The US 77 James C. Nance Bridge connecting Purcell and Lexington was originally built as a circa 1938 deck truss two-lane bridge and in 2019 rebuilt as a concrete pier four-lane bridge crossing the Canadian River between Purcell and Lexington, Oklahoma. The bridge carries U.S. Route 77 and Oklahoma State Highway 39 from McClain County to Cleveland County. The bridge is named for James C. Nance, longtime community newspaper chain publisher and Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, President Pro Tem of Oklahoma State Senate and Uniform Law Commissioner. The Nance bridge allows travel time from Purcell to Lexingon to be only 3 minutes by car, according to google maps. When the bridge was closed, the same trip was 43 minutes when re-routed North to the nearest bridge, or 1 hour and 4 minutes when re-routed Southeast to the nearest bridge. The 1938 construction of this bridge enabled communities from West and Southwest side of the river to reach the communities on the East side of the river. Traffic using the bridge allows trade and commerce to freely flow in this retail trade area of southern McClain County, southern Cleveland County, Southern Pottawatomie County, and northern area of Garvin County, and eastern portion of Grady county. The 2019 rebuilt bridge features the same design elements with concrete post and wrought iron railings.
In 2019, the US 77 Purcell/Lexington James C. Nance bridge was re-opened by Oklahoma Department of Transportation According to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, "History was made Friday July 26, 2019 in Purcell and Lexington, just as it was more than 80 years ago when the two cities celebrated the grand opening of a new bridge connecting their communities. The new US 77 Purcell/Lexington James C. Nance Bridge that links the cities, located less than one mile apart, fully opened to traffic with much fanfare on Friday, July 26, 2019, the culmination of a major two-year, expedited reconstruction project." The 2 lane state owned bridge built in 1938 replaced a 1 lane privately ownedtoll bridge built in 1911, which had replaced a wooden constructed 1 lane Cleveland County bridge over the river, according to historic records.
