Oklahoma transportation officers are doing their greatest to faucet into the billions of {dollars} in federal funding obtainable via the landmark infrastructure initiative Congress handed final yr. To that finish, the state’s Transportation Secretary, Tim Gatz, took quite a few conferences in Washington this week.
This definitely is not the primary rodeo for Secretary Gatz, who’s labored for many years at ODOT and presently serves as its govt director; he is aware of that to get a few of the discretionary funds contained within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), he has to interact along with his federal counterparts.
“There’s a lot going on right now and we want to make sure we’re not missing something.”
Contained in IIJA, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which President Biden signed 13 months in the past, is $66 billion for rail enchancment, a couple of third of that particularly earmarked for Amtrak. Gatz mentioned that funding might assist lengthen the Heartland Flyer north.
“Between Oklahoma City and Newton, Kansas, we’ve got the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line — the Flyer runs on it to Fort Worth now,” Gatz defined. “Anyway, it would require some additional investment in that line to bring it up to passenger rail standards, which is kind of the conversation we’re having.”
The legislation additionally incorporates extra funding for freeway security, an enormous deal in Oklahoma, Gatz mentioned, the place there are 5,300 miles of unshouldered two-lane rural highways.
“That’s a safety concern because too many times we see people have a roadway departure accident, where they drop the wheel off the edge of the pavement, depart into the ditch or over-correct and a lot of times that results in a rollover or a head-on collision with oncoming traffic,” mentioned Gatz. “Those are horrific accidents, so we are making a big investment — we’ve got about 1,100 miles either under construction or in the eight-year work plan now.”
Also within the eight-year plan is the brand new Sen. James Inhofe Interchange on I-40 at Douglas Blvd., the doorway to Tinker Air Force Base.
“That interchange, I think, really epitomizes what Senator Inhofe has done for Oklahoma,” mentioned Gatz, “because it’s the confluence of our Air Force Base and his dedication and commitment to the military…and also, his commitment to infrastructure.”
ODOT held a groundbreaking ceremony with Inhofe on the work web site final month.
“Very exciting project,” mentioned Gatz, “[and] super appropriate to really put an exclamation point on what Senator Inhofe has done for Oklahoma.”
Unrelated to transportation and infrastructure, however associated to Sen. Inhofe, the expectation is that the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, named in Inhofe’s honor, can be taken up within the Senate subsequent week, probably offering the final alternative for the retiring 88-year-old to talk on the Senate flooring.
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