Free Republic

The highway headache in west Tulsa has only just begun. As part of a project to widen Interstate 44 from west of the Arkansas River to Union Avenue, and to improve the I-44/U.S. 75 interchange, significant delays can be expected, especially during peak travel times. “It’s definitely the hard part of the project right now,” Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kenna Mitchell said Tuesday. “They’re going to be placing some additional signage further back in the corridor to alert drivers.” Northbound U.S. 75 is narrowed to one lane at the interchange, causing northbound traffic to back up at least two...

In the political world, rapid change only occurs when the public focuses attention on a specific issue. We have that situation right now in Austin. Public and legislative attention is focused on the Texas Department of Transportation and a proposed moratorium on the Comprehensive Development Agreement process, including the recently announced CDA to construct State Highway 121 in Collin County. This public and legislative attention may offer an opportunity for Texas to reaffirm our commitment to focus government spending on core functions – in this case, transportation. There are many subplots swirling in this complex CDA moratorium issue – reining...

AUSTIN – Four years of simmering frustration boiled over at a recent Texas Senate committee hearing with just one thing on the agenda: toll roads. An overflow crowd bashed and booed the Texas Transportation Commission in front of mostly like-minded senators. For eight hours, lawmakers and audience members alike questioned the state's increasing reliance on tolls. "We can't simply build roads at any cost," Sen. John Carona said to cheers. "We've got to build them smarter." Some argue that toll roads are the only smart play in a state where the Legislature has refused to raise the tax on gasoline,...

The Trans-Texas Corridor project, proposing four to six toll truck lanes and four to six toll passenger lanes from Laredo to Oklahoma, may be as near as five years. Greg Massey, a member of the Oklahoma Highway Authority, recently met with the Texas Department of Transportation. “We really didn't get any new information. The project is still proposed to cross over and connect with I-35 to come into Oklahoma. TxDOT did say they are five years out on the project,” Massey said. Ten different routes are proposed for the corridor. The major variations in the routes follow the three represented...

Assistant City Manager Tim Young is well-versed on the Trans-Texas Corridor project that has been proposed to make four to six toll truck lanes and four to six toll passenger lanes from Laredo, Texas through San Antonio, Texas and up I-35 to Oklahoma. “Dallas/Fort Worth doesn't want the truck traffic to go away as they are afraid of losing warehouse businesses to cities east and west of them,” Young said. Oklahomans are pushing for the widening of U.S. 69/75 to bring truck traffic through Durant and up through Tulsa. The Texas Department of Transportation has more information on the proposal...