

With funding in place and a contractor selected, work can now begin. Painter said while state road projects sometimes have a delayed start, the contractor here is “pushing to begin” as soon as possible.