Oklahoma has a $9 billion backlog of needed improvements to roads and bridges. And Tulsa County has 108 weight restricted bridges, which officials say, causes more than just an inconvenience.

"It's a public safety issue. We've got kids going to school that our busses are concerned about, driving up to a load posted bridge, they can't drive over the bridge, they gotta stop, turn around and go back," said State Senator Brian Bingman, proponent of a new bill that would boost funding for roads and bridges.

Senate Bill 1396 would appropriate needed money, but support is needed for it to pass.

"I certainly hope that it doesn't take another Minneapolis for something to get done, said Kell Kelly of the group Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation, known as the TRUST Coalition.

According TRUST, the I-244 bridge has a worse structural rating than the bridge that fell in Minnesota. And the number of improvements needed grew last week with the closing of Tulsa's Boulder Avenue Bridge, which is viewable from Tulsa's sleek new arena under construction just two blocks away.

"People wanna know why we have such bad roads and bridges it's because we haven't funded it," Bingman said.

Bingman and the TRUST Coalition are urging the public to contact their leaders to let them know how you feel about funding for roads and bridges.



On The Web: The Trust Coalition: http://www.restoretrust.org/

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