Report assesses how OKC is doing on roads, bridges
Busier roads are coming. Driverless cars are on the horizon.
Economic development is waiting in the wings.
And prosperity is the reward for communities that grasp the value of investing in balanced, efficient transportation systems, a national transportation expert said Wednesday.
“Regions that are not keeping up with travel growth, that is impacting the decisions that businesses make in terms of which areas are most desirable,” said Rocky Moretti, director of policy and research with TRIP, a nonprofit that focuses on the condition of the nation’s roads and highways.
“You want your transportation plans to match up with your regional economic plans,” he said.
TRIP is sponsored by insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, construction companies, labor unions and others with interests in transportation.
Moretti spoke Wednesday at a news conference organized by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, the city’s leading business organization, to unveil a report on how well Oklahoma is doing with its roads and bridges.
The short answer: not all that well but better in some respects than before.
That may not seem like new information.
Moretti said TRIP estimates bumpy roads, congested highways and crashes attributable in part to poorly designed and maintained roads cost Oklahomans $4.9 billion per year.
Drivers incur costs for repairs, fuel, tire wear and depreciation because of roads that are stitched together by a series of patched potholes instead of resurfaced. Congestion results in lost time and wasted fuel.
The average Oklahoma City-area motorist incurs $2,242 in additional costs yearly, the report estimates.
12 minutes per day
TRIP’s study found Oklahoma City drivers endure 49 hours per year, or about 12 minutes per day on average, of delay because of congestion, and that the problem is worsening with growth.
It said 81 percent of the major roads in the Oklahoma City area are in poor or mediocre condition.
Moretti said investments in bridges in recent years have paid off. Before attention was focused, 30 percent of the bridges in Oklahoma were structurally deficient, worst in the nation, he said.
Now at 16 percent, Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally, and by “staying the course” has the chance to reduce the share of deficient bridges to 1 percent or less.
In the Oklahoma City metro area, 10 percent of bridges are structurally deficient and another 16 percent are functionally obsolete, the report found.
It said Oklahoma has about $11 billion in backlogged bridge and road projects.
Moretti said the smart cars of the future will depend in part on their ability to “read” the roadway.
“We’re moving into a world where roadways will have to communicate with the vehicle to keep us as safe as possible,” he said.
Technology is “not going to be as effective as it could be” if roads are not well-designed and maintained, Moretti said.
The poor condition of city streets is always at the top of the list of concerns when residents are surveyed, said Roy Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Williams said he expects transportation will be at the top of the list, as it has been in the past, when city leaders go to voters in the next year or so for authority to sell bonds to finance civic improvements.
“That’s what we’ve seen historically, I would assume that’s what we would see in the future,” he said.
Williams singled out recent creation of a regional transit authority to address needs that cross urban and suburban boundaries in the metro area.
And he said business leaders have learned through their annual visits to other cities that investments in public transit are helping those cities increase productivity and spur economic development.
In cities where leaders never thought residents would get out of their cars, Williams said, “Every one of these areas’ public transportation systems are highly successful and exceed expectations of ridership.
“There are more and more compelling reasons to say alternate forms are very critical,” he said.
So Oklahoma City residents will continue to love their cars — but in coming years could find alternatives to love, as well.