Section of Okla. expressway P3 contract awarded to AECOM/Duit Construction | Dump Truck Company

Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority awarded a contract worth nearly $261 million for construction and financing on the west leg of the Gilcrease Expressway to an AECOM and Duit Construction Co.

partnership that will provide nearly $125 million in short-term financing, Tulsa World reports.

The toll road will include construction of a bridge over the Arkansas River and 5 miles of new, four-lane highway from where the existing Gilcrease Expressway connects to Interstate 44 just south of West 51st Street to just north of U.S. 412 at Edison Street.

The public-private partnership project involves the Indian Nations Council of Governments, the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

Work on the project, which is part of the Driving Forward program, an expansion and improvement initiative for six turnpikes, is expected to begin by the end of 2019 and be completed in February 2022.