Toll bridge pondered for Gilcrease Expressway – Tulsa Oklahoma

Toll bridge pondered for Gilcrease Expressway
A group of citizens and public officials raises the funds for a study.

‘With $180 million, that would build an $80 million bridge and basically get us where we have a decent roadway all around.’
Guy Berry
President of American Heritage Bank

 
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 1/9/2010  2:21 AM
Last Modified: 1/9/2010  5:35 AM

A working group made up of private citizens and public officials has raised the funds needed to study the feasibility of constructing a toll bridge across the Arkansas River in west Tulsa.

The group sees construction of the bridge — which would connect 21st Street and Charles Page Boulevard at approximately 57th West Avenue — as the integral next step in completing the Gilcrease Expressway.

"We need to have this feasibility study done to accurately assess our options and which way to go," said Tim Armer, transportation manager for the Indian Nations Council of Governments.

The study would cost about $125,000 and be paid with a mix of local and federal funds, Armer said. The local funds cover the 20 percent match required to get the federal funding.

"We got that pretty well raised," said Guy Berry, president of American Heritage Bank. Berry is a former state transportation commissioner and member of the working group.

Berry said it is likely INCOG will be asked to arrange the study and that he hopes it will be completed by the middle of this year.

The working group is made up of more than 50 people, including officials from the cities of Tulsa and Sand Springs, and Tulsa County.

"The whole point is to look at various alternatives as to how to get the Gilcrease Expressway put together as a viable project in the next four or five years, and we want to have a plan this year," Berry said.

Construction of the expressway — a 19-mile stretch of roads that will eventually run from Interstate 244 just east of Memorial Drive to Interstate 44 at west 51st Street — has proceeded in fits and starts since it was first envisioned as part of the state Metropolitan Area Expressway System about 50 years ago.

With about 13 miles of the expressway either complete or under construction, the working group is focusing its efforts on the remaining six-plus miles, a stretch that runs from the Tisdale Expressway west and south all the way to 41st Street South.

Berry said the bridge is key to that effort because it would provide a much-needed link to west Tulsa, Sand Springs and other outlying communities.

About $7.5 million a year in federal and local funds are currently dedicated to construction of the expressway. But with the remaining work expected to cost $200 million to $300 million, city officials estimate the project won’t be done until about 2052.

Berry said that for $180 million the expressway could be completed, though not to the extent it would be if fully funded.

"With $180 million, that would build an $80 million bridge and basically get us where we have a decent roadway all around," Berry said, adding that the roadway might be two lanes instead of four.

Paul Zachary, Tulsa Public Works Department deputy director, said the bridge as currently conceived would be capable of holding oversized loads on any of its four lanes (two in each direction) and include a trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

Who would build the bridge has not been determined, Zachary said, but at least two options have been discussed.

The first involves proceeding under the system now in place to build the expressway. Under that system, the city purchases the rights of way, does the design work and then hands over the project to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

Under the second scenario, an authority or other public entity would be created that would include at least the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County.

The authority would be responsible for raising construction funds — likely through the sale of bonds, which may be used to match state and federal funding, if available — and guiding the project through the design phase.

After that, Zachary said, if there are ODOT or federal funds included, ODOT would oversee the project to completion, as is normally the case when federal and state funds are involved.

If no state or federal funds were used, the authority could oversee the entire process.

Armer said the feasibility study is meant to answer a simple question: "Is there going to be enough traffic to generate enough revenue so we can pay off the bonds we need to build this?"

Berry, meanwhile, said the proposed expressway project would not cost taxpayers additional dollars.

"This is not a new plan," he said. "It’s not anything radical."

Public hearing

What: A public hearing to discuss plans to complete construction of the Gilcrease expressway.

When: 5:45 p.m. Wednesday (Registration begins at 5:15 p.m.)

Where: Chandler Park Community Center, 6500 W. 21st St.