Stan Geiger

I-44 Bridge Kills a Man

Just a couple of days ago, a huge hole developed in the deck of the I-44 bridge over 161st East Avenue. Reports said 17 cars hit the hole, sustaining damage like blown tires and bent rims. Once mechanics look at the cars, other, more expensive, problems might well be found.

I recall thinking about how lucky we were that no one died in that incident. Our luck ran out today.

Another huge hole developed in the same bridge. A semi slowed down as it approached the hole. A man driving a pickup slammed into the semi. The driver of the pickup died.

I didn't hear any specifics on the deceased, but it could well be some parent lost a son today; it could well be some wife lost a husband today; it could well be some child lost a father today. Why? Because of a crap piece of infrastructure, that's why.

The bridge in question is 52 years old. Engineers will tell you an average bridge is built to last 30 years, maybe 40 at the outside. The bridge in question is one of the most-traveled bridges in the state. The bridge in question should have been torn down and replaced 10, 15, maybe 20 years ago. But it wasn't. Why wasn't it? In a word, money.

The bridge is slated for demolition and replacement. The question is, will it stand up long enough for us to have a chance to tear it down?

I've been writing about this problem for years. I was writing about it before this blog even existed. I hope people have a bigger ear for the problem now.

From 1985 until recently, state appropriations for transportation were held, basically, static at $200 million a year. Inflation ate away at the appropriation in real terms, year after year after year. Education funding, over that time, has skyrocketed.

ODOT says there are 1,500 structurally-deficient bridges in this state. But that just tells part of the story. ODOT just talks about ODOT bridges. There are turnpike bridges, county bridges and municipal bridges in the equation as well. As an example, a city overpass in downtown Tulsa was recently demolished. It wasn't replaced. It was simply torn down because it had become too much of a safety hazard.

Let's do a little compare and contrast. I went to the web and looked at some reports about recent school bond activity in the area.

In December of '08, Jenks voted in a $153 million school bond issue. Jenks came back last year and got another $10 million.

Broken Arrow voted in a record $295 million school bond issue last year.

Union, this month, voted in a $22 million school bond issue.

Tulsa Public Schools is currently going for a record $354 million school bond issue. That vote will take place next week.

I'm going to divert out of the Tulsa area for a moment and mention Sequoyah Public Schools. That district was in one of the reports I found in the Tulsa World. That district recently approved about $14 million in school bonds. What was interesting was the allocation of the bond money. An athletic track was to be built. Renovations for an athletic facility were slated. Putting synthetic grass on an athletic field was one of the projects mentioned---at a cost of $700,000.

The report said $240,000 was going to the purchase of 3 new school buses. Dude, if we're paying $80,000 for those tin cans on wheels, we're getting screwed.

Sequoyah, I'll add, recently had its superintendent busted for embezzling a million bucks.

Another story along the same lines has broken. Skiatook schools, apparently, paid $350,000 more than it should have for janitorial supplies. Why would that happen, do ya think? Well, that wouldn't happen if educators in control of the money weren't getting greased.

But let's go back to the Tulsa area. If one assumes passage of the TPS bond issue---which is easy to do because school bond issues always pass---we're looking at 4 districts, in the Tulsa area alone, over the past couple years alone, that will be spending $834 million in borrowed money.

News reports say the I-44 bridge project is a $7 million contract. For the want of that wee bit of money, in government terms, a man just died.

The political-educational complex has blood on its hands. The educators that constantly scream for more and more of the public-funding pie have blood on their hands. Politicians that have crawled into bed with educators in search of votes and political contributions have blood on their hands. Media types that have promoted more and more money for education in search of ratings have blood on their hands.

I hope it doesn't wash off too easily.

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