Magna Carta News
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Media Division
November 18, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY - "If you drove to this building today, you crossed a functionally obsolete or structurally deficient bridge," the state transportation director told members of a rural area task force meeting in the state Capitol.
Gary Ridley, director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, was referring to inadequate bridges and azardous road surfaces that could pose major problems in attracting and sustaining economic development in rural areas of the state.
Ridley spoke to legislators and state and private agency representatives during another meeting of the Rural Area Development Task Force. The panel, co-chaired by Rep. Dale Turner, D-Holdenville, and Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, centered on business development, transportation needs and health care, and how they pertain to improving economic development in rural Oklahoma.
"Bridges in this state originally were built on a 50-year design line," Ridley said. Approximately 2,000 bridges in use today were constructed before 1950 and another 135 were finished before 1920, "which makes them 80 years or older," Ridley noted. One bridge was built 31 years after the Civil War in the 19th century "and is still in service," he related. That span, built in 1896, is located south of Maud on S.H. 9A.
Ridley said the state's transportation system continues to decline with current and past funding levels. "We have about 7 percent to 8 percent fewer state dollars to spend on transportation than we did in 1985, almost two decades ago," he said. "I'm not talking about adjustments from inflation revenues; I'm talking about hard currency."
The Transportation Department's eight-year construction plan contains 195 bridge replacements because that is all the department can afford, Ridley said. "At the end of eight years, we will have more than 400 bridges 80 years or older," he emphasized.
Numerous states receive their highway maintenance funds from 17-cent gasoline and 14-cent diesel fuel taxes, Ridley said. "If we compare ourselves to the state of Kansas, less than 5 percent of their roads are in poor condition, where clearly over one-third of our roads are inadequate." Kansas has a 24-cent gasoline tax and a 26-cent diesel tax, he said.
Records indicate the Transportation Department is responsible for approximately 30,000 lane miles of roads, which is the same as driving from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles and back 11 times.
The state's eight-year improvement plan is funded entirely with federal funds, Ridley said, adding that Oklahoma may be the only state in the nation that uses no state dollars for new construction. The plan is based on anticipated federal revenues for the state.
An example of the ailing transportation system's impact on rural Oklahoma involved lowering the load limit of a bridge on Portland Avenue (S.H. 74) in northwest Oklahoma County. "We posted it at 12 tons, and now there are some 400 to 500 heavy trucks that can no longer use a portion of that highway."
Ridley cited another example of a deteriorating bridge posing problems. The load limit on an aging bridge on U.S. 60 straddling the Verdigris River in Nowata County was lowered recently to 15 tons. That means anyone from Bartlesville who is hauling a heavy load to the turnpike can't travel on that stretch of state highway, he said. "And we're coming dangerously close to having to lower the ratings on many bridges on our interstate system."
Records indicate 174 bridges in the state's transportation system are posted with lower weight-bearing limits. "That means heavy trucks cannot be driven across them," resulting in extra detours and nagging delays for drivers, Ridley explained. "You can put your hand through the floor beams of one bridge on Highway 74. That's how bad it is."
"If you're looking for economic development in rural areas, businesses do not locate on gravel roads," Ridley continued. "A transportation system in a rural area is not a matter of covering up the mud with asphalt and concrete."
A transportation system "must be conducive to rural manufacturers moving to where they can readily receive raw materials and send out a finished product."
Of the state's 12,266 miles of highway, approximately one-third, or 4,300 miles, are in poor condition, according to an ODOT 'needs study' performed every two years. Ridley added that one-quarter of the state's transportation system is inadequate or critical, meaning motorists have few access opportunities, limited sight distance, no shoulders and no
recovery areas.
Research indicates motorists are 56 percent more likely to have an accident on Oklahoma roads that are listed in critical condition. ODOT statistics show 735 people died and 19,600 others were injured last year in accidents on state highways; 52 of those fatalities were children under 16 years of age.
"I don't think the penalty should be personal injury or death," Ridley said. "But I can assure you if a motorist drops a wheel off the edge of an inadequate highway, that's what's going to happen. You're going to over-correct or won't be able to recover your vehicle before an accident occurs."
House Bill 1385 by Rep. Larry Ferguson, R-Cleveland, and Sen. Robert Milacek, R-Enid, would have given Oklahomans an opportunity to raise state gasoline and diesel taxes by a nickel and eight cents respectively, but the measure stalled last session in a legislative conference committee.
Ridley said if the bill should pass in its present form, it could generate $145 million to $150 million annually, earmarked specifically for transportation improvements.
Ridley's recommendations to the Rural Area Development Task Force included:
* dedicating $40 million to replace 20 bridges per year throughout the eight-year construction plan;
* earmarking $10 million to rehabilitate 40 bridges annually, a total of 320 bridges over the eight-year period;
* setting aside $50 million for surface conditioning of roads in rural areas, which would be used to repave approximately 4,000 miles of highways;
* using approximately one-third of the funds generated for matching federal funds. Ridley said using funds in this manner "would take a big bite out of the bridge infrastructure problem. You haven't totally corrected it, but you've turned it around and have started to make some real progress with Oklahoma's bridge problem."
He said this "isn't a Democrat versus Republican matter," nor is it an urban versus rural issue. "The transportation infrastructure is a real problem that is preventing economic development in rural Oklahoma where it's needed the most."
