News On 6 Special Report: Tulsa's Crumbling Roads

By Scott Thompson and Richard Clark, News On 6

TULSA, OK -- On November 4, city of Tulsa voters will decide the fate of a $452 million streets package.

Supporters say approving it is crucial to Tulsa's future.

Critics say Tulsa has squandered millions of dollars in tax money over the years that should have been used on the roads.

A News On 6 Investigation uncovers the real reason the streets and roads in Tulsa are so bad.

"I knew the streets were beginning to get bad a little over a year ago when people started calling me and wanting to know what the problem with the streets was, and I haven't been in office in over 20 years," said Jim Hewgley, former Tulsa Streets Commissioner.

[Watch extended comments with former Tulsa Streets Commissioner Jim Hewgley]

Hewgley hasn't been in office since 1984. The son of a former mayor, he was one of the last people to be a City of Tulsa Streets Commissioner before city government changed to a city council form of government. He says there are two big reasons the roads are in bad shape.

"In hindsight, I was the only streets commissioner from I think 1970 to 1990 that didn't have a flood to deal with," said Jim Hewgley.

[Watch extended comments with former Tulsa Streets Commissioner Jim Hewgley]

Major floods swamped Tulsa just before, and just after, Hewgley was in office. They included the infamous flood of 1984 that killed 14 people. That flood forced the city to build a world-class flood control system, diverting millions from other priorities in the process.

But there is another reason Tulsa's roads are in bad shape. To find it, you have to go back, way back. Back to a time when no one had ever heard of an SUV, when every car was as big as a boat and the price of gas was just pennies a gallon.

You have to go all the way back to the spring of 1966, to something that happened in Sand Springs. It was an event that also involved water.

"If you don't have water you're in deep doo doo," said Sand Springs Realtor Montie Box.

In March of 1966, the city of Sand Springs suddenly laid claim to a lot more land, all the way to Lake Keystone in the west, and Skiatook Lake to the north.

Longtime Sand Springs realtor Montie Box says the city didn't annex all that land, which would've required building infrastructure, too. It just extended its perimeter fence, guaranteeing future access to a key resource.

"It was really basically built for the purpose of protecting our water rights," said Montie Box.

[Watch extended comments with Sand Springs Realtor Montie Box]

That move sent a shockwave through Tulsa. On March 24th, 1966, Tulsa's city limits covered only about 57 square miles. It was one of the most densely populated cities in the country. But the next day, on March 25th, 1966, Tulsa annexed 103 square miles of land. That means Tulsa tripled in size overnight. And the city of Tulsa has added smaller chunks since then.

Over the last four decades, Tulsa's land area has increased 350 percent, while its population has grown only 12 percent.

At about 198 square miles today, the city of Tulsa has more land area than Boston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Francisco, combined.

"What we didn't do along with that, which is what we're doing with PlaniTulsa and our 'comp' plan now, is really have a plan for how we're going to develop those areas of the city that we annexed," said Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor.

Mayor Taylor says the lack of a comprehensive plan has been a challenge for her and every other mayor since 1966.

"If you could talk to that, mayor and those city commissioners of 1966, what would you say to them?" said Scott Thompson.

"I think the follow-through, the execution on the 'comp' plan, of updating the 'comp' plan to really have a plan to take care of how we develop that plan that we acquired and how we increase the density and population," said Mayor Kathy Taylor.

[Watch extended comments with Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor]

"I moved out here in 1963, and we were out in the country, 'cause the city limits was Garnett," said former Tulsa city councilor Jim Mautino.

The issue hits very close to home for Mautino. Forty-two years after the annexation, Mautino says getting water from the city's water system is still a daily chore to some members of an east Tulsa neighborhood. They have to haul their water from a neighbor's tap.

"They come in and they get their water, and they, it's in an honor system. They go over and put whatever the meter is and they know just about how much because they do it every week. And the water is charged to the people that live here," said Jim Mautino.

[Watch extended comments with former Tulsa city councilor Jim Mautino]

Built long before the city of Tulsa required developers to connect homes to its water system, the families can't afford to pay for it now.

Mayor Kathy Taylor says those families aren't alone.

"You'd be surprised at the number of homes in the city limits that are still on septic systems, not on city sewer systems," said Mayor Kathy Taylor.

"In some pretty nice neighborhoods?" asked Scott Thompson.

"Absolutely. It's, it was very surprising to me," said Taylor.

[Watch extended comments with Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor]

Former city of Tulsa Streets Commissioner Jim Hewgley was part of the team back in 1980 that came up with the first third-penny sales tax. It was designed specifically to build infrastructure, mostly in east and south Tulsa. He says now only about 60 percent of the third penny sales tax money is still used for that original, long-term purpose.

"Because things have changed over the last 25 or 30 years, different things have come into the sales tax, and they weren't just put in there, people voted on them," said Hewgley.

Jim Hewgley says those "things" include everything from police cars to city buses, whatever voters decided was a priority at the time.

[Watch extended comments with former Tulsa Streets Commissioner Jim Hewgley]

Both Hewgley and Mayor Kathy Taylor acknowledge that Tulsa will be dealing with the ghosts of 1966 for years to come. But both say the annexation was a good thing.

"Was that a wise move, or an unwise move?" asked Scott Thompson.

"Well I think it was certainly. I think it's, it's a wise move," said Mayor Kathy Taylor.

"You could make the case, you know, if we hadn't done that, Tulsa could be a suburb of Broken Arrow, I mean," said former Tulsa Streets Commissioner Jim Hewgley.

The city of Tulsa says it's spent an average of about $21 million a year on fixing streets over the last 20 years. The city of Tulsa Public Works Department says that amount is not even close to the amount needed just to maintain the current condition of the streets, much less to fix them.

To view the Interactive on how Tulsa outgrew its streets, click here.

Editors note- To read more on the state of Oklahoma roads, click on to our special report: The News On 6 Investigates Oklahoma Roads.

View more Special Reports from the News On 6.  Click on to our "6 on Assignment" page.