By James Beaty
The newest plans by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for the planned U.S. Highway 69 Interchange in McAlester drew reactions ranging from the incredulous to relief during a meeting held Wednesday night.
ODOT representatives spoke, at the request of the McAlester City Council, during a council workshop held at a special location — in the Clark Bass center on the campus of Eastern Oklahoma State College’s McAlester Campus.
It proved a wise decision for the heavily-attended event, with city councilors, local residents and business owners listening at first to ODOT’s explanation of its plans — and then asking questions and making comments of their own.
Plans call for the project to extend from Wade Watts Avenue to Peaceable Road, along the portion of the highway that’s named the George Nigh Expressway.
That stretch of the highway is home to a number of restaurants, hotels and motels, and retail stores, and the highway project will affect how they are accessed by traffic along the highway and within the city itself.
For more on this story, see Thursday's edition of the McAlester News-Capital.
