Transportation
House chairman tours Oklahoma highway projects
Written by Dick Pryor Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:03
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has gotten a first-hand look at work being done on two economic-stimulus funded highway projects in Oklahoma. Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar toured the Interstate 244 Inner Dispersal Loop in Tulsa and the I-40 project in El Reno, which has received $30 million in stimulus money.
Oberstar called the $75 million Tulsa project one of the most complex of the stimulus-related highway projects he's seen. He also said he was impressed at how Oklahoma has been able to get the projects going in a short amount of time. Oberstar also looked at Oklahoma's biggest highway project, the $600 million I-40 Crosstown Expressway in Oklahoma City, which isn't getting stimulus funding but has received considerable federal money.
Turnpike officials address toll violations
Written by Dick Pryor Friday, 15 January 2010 00:22
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma Turnpike Authority officials plan to address complaints by motorists cited for toll violations during the Christmas Eve blizzard. Some motorists say they could not get to the toll gates due to cars blocking the entrances or snowdrifts. Motorists who drove through the toll booths without paying are being mailed notices of $25 fines.
Turnpike officials say people were warned to stay off the roads and the state of emergency that was called by Gov. Brad Henry did not mean that tolls were
suspended. Turnpike spokesman Jack Damrill says motorists who drove on the turnpike without paying should have called the office the next business day and they would have only been charged the toll amount.
2 state senators intervened on contractors' behalf
Written by Dick Pryor Monday, 28 December 2009 17:30
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Two state senators intervened with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation after the agency's prequalification committee left a Muskogee highway contractor off its approved bidders list. The Oklahoman is reporting Sunday that the intervention by Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, and Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, occurred in October 2007.
The senators have acknowledged intervening on behalf of Glover and Associates, which since has been awarded more than $35 million in Oklahoma road contracts. ODOT officials say the company has done good work. Documents obtained through open records laws indicate ODOT officials scrutinized Craig Glover's prequalification application to make sure he wasn't acting as a front for his father, George Paul Glover.
The elder Glover pleaded no contest in early 2007 to conspiring to use prohibited road material and intimidating a state grand jury witness.
Federal funding threatens state road projects
Written by Dick Pryor Monday, 07 December 2009 18:36
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has set dates to open bids on road and bridge projects without knowing whether it will have enough federal dollars to pay for them. The commission Monday set a final date to open bids in January and tentative dates for February and March bid openings. But state Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley says questions remain about how much federal aid the projects will receive.
Ridley has expressed concern about declining federal support for road and bridge projects. Oklahoma officials say plans to repair or replace hundreds of obsolete bridges and thousands of miles of defective roads will be delayed without federal aid. Ridley says federal support for state road projects has declined by $15 million a month due to declining revenue from federal fuel taxes.
AAA expects increase in Thanksgiving travelers
Written by Dick Pryor Thursday, 19 November 2009 01:09
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The number of people expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during the Thanksgiving holiday is expected to rise both nationwide and in Oklahoma over last year. A survey by AAA predicts nearly 38.4 million Americans will be traveling. That's a 1.4 percent increase over 2008. The number includes an increase in the number of those driving while the number of people flying to their destinations is expected to fall by 2.1 percent. AAA says the number of Oklahomans taking a holiday trip will rise by 7.5 percent overall.
The number includes about 475,000 driving and 46,500 fliers. The number driving would be a more than 8 percent increase while those flying would be down just more than 2 percent.