Oklahoma Transportation Facts
ODOT is responsible for nearly 30,000 lane miles of roads. That is the same distance as if you drove from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles and back 11 times. More than 3,000 miles of our 12,266 miles of highway in Oklahoma need to be rehabilitated or replaced due to inadequacies. This is 25% of our highways. Inadequate roadways include those which have no shoulders, narrow lanes, deteriorated pavement, no or few passing areas (restricted by geography), large curves and/or too much traffic. Approximately 1/3 of Oklahoma’s driving surfaces are in “poor” condition which amounts to around 4,300 miles. Oklahoma has about 670 centerline miles of non-toll interstate. When measured for roughness, almost 50% of Oklahoma interstates rate fair, mediocre or poor, compared to a national average of 35%. There were over 56 million highway miles driven in 1995. That number has grown to over 65 million in 2003, a 13.8 percent increase in 8 years. Current traffic growth projections indicate a 33 percent increase in cars on highways and at the same time a 70 percent increase in trucks on Oklahoma interstates in the next 20 years. The American Trucking Association projects about a 50% increase in freight movement on highways in the next 10 years. The Association of American Railroads reports a minimum increase of 50% in rail freight in the next 20 years. ODOT productivity has risen steadily despite staff reductions of almost 825 people since 1991 – from 3,223 to under 2,400 today. Approximately 150 bridges have restricted load limits, resulting in extra detours and nagging delays for drivers. ODOT has increased the bridge funding by 76% over the next 8 years which adds an additional $182 million. This reconstructs another 97 bridges statewide in an eight-year period. While this is a positive step addressing this issue, more funds are needed to catch up. 1,099 of 6,728 bridges in Oklahoma are structurally deficient and another 534 are functionally obsolete. So about 1,600 need to be rehabilitated or replaced. 135 bridges are over 80 years old. 56% of accidents take place on inadequate roads. In Oklahoma in 2004, there were 666 FATAL vehicle collisions resulting in 776 DEATHS. 51 of those fatalities were children under the age of 17. State funding has only varied slightly since the early 1980s. ODOT had more state spending in 1985 than it currently does for FY2004. Due to stagnant or reduced state funding, dramatic increases in product and service costs have meant that ODOT’s buying power is significantly reduced – ODOT cannot, and has not, kept up with inflation, resulting in less work on Oklahoma highways. Current fuel tax levels are not enough, even though there are more road users filling up their tanks. Today’s vehicles are much more fuel efficient allowing many more miles to be driven on a single tank of gas. Gasoline and diesel fuel taxes are a flat rate not a percentage. So if the price goes up, the tax stays the same. Less travel takes place with higher prices, so less revenue is generated.
ODOT is responsible for nearly 30,000 lane miles of roads. That is the same distance as if you drove from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles and back 11 times. More than 3,000 miles of our 12,266 miles of highway in Oklahoma need to be rehabilitated or replaced due to inadequacies. This is 25% of our highways. Inadequate roadways include those which have no shoulders, narrow lanes, deteriorated pavement, no or few passing areas (restricted by geography), large curves and/or too much traffic. Approximately 1/3 of Oklahoma’s driving surfaces are in “poor” condition which amounts to around 4,300 miles. Oklahoma has about 670 centerline miles of non-toll interstate. When measured for roughness, almost 50% of Oklahoma interstates rate fair, mediocre or poor, compared to a national average of 35%. There were over 56 million highway miles driven in 1995. That number has grown to over 65 million in 2003, a 13.8 percent increase in 8 years. Current traffic growth projections indicate a 33 percent increase in cars on highways and at the same time a 70 percent increase in trucks on Oklahoma interstates in the next 20 years. The American Trucking Association projects about a 50% increase in freight movement on highways in the next 10 years. The Association of American Railroads reports a minimum increase of 50% in rail freight in the next 20 years. ODOT productivity has risen steadily despite staff reductions of almost 825 people since 1991 – from 3,223 to under 2,400 today. Approximately 150 bridges have restricted load limits, resulting in extra detours and nagging delays for drivers. ODOT has increased the bridge funding by 76% over the next 8 years which adds an additional $182 million. This reconstructs another 97 bridges statewide in an eight-year period. While this is a positive step addressing this issue, more funds are needed to catch up. 1,099 of 6,728 bridges in Oklahoma are structurally deficient and another 534 are functionally obsolete. So about 1,600 need to be rehabilitated or replaced. 135 bridges are over 80 years old. 56% of accidents take place on inadequate roads. In Oklahoma in 2004, there were 666 FATAL vehicle collisions resulting in 776 DEATHS. 51 of those fatalities were children under the age of 17. State funding has only varied slightly since the early 1980s. ODOT had more state spending in 1985 than it currently does for FY2004. Due to stagnant or reduced state funding, dramatic increases in product and service costs have meant that ODOT’s buying power is significantly reduced – ODOT cannot, and has not, kept up with inflation, resulting in less work on Oklahoma highways. Current fuel tax levels are not enough, even though there are more road users filling up their tanks. Today’s vehicles are much more fuel efficient allowing many more miles to be driven on a single tank of gas. Gasoline and diesel fuel taxes are a flat rate not a percentage. So if the price goes up, the tax stays the same. Less travel takes place with higher prices, so less revenue is generated.
