PUBLIC NOTICE
SH-32 WILSON CREEK BRIDGE REPLACEMENT
SECTION 4(F) DE MINIMIS IMPACTS TO LAKE TEXOMA
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is proposing to replace a bridge on State Highway 32 (SH-32) over Wilson Creek, located 0.3 miles west of the Marshall County Line in Love County within the Lake Texoma boundary. The proposed project consists of replacing the existing structurally deficient bridge with a proposed 40-foot-wide bridge which will have two (2) 12-foot-wide driving lanes with 8-foot-wide paved shoulders. ODOT, in consultation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), has chosen to replace the bridge on a 55-foot offset alignment immediately north of the existing bridge structure.The north side was selected to minimize additional fill that would be required on the south side. The bridge structure will be 5 feet higher than the existing structure to account for flooding events.The roadway will remain open to 2-lanes of traffic during construction.
New right-of-way within Lake Texoma will be required to reconstruct this bridge. Due to the proposed conversion of recreational land to transportation use for the property located within Lake Texoma, Section 4(f) regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966 apply to the project.Section 4(f) affords protection to publicly-owned recreation areas including city, state, and national parks, wildlife refuges and management areas and historic sites.
ODOT has coordinated with the USACE with regard to avoidance and minimization of impacts of this project on Lake Texoma and the USACE is supportive of these measures.Any required right-of-way will be minimized as much as possible. As a minimization effort, 3:1 slopes are proposed, requiring guardrail to be carried throughout the project, whereas standard roadway slopes are 6:1 and do not require guardrail. The use of appropriate best management practices including storm water, erosion, dust control, and chemical/fuel handling will be conscientiously implemented.
ODOT is proposing to obtain approximately 4.13 acres of the 191,459-acre Lake Texoma, which constitutes less than 0.01 percent of the Lake area. To mitigate for the loss of recreational land use on USACE held lands, ODOT will improve the Widow Moore Boat Ramp in Bryan County which is also located on USACE lands through a separate ODOT project using State funds.
Based on the avoidance and minimization of impacts to Lake Texoma as described above, and the cooperatively-developed mitigation (improve boat ramp), ODOT, in coordination with FHWA, is proposing a de minimis impact finding with regard to Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act (1966). ODOT welcomes your comments on the effects of this project on the projected activities, features, and attributes of Lake Texoma (the Section 4(f) resource). Please mail or e-mail any comments you have by July 15, 2018 to:
Environmental Programs Division Engineer
Oklahoma Department of Transportation
200 NE 21st Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
