Fact Sheet: Increased Transportation Funding Helps Oklahoma and the Nation

 

The Inner-Dispersal Loop (IDL)

  • Rehabilitation of the IDL will create a total of nearly 600 direct and indirect jobs as a result of one year of construction.
  • The project is expected to produce an economic impact of nearly $137 million for the local economy over the course of construction.
  • The four-mile IDL, which encircles downtown Tulsa and averages more than 62,000 vehicles each day. 
  • The $75 million, 580 day project will completely reconstruct and re-deck more than 40 bridges on the west and north legs of the IDL.
  • Traffic sign improvements and safety upgrades will also be made.

Missed Opportunities

  • The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) has identified $1 billion worth of already-scheduled transportation projects that need little preparation work before being ready for construction.
  • Currently ODOT reports close to $12 billion in backlogged transportation projects.
  • Transportation infrastructure replacement costs in Oklahoma are $35 billion, almost seven times the annual state budget.

Economic Impact

  • Congestion costs Oklahomans $171 million annually in lost time and wasted fuel. Bumper-to-bumper traffic also means Oklahoma City drivers waste 6 million gallons of gasoline a year and spend 20 extra hours annually on the road.
  •  According to the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), there are more than 5,000 projects around the nation, totaling $64 billion and supporting 1.8 million jobs that can be ramped up within 180 days of receiving adequate funding. 
  • Every $1 spent on transportation infrastructure projects generates an additional $1.80 of American Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Safety and Efficiency

  • Of the over 6,700 bridges on the Oklahoma state highway system, almost 1,600 are either too narrow to support today's traffic or have structural deficiencies, or both.
  • By 2014, the number of Oklahoma's aging bridges will have increased to 1,143, but only 324 will have been replaced. This will only exacerbate the existing problem.
  • ODOT's eight-year Construction Work Plan (FFY-2009 through FFY-2016) contains nearly $4 billion in spending, including 449 bridges, 95 miles of cable median barrier and 460 miles of safety-oriented improvements on inadequate two-lane roads.
 

About Us

The FasterBetterSafer Campaign is building a groundswell of support to encourage our leaders in Washington to increase investment in our transportation system and to put it on the road to recovery.

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