Dear Mayor Taylor,
While I applaud your message I feel you have ignored one major capital improvement: light rail.
It is (past) time to seriously begin the planning and debate for a mass transit system, independent from the freight rail system, to tie together the outlying suburbs of the Tulsa Metroplex.
Never mind the debate on peak oil: even if we all start driving hybrids, electrics, hydrogen etc. the city will still become gridlocked as the population swells. We can't build or maintain enough roads to accommodate future population projections for this area.
With the Stadium underway and, in particular, the Arkansas River development discussions: what do you do about parking. How do people arrive and depart?
The plans have been on the books since the 70's for a rail service between Tulsa and Broken Arrow.
Think of the economic impact if there was a dependable rail system between Tulsa, BA, Jenks, Bixby, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Owasso. Maybe even Glenpool, Inola, Coweta, Collinsville, Bartlesville!
Think if such a local rail system was then connected to a high speed rail(maybe even maglev) between Tulsa and OKC.
From what I understand OKC has been (and still is) working on a highspeed rail between Dallas and OKC.
Please start the public dialog about our transportation needs for the next century. Monorail? Bullet Train? Maybe we should seriously think about underground tunnels, avoiding a lot of right-of-way condemnation of neighborhoods. At least the idea needs to be articulated to the public.
Such a project would be too big for any company or local government; I think we need to be discussing something along the line of a public utility.
At least the idea is worth public mention.
