HAIL TO THE CHIEF!!!
Infrastructure bill seen as a game changer for rural Oklahomans, a boost for cities
When Logan Phillips moved to Maud in 2018, the Tulsa Community College professor sought out an internet provider and was shocked to see the town of just over 1,000 had no connection whatsoever for residents.“It never crossed my mind connection would be an issue,” Phillips said. “It stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn’t teach online; I couldn’t send emails. I had to go to a McDonald’s in the next town.”
Phillips, convinced small rural towns like Maud (roughly 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City) were facing an economic crisis, successfully ran for the state legislature and worked with House Speaker Charles McCall to create the Rural Broadband Expansion Council to find ways to make internet connections available statewide.
The committee hoped it could get $20 million to $30 million to extend internet access. But thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden in March, Oklahoma has gotten $163 million with Phillips saying another $300 million is likely to follow from the pandemic relief bill for additional broadband infrastructure.
More:Rural Oklahoma is among the hardest hit in the U.S. by a lack of fast, reliable internet
And additional funding is on the way, thanks to the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed last month by Biden. The infrastructure bill is expected to send at least $5 billion to Oklahoma for various projects over the next few years.
Phillips believes the minimum of another $100 million allocated for broadband access improvement in Oklahoma is just the start. Phillips said with 80% of the state’s physical land mass without internet access, and additional allocations likely for the state’s tribes, that $100 million is likely to hit $1.2 billion.
“With $163 million out of ARPA, we will see drastic increases in connectivity going from 47th in the country up to the 20s,” Phillips said. “If we get all the money from the infrastructure bill, we could see connection access across the entire state.”
Once in a generation
After signing the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, Biden called it a “once-in-a-generation" investment that will create millions of jobs, modernize roads, bridges, broadband access and other systems critical to the country’s well-being.Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt helped lead a delegation of city leaders from across the country in July that traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with the president to advocate for the funding.
More:OKC mayor meets with President Biden to discuss 'overdue' bipartisan infrastructure bill
Oklahoma’s share is at least $5 billion, with millions more possible thanks to competitive grants. A large chunk of the cash is $4.3 billion that will go the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to address aging roads and bridges.
Oklahoma also can compete for the $12.5 billion Bridge Investment Program for economically significant bridges and nearly $16 billion of national funding in the bill dedicated for major projects that will deliver substantial economic benefits to communities.
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Such competitions aren’t new. Oklahoma City received a $13.6 million federal TIGER grant in 2013 to fund upgrades to the Santa Fe Train Station to turn it into an intermodal hub. The city successfully competed for another grant that gave the city $14.3 million toward its first bus rapid transit system.
With further expansion of the bus rapid transit funded through MAPS 4, Holt hopes the city will get a shot at more funding for ongoing efforts to improve public transit.
“If you look at our track record, we get one every five years or so,” Holt said. “But we will have to compete.”
More:Full funding in place for $90 million rebuild of south OKC's I-240 and I-35 junction
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation, in response to The Oklahoman, issued a statement saying its latest eight-year plan anticipated the funding, which will accelerate highway projects across the state. Those projects will include rebuilding bridges and interchanges, adding paved shoulders to rural, two-lane highways and improve pavement conditions statewide.
More:Sidewalks, trails, public transportation, beautification in MAPS 4 implementation plan
In Oklahoma City, the bill is expected to ensure more than 20 bridge projects in the greater metropolitan area and improvements to Interstates 40, 44, 35 and 240 that are a part of the eight-year plan.
The Department of Transportation also reported additional funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act may help fund upgrades to the state’s public airports by the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission and possibly help with improvements to the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in eastern Oklahoma.
More:Heartland Flyer expansion to Houston and Chicago could be a lifeline for places like Ponca City, Oklahoma
Amtrak previously reported the bill will fund an extension of the Heartland Flyer between Oklahoma City and Newton, Kansas, and two added lines to the Flyer’s run between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. Improvements to water systems, power grids, and expansion of electric vehicle charging stations round out programs funded with the $5 billion coming to the state.
The infrastructure bill was opposed by the state’s congressional delegation, yet passed the U.S. House and U.S. Senate with bi-partisan support. Those opposing it included Rep. Stephanie Bice, whose District 5 includes Oklahoma City. She told The Oklahoman the bill adds $400 billion to the national debt and lacked changes to environmental regulations that can delay highway projects. She and other Oklahoma lawmakers also charged that only a portion of the money was going to “traditional infrastructure.”
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Phillips believes the cost is well worth what he sees as an economic revival for Oklahoma’s struggling small towns. His own hometown, Maud, has seen its Main Street crumble to virtually nothing in just the past decade. He said the bill is the most significant boost for small town America since the 1920s rural electrification program.
“I understand the objections,” Phillips said. “This is an incredible bill that will come back one day. But the fact is the economic expansion we can get with is immeasurable. This will bring people back to rural Oklahoma. This is a once in a century investment in infrastructure. This will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen in Oklahoma when it comes to economic expansion.”
Staff writer Steve Lackmeyer is a 31-year reporter, columnist and author who covers downtown Oklahoma City, related urban development and economics for The Oklahoman. Contact him at slackmeyer@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Full urban development and economics for The Oklahoman. Contact him at slackmeyer@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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