Oklahomans for Better Roads -- what a load of hooey

[RummyTheDummy]

I'm sure many of you have seen this group's TV ads. They want to raise fuel taxes 5 cents per gallon because as they make it sound, every road in the state is in need of repair ASAP or we're all gonna die!!!!!!!!!

Here's a list of companies that support it, a virtual who's who of the road construction industry. If this gets a special election I will take great pleasure in voting against it. It's not the tax increase that bothers me. If we could develop a quality light rail alternative in Tulsa and OKC I would support a 25 cents a gallon increase. No, it's the corporate scum that stand to cash in on this bullshit that annoys me to no end. As is always the case in our corrupt, decaying country, follow the money trail and the true motive is revealed.


Coalition Members
Ada Area Chamber of Commerce
Allen Contracting, Inc.
American Concrete Pavement Assn.
American Council of Engineering Companies of Oklahoma
APAC - Oklahoma
Ardmore Chamber of Commerce
Association of General Contractors
Bellco Materials
Benham
Brawley Engineering
Breisch & Associates, Inc.
Bucher, Willis & Ratcliff Corporation
Burgess Engineering & Testing
Butterfly Company
Senator Charles Ford
Cherokee Nation
Chiang, Patel, & Yearby
Chickasha Chamber of Commerce
Chickasaw Nation
Choctaw Nation
Clowers Engineering
Cobb Engineering
Coon Engineering
Cornell Construction
W.N. Couch
Craig & Keithline, Inc.
Cummins Construction
Cushing Chamber of Commerce
Diamondback Steel
Direct Traffic Control
Dolese Brothers
Durant Chamber of Commerce
Senator Ed Long
Edmond City Council
Elk City, City Council
Engineering Services & Testing
Enid Chamber of Commerce
FBS Engineering, Inc.
FHC, Inc.
Fensco, Inc.
Fred W. Wienecke
Garcia Construction, Inc.
The Gardner Tanenbaum Group
Gary Williams Energy
Gibson & Associates
Grand Lake Economic Council
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
Guy Engineering Services
Guymon Chamber of Commerce
Haskell Lemon Construction
Henryetta Chamber of Commerce
Holliday Sand & Gravel
Insurance Agency of Mid America
J&R Sand
JGVE, Inc.
Johnston Enterprises, Inc.
Johnston Seed Co.
Johnston Transportation
Kelly Engineering & Associates
Koss Construction
Lawton City Council
M.J. Lee Construction
MacArthur Associated Consultants
Martin Marietta Materials
Maxwell Supply
Mid-Continent Concrete Co.
Midwest City Chamber of Commerce
Muskogee Bridge Co.
Muskogee Chamber of Commerce
National Voter Outreach
Norman Chamber of Commerce
Oklahoma Aggregates Association
Oklahoma Asphalt Pavement Assn.
OK Ballot Access
OKC Pres Data Com
Oklahoma Highway Users Federation
Oklahoma Municipal Contractors
Oklahoma Municipal League
Oklahoma Professional Economic Development Council
Oklahoma Public Employees Association
Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce
Oklahoma Transit Association
Oklahomans for Good Roads and Transportation
Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce
Plains Bridge Construction
Poe & Associates
Ponca City Chamber of Commerce
Port 33 Inc.
Quapaw Company
Sapulpa Chamber of Commerce
Saxum Strategic Communications
Senator Robert Milacek
Schwarz Paving Co.
Scott Rice
Seminole Chamber of Commerce
Seminole Nation
Sewell Brothers
Shattuck Grain Co.
Sherwood Construction
Sizemore Weisz & Associates
Soil Farming Inc.
South Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
Spartan Strategies
Standard Testing
Stillwater Chamber of Commerce
T-K-O Equipment
Terracon
The Lofland Co.
Tonkawa City Council
Traffic & Lighting Systems
Triad Design Group
TTK Construction
Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce
United General Contractors, Inc
Wallace Engineering
Warren CAT
WB Johnston Grain Co.
Western Plains Construction
White Engineering Assoc.
Youngman Rock, Inc.
Yukon City Council

OSBR Leadership
Neal McCaleb, President
Burns Hargis, Vice President
Bob Poe, Secretary

[bobbieinok]

1. why do Cherokee and Seminole Nations back it?????

[RoyGBiv]

2. Seminole ...

The Seminole Nation backs it in part because of Highway 99, which corresponds to a US Highway number I can't recall at the moment. It's a convoluted chain of events, and I can't describe it adequately. It involves all the connecting roads to SH 99, which are sorely in need of repairs that will be required for those roads to serve as viable connections for industry wanting to use the newly widdened SH 99.

The Seminole people are also heavily employed by road construction companies, which may be the more important point for the average person.

Unfortunately, what they hope will happen and what actually will happen are two entirely different things. Something similar is at work with the Ada Chamber of Commerce. Ada's economy struggles, in part, because of poor road connections. First there was the Chickasaw Turnpike, which started out as an idea as a 4-lane access between I-35, connecting to SH 99, which was slated to be turned into a 4-lane at least as far as I-40, allowing trucking to bypass going through OKC when moving south-east, east-south, i.e. East Coast and Dallas or Mexico. The eventual result of this was supposed to put Ada square in the middle of a new trucking route that would attract various industries.

Very little of that happened. The turnpike was built, but it was a 2-lane, and the quality of the road was so poor that repairs started on it less than a year after it was built, and it has been in a constant state of repair every since. Most truckers refuse to use it. (Welcome to the joys of "lowest bidder" construction contracts.) The SH 99 project has been delayed not years but decades. It's all a huge mess.

But, these morons think that pouring more money into the state highway system will help, not realizing that the same thing that happened last time will happen this time. Problems with construction (read "corruption in the highway department") will skyrocket costs, projects will be cut back, and the bulk of the money will go to repair roads that run in front of some important Senator or Reps house.

I'm sure something is similar at work with the Cherokee.

[4BunnyMon]

3. Um, maybe its because...

Maybe Cherokees want improved roads & bridges because they think the GOP will take it out on them (thru car tag fights) if a lot of people don't think the roads are any good. Transportation Funding is on the September State Ballot, right? Well, I think Senator Angela Monson's Senate 48 seat is on the same ballot. What are the implications in her District? Can we get a rock-solid strong Dem like Senator Monson in District 48? Who is running?

[4BunnyMon]

4. PS... I've a scenic drive to recommend

If you've never crossed the Caney Bridge in rural SE Cherokee county, some time take a drive on Highway 100 across Lake Tenkiller to Caney Ridge, and then turn North at Kooter Brown's Music Tavern onto the Welling Road. Caney Creek Bridge is 1 lane... 2 metal slabs about 10 inches wide, on top of wood that you can spit thru. You have to straddle the metal just right our your car will be driving on old 2x4s, about 30 feet over the water. The school bus driver once refused to take the children over it, so children had to cross on foot to meet the bus. Now, busses cross it, but it is *scary*. Maybe in cities you have good roads, but in some places, people die from driving off into floodwaters in the Spring.... places where there should be bridges but we have to just go thru the creekbed. Flatlanders, help us out over here in the edge of the Ozarks in Eastern Oklahoma!