Street Improvement Announcement

Tulsa's mayor says she has a new plan to address complaints about the streets, a plan called Complete Our Streets. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports Kathy Taylor says it's not a response to

Thursday, September 13th 2007, 9:53 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa's mayor says she has a new plan to address complaints about the streets, a plan called Complete Our Streets. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports Kathy Taylor says it's not a response to opponents of the river tax who say the streets should be fixed first, but rather the next step in her plan to solve the streets problem for the long term.

Tulsa City Councilor Bill Martinson says Tulsa's streets, as bad as they are, will get much worse unless the city dramatically increases spending for repairs.

"It took a long time to get here, it was just a gradual not paying attention to the streets situation," said Tulsa City Councilor Bill Martinson.

The problem with the streets is not that the city doesn't know how to fix them, it's how to pay for it that is always the problem. Right now the city gets money for streets from both property and sales taxes, but it's never been enough to get caught up.

"What's the right philosophy to fund it and how do we best maintain these roads so that future mayors and councils don't have to deal with it," Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said.

The mayor says she's creating a blue ribbon panel to look at the costs and quality of street construction and repair. This new committee will also review how the city collects money to spend on streets and possibly recommend changes.

"We just haven't been able to dedicate sufficient attention to the streets in the past, so hopefully we'll come up with something to address streets for a long, long time," said Martinson.

City staff has identified a $600 million backlog of repairs, and Martinson says all of it will be included in the plan. The city has considered a vote next spring on a property tax for street repair. On Thursday the Mayor says it's not definite, but a possibility, but that the decision will not be made until after December 1st, when the new committee was told to be ready with a recommendation.

Watch the video: Pothole Riddled Streets To Get Help