Chron.com
TIM TALLEY, Associated Press
Updated 05:04 p.m., Monday, October 3, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Mary Fallin said Monday she wants to fix all 706 structurally deficient bridges in Oklahoma's highway system to further her administration's primary goal of growing the economy and creating jobs.
Surrounded by state transportation and turnpike officials, current and former state lawmakers and some county commissioners, Fallin said Oklahoma has a nationwide reputation for having a large number of deficient and obsolete roads and bridges.
"We're near the top when it comes to bad bridges," she said.
A report released in April by The Road Information Program indicated Oklahoma ranked second in the nation, behind only Pennsylvania, in the number of bridges rated structurally deficient. The Washington, D.C.-based group's report said 22 percent of bridges in Oklahoma were structurally deficient in 2010 and an additional 7 percent were functionally obsolete.
But Fallin said she wants to reverse that reputation. Her Bridge Improvement & Turnpike Modernization Plan calls for lawmakers to increase the amount of state revenue set aside for road and bridge repairs by $15 million a year and raise the road and bridge maintenance cap to $550 million to repair all of the state's structurally deficient bridges by 2019 without raising taxes, tolls or fees... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Mon, October 3, 2011
by John Cox