By John Dobberstein, Editor
Legislation is moving at the state capitol that would authorize the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to build a toll bridge over the Arkansas River near Bixby to alleviate congestion on Memorial Drive (Highway 64) and free up the area for development and public access.
House Bill 2123, submitted by Rep. Mark Tedford (R-Jenks), was amended this month to remove authorization for the OTA to build a toll bridge over the river between Delaware Avenue and Memorial Drive and authorize the OTA to build one, “in the vicinity of Bixby.”
The bill was originally introduced last year creating the “Transportation Reform Act.” The amended version removes language requiring the bridge to be, “self-sufficient at some point” over a 30-year period from toll charges. The amended bill doesn’t list a specific location for the span.
Tedford said there was a recent meeting concerning the project between local, state and federal officials, “where there seems to be a window of opportunity to put this project together if we could get the authorization amended.”
If the amendment is approved by lawmakers and becomes final, Tedford said OTA will start their planning and surveying process for the project.
State Rep. Chris Banning (R-Bixby), who represents parts of Bixby, Jenks, Glenpool and Sapulpa, said there are 4 new state representatives and dozens of other elected state, local, federal and tribal officials, “working to get a solution as quickly as possible.
“Talk of a road for the Gilcrease (Expressway) began in 1950, and it finally opened in 2022. How long do we want to wait?” he said in a recent Facebook post.
Bixby Mayor Brad Girard said in a Facebook post that he and Bixby Chamber of Commerce President Krystal Crockett recently traveled to Washington to meet with elected officials, “and ask for assistance with infrastructure development in our area.
“We have also met with OTA, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and our regional partners in infrastructure to secure funding and hopefully secure an option for a second crossing over the Arkansas River.”
The possibly of having the OTA build the cross was discussed during a budget hearing this year, where Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Tim Gatz admitted his agency often cannot respond to local needs as quickly as OTA due to differences in how the agencies collect and disperse funding.
“OTA is very adept at moving projects forward quickly and part of that is because their resources,” he said, after Banning asked him about the timeframe for having OTA build the bridge vs. ODOT.
“They can move faster than we can because, a lot of times, ODOT is doing something that’s got federal funds involved that can move a little slower. And then you’ve got an 8-year plan that a project like this must find its way into. We’re not very nimble at being able to react to a need because all our funding is committed.”
As the south suburbs continue to develop, transportation is fast becoming a crucial issue, whether it’s narrow two-lane arterials in rapidly growing western Wagoner County or lack of river crossings further west.
It’s 5.4 miles from the Creek Turnpike bridge over the Arkansas River to the Memorial Drive bridge in Bixby. For motorists east of Memorial, there is not another river crossing until Highway 72 in Coweta, a distance more than 13 miles.
This means there is only 1 crossing over the river in a 17-mile stretch for cities whose populations are growing at a rate of 1-4% annually.
“The Arkansas River is a barrier,” Gatz said, “and without those transportation opportunities you overload Highway 64 into Bixby. We’re seeing that happen.
“How does everyone come together and find a solution near term to to open that area to serve the public better? It’s something we’ve got to get done.”
In 2005, an economic study by Dallas-based Insight Research Corp. found the city of Tulsa would benefit by $970 million in economic development through 2015 if the company was allowed to fund construction of a bridge with no public funding needed.
The study was commissioned by Tulsa-based Infrastructure Ventures Inc., the company that proposes to build the $33 million bridge with no public funding.
Tulsa-based Infrastructure Ventures proposed to build the bridge using Pike Pass technology over the Arkansas River into Bixby from E. 121st Street at S. Yale Avenue. Tulsa County commissioners approved the plan and city governments in Bixby, Jenks and Glenpool endorsed it.
Earlier that year the Tulsa City Council opposed the proposed project due to the amount of land potentially needed to build the bridge.
In 2022, plans surfaced for river crossing that would connect E. 131st Street west of the Arkansas River to a southern extension of Riverside Parkway. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission voted last year to amend its Major Street and Highway Plan (MSHP) for the project.
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