City Streets?

[FOTD]

I must be missing some discussions. I do not see any topics on the resurection of our infrastructure.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectID=61&articleID=071113_7_A22_hScop66755

Would you allow the people driving your company into the ground to continue with their hands on the control? Heads should roll....


The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~Bertrand Russell

[Neptune]

Every year our Federal funding gets less and less.  Every year we rely more on sales tax and property taxes to fund infrastructure, stressing out the Police, Fire, and every other department that used to get Federal and State funds.  The City didn't make this problem, but it does have to fix it.  And it'll take a long time to rebuild.

Hell, it might never happen.  We may never have the street quality we had only a couple decades ago.  Some people think every tax cut is useful, then complain mightily when their streets are falling apart.  I don't get it, and neither do they.

[bacjz00]

Anyone else see the OETA documentary on Robert S. Kerr last night?  Now there was a man who fought for the State of Oklahoma and had visions of making Oklahoma a 21st century state.  What a passionate and powerful man he was.  Too bad they don't make more like him anymore.

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by bacjz00

Anyone else see the OETA documentary on Robert S. Kerr last night?  Now there was a man who fought for the State of Oklahoma and had visions of making Oklahoma a 21st century state.  What a passionate and powerful man he was.  Too bad they don't make more like him anymore.

They make them. We just don't elect them unless they pass irrelevant litmus tests on issues they have no control over and are unimportant to the state.

[Neptune]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

They make them. We just don't elect them unless they pass irrelevant litmus tests on issues they have no control over and are unimportant to the state.

I'm still miffed Roscoe Turner hasn't stopped abortion.

[bacjz00]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

quote:Originally posted by bacjz00

Anyone else see the OETA documentary on Robert S. Kerr last night?  Now there was a man who fought for the State of Oklahoma and had visions of making Oklahoma a 21st century state.  What a passionate and powerful man he was.  Too bad they don't make more like him anymore.

They make them. We just don't elect them unless they pass irrelevant litmus tests on issues they have no control over and are unimportant to the state.

I guess politics just ain't what they used to be eh Waterboy?  

What made Kerr so special was that he was not only visionary, but he made it a point to educate Oklahomans on his vision to the point where Oklahomans embraced his energy and ideas whole-heartedly.  It's called LEADERSHIP.  

Tulsa lacks leadership right now on all fronts and I'm sorry to say but there are no solutions remaining to be found in the county or city coffers.  It's time someone started fighting for Tulsa County on a national level and secured the appropriate piece of the pie that we've been missing out on for the past 40 years.  As far as I'm concerned, the day that the Kerr-McLellan Navigation System opened was the last time anyone in Washington (or Oklahoma City for that matter) gave a skinny rat's arse about Eastern Oklahoma.

[Neptune]

Think about it though.  It says a lot more about our society, than it does politicians.  The Kerr-McClellan, can you imagine politicians building something like that today?  It used to be the only way to get projects done, the gov't.  It used to be something people were basically ambivalent to, now their polarized around this idea that less is more.

And if you think back to 40's through 60's, not only are there real gov't projects going on, there are left-over pieces of the New Deal, television was a spec of what it is now, there was no internet, people read books, and wrote letters on paper with ink!  People conversed, without typing!  We were barely getting started in Vietnam, people were already forgetting about Korea, our boys were home, the best place on earth.

All that's changed.  Can't blame it on the politicians necessary.  They work with what they've got.  A polarized society, a dumbed down society, a society that partially hates gov't, a society that hates the rest of the world, a society that's no longer interested in the laws, ethics, and morals, that made us America.

We might not ever get that back.  And we may not ever get the politicians back.

[FOTD]

Nice. You left out that tax rates were substantially higher in those days....

The area in Forrest Hills has original streets that remain in good condition for the most part.
I believe the amount and quality of concrete was the primary reason.

Lousy supervision for many years now have caused this plague. Many streets lack the necessary base to remain stable...maintenance has been pathetic.

[YoungTulsan]

If you haven't read Jack Blair's streets presentation, you should check it out:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/pdfs/StreetsPresentation.pdf

Be warned, 22MB PDF, might bog down your PC.  Has some glitches for me too.  But it gives you a very elaborate look at the many many factors as to why our streets have fallen in quality drastically.  The only thing I disagree with is how he projects street needs by simply taking what we spent on some street somewhere and extrapolates it as absolutely how much it costs to pave an arterial road.  Not getting overcharged by contractors should be part of our streets plan.  And obviously, the cost of different roads will vary with geography and other factors.