Minnesota Congressman Visits Tulsa's IDL Construction Project

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Some powerful congressional leaders are taking a break from Washington, D.C. to get an inside look at the IDL project in Tulsa. 

The chairman of the U.S. House Transportation Committee says Tulsa's project is a shining example of what the federal stimulus was intended to do.

Congressman Jim Oberstar [D] from Minnesota, Oklahoma Congresswoman Mary Fallin [R] and Oklahoma Department of Transportation director Gary Ridley were in Tulsa getting a tour of the IDL project. 

Chairman Oberstar says Oklahoma is seventh in the nation in getting its stimulus money out to transportation projects. 

A recent AP report has been critical of Oberstar's initiatives, questioning if infrastructure spending has had a meaningful impact on job creation because unemployment nationwide remains around 10%. 

"The Associated Press is dead wrong. They didn't do an appropriate analysis, they don't have an understanding of the nature of construction projects. There are nearly 9,000 projects such as this underway across the country," Oberstar said.

At a cost of $75 million, the IDL overhaul is the biggest project in state history. More than 40 bridges are being replaced on both the north and west legs of the IDL. 

Find out more about the IDL Construction project.

Work began in June, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation originally estimated the construction to wrap up in early 2011. Now ODOT says workers are a few weeks ahead of schedule, with more than a third of the project complete. 

ODOT says construction workers have logged 1.3 million hours of work on more than 150 Oklahoma stimulus projects. 

They estimate that the federal stimulus dollars created 7,000 jobs -- something Congresswoman Fallin likes to hear.

"Oklahoma has done a tremendous job of having accountability with our transportation funds, and getting our projects up and online. We're one of the fastest states in the nation in getting that money out the door," said Congresswoman Mary Fallin.

The group also visited Oklahoma City for an aerial tour of a $60 million project on I-40 in Canadian County, $30 million of which is stimulus-funded.

They also viewed progress on the Oklahoma City $650 million Crosstown construction project, which has received funding through congressional earmarks.

For construction information, visit the Oklahoma Department of Transportation website.