OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has awarded a contract for $23.8 million of work on the crosstown route for Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City.

The latest project on the Crosstown Expressway will involve building a series of bridges east of Agnew Avenue. One of the bridges will connect with a new boulevard underneath the Crosstown.

The work will cover about three-fourths of a mi. (1.2 km) and is scheduled to begin in November.

The state got three bids on the project and awarded the contract to the low bidder —Muskogee Bridge Inc. and Allen Construction Co.

The commission acted Oct. 8 at its regular monthly meeting.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials estimate the entire project will cost $557 million. The Crosstown will stretch 4.5 mi. (7.2 km), with 10 lanes of interstate and a boulevard through downtown Oklahoma City that will be four to six lanes.

Originally built in 1965, the expressway carries 120,000 vehicles a day, almost 50,000 more than the intended capacity of 72,000.

The new highway, expected to be open to traffic in 2012, is being built south of where I-40 currently runs through downtown Oklahoma City. It will carry up to 173,000 vehicles a day.

Brenda Perry, spokeswoman for ODOT, said much of work on the Crosstown has been out of view to the public.

She said Oklahoma City residents will get a good glimpse of the Crosstown taking shape in the latest project during work on bridges that will span the Oklahoma River and Pennsylvania Avenue.

“There will be a lot of activity, a lot of earth moving,” said John Bowman, project engineer.

A contract also was awarded on Oct. 8 for about 2.3 mi. (3.7 km) of work on Oklahoma 74 in far northwest Oklahoma City.

A bid of $16.4 million by Dobson Brothers Construction Co. was accepted for that project, which will include upgrades to the highway and bridge construction. Dobson was among four companies that bid on the project.

The transportation panel also was informed that the Federal Highway Administration had approved the state’s strategic plan to reduce highway fatalities and injuries by 20 percent by 2015, according to Terri Angier, ODOT spokeswoman.

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