- 30 -
Scott Hancock
Media Specialist
Oklahoma House of Representatives
1-800-522-8502 ext 422
Media Division
November 18, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY - "If you drove to this building today, you crossed a functionally obsolete or structurally deficient bridge," the state transportation director told members of a rural area task force meeting in the state Capitol.
Gary Ridley, director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, was referring to inadequate bridges and azardous road surfaces that could pose major problems in attracting and sustaining economic development in rural areas of the state.
Ridley spoke to legislators and state and private agency representatives during another meeting of the Rural Area Development Task Force. The panel, co-chaired by Rep. Dale Turner, D-Holdenville, and Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, centered on business development, transportation needs and health care, and how they pertain to improving economic development in rural Oklahoma.
"Bridges in this state originally were built on a 50-year design line," Ridley said. Approximately 2,000 bridges in use today were constructed before 1950 and another 135 were finished before 1920, "which makes them 80 years or older," Ridley noted. One bridge was built 31 years after the Civil War in the 19th century "and is still in service," he related. That span, built in 1896, is located south of Maud on S.H. 9A.
Ridley said the state's transportation system continues to decline with current and past funding levels. "We have about 7 percent to 8 percent fewer state dollars to spend on transportation than we did in 1985, almost two decades ago," he said. "I'm not talking about adjustments from inflation revenues; I'm talking about hard currency."
The Transportation Department's eight-year construction plan contains 195 bridge replacements because that is all the department can afford, Ridley said. "At the end of eight years, we will have more than 400 bridges 80 years or older," he emphasized.
Numerous states receive their highway maintenance funds from 17-cent gasoline and 14-cent diesel fuel taxes, Ridley said. "If we compare ourselves to the state of Kansas, less than 5 percent of their roads are in poor condition, where clearly over one-third of our roads are inadequate." Kansas has a 24-cent gasoline tax and a 26-cent diesel tax, he said.
Records indicate the Transportation Department is responsible for approximately 30,000 lane miles of roads, which is the same as driving from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles and back 11 times.
The state's eight-year improvement plan is funded entirely with federal funds, Ridley said, adding that Oklahoma may be the only state in the nation that uses no state dollars for new construction. The plan is based on anticipated federal revenues for the state.
An example of the ailing transportation system's impact on rural Oklahoma involved lowering the load limit of a bridge on Portland Avenue (S.H. 74) in northwest Oklahoma County. "We posted it at 12 tons, and now there are some 400 to 500 heavy trucks that can no longer use a portion of that highway."
Ridley cited another example of a deteriorating bridge posing problems. The load limit on an aging bridge on U.S. 60 straddling the Verdigris River in Nowata County was lowered recently to 15 tons. That means anyone from Bartlesville who is hauling a heavy load to the turnpike can't travel on that stretch of state highway, he said. "And we're coming dangerously close to having to lower the ratings on many bridges on our interstate system."
Records indicate 174 bridges in the state's transportation system are posted with lower weight-bearing limits. "That means heavy trucks cannot be driven across them," resulting in extra detours and nagging delays for drivers, Ridley explained. "You can put your hand through the floor beams of one bridge on Highway 74. That's how bad it is."
"If you're looking for economic development in rural areas, businesses do not locate on gravel roads," Ridley continued. "A transportation system in a rural area is not a matter of covering up the mud with asphalt and concrete."
A transportation system "must be conducive to rural manufacturers moving to where they can readily receive raw materials and send out a finished product."
Of the state's 12,266 miles of highway, approximately one-third, or 4,300 miles, are in poor condition, according to an ODOT 'needs study' performed every two years. Ridley added that one-quarter of the state's transportation system is inadequate or critical, meaning motorists have few access opportunities, limited sight distance, no shoulders and no
recovery areas.
Research indicates motorists are 56 percent more likely to have an accident on Oklahoma roads that are listed in critical condition. ODOT statistics show 735 people died and 19,600 others were injured last year in accidents on state highways; 52 of those fatalities were children under 16 years of age.
"I don't think the penalty should be personal injury or death," Ridley said. "But I can assure you if a motorist drops a wheel off the edge of an inadequate highway, that's what's going to happen. You're going to over-correct or won't be able to recover your vehicle before an accident occurs."
House Bill 1385 by Rep. Larry Ferguson, R-Cleveland, and Sen. Robert Milacek, R-Enid, would have given Oklahomans an opportunity to raise state gasoline and diesel taxes by a nickel and eight cents respectively, but the measure stalled last session in a legislative conference committee.
Ridley said if the bill should pass in its present form, it could generate $145 million to $150 million annually, earmarked specifically for transportation improvements.
Ridley's recommendations to the Rural Area Development Task Force included:
* dedicating $40 million to replace 20 bridges per year throughout the eight-year construction plan;
* earmarking $10 million to rehabilitate 40 bridges annually, a total of 320 bridges over the eight-year period;
* setting aside $50 million for surface conditioning of roads in rural areas, which would be used to repave approximately 4,000 miles of highways;
* using approximately one-third of the funds generated for matching federal funds. Ridley said using funds in this manner "would take a big bite out of the bridge infrastructure problem. You haven't totally corrected it, but you've turned it around and have started to make some real progress with Oklahoma's bridge problem."
He said this "isn't a Democrat versus Republican matter," nor is it an urban versus rural issue. "The transportation infrastructure is a real problem that is preventing economic development in rural Oklahoma where it's needed the most."
- 30 -
Scott Hancock
Media Specialist
Oklahoma House of Representatives
1-800-522-8502 ext 422
