Update on the Bixby toll bridge

Tulsa's city council plans to take vote Thursday on a statement opposing a toll bridge over the Arkansas River. <br/><br/>The bridge has the blessing of the county government, but Tuesday the council

Tuesday, June 28th 2005, 6:10 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa's city council plans to take vote Thursday on a statement opposing a toll bridge over the Arkansas River.

The bridge has the blessing of the county government, but Tuesday the council and a city board voiced opposition to parts of the plan.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says the cityâ€™s board of adjustment Tuesday afternoon denied a contractor permission to start stockpiling dirt for the Yale Avenue Arkansas River Bridge. The board thought the permit was premature, since the toll bridge has no city government approval and now seems likely to have opposition from the council.

It would cross the Arkansas River, linking Yale Avenue on the north with Yale Place on the south, adding a connection between Tulsa and Jenks. The developer surveyed drivers who said they wanted the bridge, but many nearby homeowners are against it. They've formed an opposition group and filed a lawsuit to stop it. Michael Covey is one of the homeowners. "First of all we tried to reason with the county commissioners, to get them to consider moving the bridge to a better routing, but we didn't get anywhere, so now we've moved from trying to move the bridge to trying to stop the bridge."

Tulsa's city council seems ready to block the project too, if they can. The council plans to vote Thursday on a statement of opposition because the bridge would increase traffic on already overcrowded south Tulsa roads. The councilors want Tulsa's mayor to join them in opposing the bridge, but his representative at the meeting said the mayor would support it if the nearby roads could be improved. Tulsa city councilor Bill Christiansen believes that won't happen for at least 10 years.

The bridge still has Tulsa County government support, but the city has dealt it two blows in a single day.