Oklahoma Transportation Authority avoids budget cuts

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ While many state agencies tighten their belts and cut their budgets to deal with a statewide budget shortfall, it's business as usual at the Oklahoma Transportation Authority.

Thursday, September 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ While many state agencies tighten their belts and cut their budgets to deal with a statewide budget shortfall, it's business as usual at the Oklahoma Transportation Authority.

The authority receives no federal or state money and would be forced to trim its $45 million annual budget ``only if traffic slows,'' said Holly Lowe, acting director and chief financial officer.

``We are totally supported by (turnpike) tolls,'' Lowe said Wednesday following a meeting of the authority in Tulsa. ``We are underspending,'' although revenue is on target, Lowe said.

Truck traffic, an economic indicator, has remained stable on the state's toll roads, especially the Turner, H.E. Bailey and Will Rogers turnpikes.

Revenue for the year through August from tolls was $116.36 million, up from $108.27 million for the same period a year earlier. The authority also receives lesser amounts from gasoline and food concessions along the turnpikes.

The most heavily traveled section on the state's turnpike system is the Creek Turnpike in south Tulsa and its nearby suburbs. Portions of the turnpike, which opened in August, already are running at 85 percent of the level expected for the first full year of operation.

Completion of the Creek Turnpike ended the authority's construction phase. Lowe said the focus for the 600-mile system will shift to maintenance.

Turnpike construction has aided in building other state roads, Lowe said, because those funds are considered as a ``soft match'' toward receiving federal dollars by the state Transportation Department.

Among the purchases approved Wednesday was $541,918 for sand and salt in preparation for winter storms.

With that amount, ``we feel we can handle substantial storms,'' said Tim Stewart, director of planning and operations.

``Winters are not predictable,'' Stewart added, and it is difficult to plan actual needs.