Norman Residents Question 'Bridge to Nowhere'

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- For drivers along Interstate 35 in Norman, it's an odd sight--a completed bridge spanning the highway, but with no streets connecting to it on either side.

"Some people call it the road to nowhere, the bridge to nowhere," Amanda Bradford, who works in an office nearby, said.

It may be a bridge to nowhere now, but in a year it will be a bridge to somewhere.

The $11 million Rock Creek bridge project will help funnel traffic in and out of the University North Park development when it's completed. The city saw an advantage in building the bridge first, and the connecting roads second.

"Honestly, it was sort of a comical note, but it was kind of based on the notion that we were building the bridge first and then would come along later with the second part. And there was a little bit of a delay in there and we knew there would be. But there was a great advantage to doing it that way," said Shawn O'Leary, the Norman Public Works Director.

O'Leary also said the bridge is unique for the area because it's adorned with public art. Plus, it will contain four lanes and a wide pedestrian and bicycle path on both sides.

The road work started in May and is expected to be finished by next June if not earlier.