Senate approves turnpike consideration for finishing Gilcrease Expressway
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 2/25/2010 7:25 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday passed a measure that would put a proposed Tulsa road project on the approved list of state turnpikes.
The measure would allow the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to vote to conduct a feasibility study regarding finishing the Gilcrease Expressway.
Senate Bill 1764, by Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, and House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, heads to the House after securing approval in the Senate by a vote of 42-2.
The project involves a road beginning at Interstate 44 at or near its intersection with 49th West Avenue extending north to the Sand Springs Expressway, turning northeast, crossing 41st West Avenue and continuing east to the L.L. Tisdale Parkway.
The existing portion of the Gilcrease Expressway runs from the Tisdale Parkway east to U.S. 75, said Brenda Perry, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Further east, it picks up the entire stretch of Oklahoma 11 and terminates at Interstate 244, Perry said.
“If it passed in total and was signed into law, it would add another project to our list,” said Tim Stewart, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority deputy director.
The OTA would then vote on whether or not to conduct a feasibility study to determine construction and funding, Stewart said. The study would evaluate whether there would be enough traffic to support the road, Stewart said.
Building the project is the top priority of the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s OneVoice regional legislative agenda, said Gwendolyn Caldwell, Tulsa Metro Chamber vice president of government affairs.
OneVoice is an agenda developed by Tulsa and regional partners from surrounding communities, Caldwell said.
“It doesn’t mean the OTA is going to build a turnpike, the bridge (across the Arkansas River), or the whole thing or anything,” Caldwell said. “It is for us to be able to look at all our options.”
Caldwell said there is a lot of public support for completing the project, which would finish the outer loop around the city.
When the Creek Turnpike was finished, it resulted in a lot of economic development, Caldwell said.
In other action, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1337 by Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, which would require the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City to move to near the Forensic Science Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
The office is currently located a few blocks from the Capitol.
Senate Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said the current location is not adequate for the needs of the agency, which recently lost its accreditation and has been marred by controversy.
The measure passed by a vote of 44-0.
Sykes said there are no plans to place the agency under a law enforcement entity. Law enforcement entities want the agency to remain independent, he said.
Rep. Lucky Lamons, D-Tulsa, has said there are no plans to close the Tulsa branch of the agency.
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100225_11_0_OKLAHO61877
