Locals Want Road Funding

Local elected officials and public safety officers held a news conference at the state capitol last week to ask the Legislature for additional funding for local streets and roads, but the bill they supported did not get a hearing by a House committee.

HB 2707, sponsored by Rep. Fred Jordan, R-Jenks, called for Oklahoma to return 0.5% of the state’s 4.5% sales tax to local entities for transportation needs.

The measure would have provided $182 million a year for local roads, said Arden Chaffee, the mayor of Alva and president of the Oklahoma Municipal League.

Under the current system, according to Chaffee, Oklahoma counties and cities receive only $23 million in state road funds, which must be shared among 589 entities.

“This is barely enough to fill a pothole in some small communities,” he said.

In 2007, a bridge collapsed right after a fire department vehicle crossed it on the way to Enid. Ken Helms of the Enid Fire Department said firefighters had to re-evaluate the routes they use after that incident.

Fred Calhoun of the Oklahoma City Fire Department said firefighters sometimes must make time-consuming detours because their 35-ton trucks come upon a two-ton bridge that cannot handle the weight of the vehicles.

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