There was a good turnout tonight in South Tulsa for STCC’s Toll Bridge Meeting. As always the meeting was informative. Michael Covey got the meeting started off by giving an overview of the issues. For review I’ll list the main points.
• This bridge was not brought before the voters. The 75 year deal that Jenks has entered into with IVI (Infrastructure Ventures, Inc.) is tantamount to a cash give away. The voters of Tulsa should be allowed to approve this deal.
• The revenue projection over the life of the bridge is between 500-800 million dollars. Do we want to allow a private company to have this money or do we want to try do partner with Jenks and create a new revenue stream for Tulsa?
• There has been no competitive bidding. Should we allow IVI to build this bridge without seeing if some other public or private group can give us a better deal?
• This deal does not take into account the infrastructure needed to support the bridge. There are billions of dollars of unfunded infrastructure needs in Tulsa. This bridge, should it be built, would require millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements to the streets in the area.
• Eminent Domain would be used to implement the project. Jenks would need to condemn land owned by Tulsa to build this bridge.
Councilor Bill Christiansen was on hand to present his bridge proposal which would have the bridge feed traffic north along Riverside. Despite the reports by the Tulsa World to the contrary, this plan would not require any houses to be torn down on the Tulsa side. In addition Christiansen wants IVI taken out of the picture. Instead of a private bridge, Tulsa and Jenks, after approval from voters, would partner to build the bridge and would use the toll revenue to pay for infrastructure needs.
For more information on the issue and to learn how to help, go to STCC’s web site. To see all my pictures from tonight’s meeting click here.
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South Tulsa
Toll Bridge
Arkansas River
South Tulsa Citizens Coalition
Town Hall Meeting
Infrastructure Ventures, Inc.
2 comments:
Steve,
Thanks for coming to the meeting tonight. We appreciate you spreading the word about the bridge.
Carla Covey
KJRH Channel 2 is conducting a flash poll asking if a toll bridge is needed in South Tulsa right now. Please vote at www.kjrh.com if you would like to voice your opinion.
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