The Oklahoman By Neal McCaleb, Guest columnist
June 13, 2022
As the first Oklahoman to simultaneously serve in both roles as secretary of the Oklahoma Transportation Department and executive director of Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, my perspective on turnpikes is uniquely holistic from an overall transportation systemwide viewpoint. Everybody wants good, safe roads from Point A when they pull out of their driveway to Point B when they arrive at their destination. One of our accomplishments during my tenure was Transportation Department engineers designed and innovated the “Briffin Barrier,” the first high-tension median barrier that became the nationwide standard and saved thousands of lives. Oklahomans innovated that! After driving on city and county roads, a driver reaches highways and interstates constructed and maintained by the Transportation Department. The Transportation Department funds for continual maintenance of roads are limited by state appropriations and finance structures. During the 1980s and 1990s, as local roads and state highways were becoming congested, creating deterioration at a rapid pace, the limitations placed on Transportation Department funding could not keep up with the maintenance. Where was the traffic supposed to go?
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