Re: High-speed rail to link Tulsa\OKC\Dallas and more...
Legislator eyes rail service from OKC to Tulsa
By D. Ray Tuttle
The Journal Record
Posted: 08:13 PM Friday, January 14, 2011
TULSA – There will be a push in the state Legislature this session to create passenger train service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
State Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, said Friday he will file a bill in the state House of Representatives on Thursday, creating a task force to study the issue and draw up a plan to create a public-private partnership that would operate the rail line.
“We all know as we enter the 21st century, connecting Tulsa to Oklahoma City via a passenger rail line is a no-brainer,” Morrissette said.
Morrissette spoke Friday during a meeting at the Tulsa City Hall between city and legislative leaders, led by Evan Stair, executive director of Passenger Rail Oklahoma.
The line would be an economic development tool for the state’s two largest cities and all the communities between them that would be able to take advantage of passenger rail service, Stair said.
It is estimated it would cost $26 million to upgrade the rail line for passenger service, Stair said. Once running, it is estimated the upkeep would be between $1 million to $2 million annually. The Heartland Flyer, which runs 200 miles from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, costs $2 million annually to operate.
The line between Oklahoma City and Tulsa would be half that distance – about 100 miles.
“Whatever the cost, it is not that great,” said District 2 Tulsa City Councilor Rick Westcott. “Expanding I-44 through Tulsa costs $150 million per mile. What if we could put that kind of money into a passenger rail line?”
Morrissette said the issue has been studied ad nauseam.
“The problem is that we will run up against stiff resistance due to the lack of money,” Morrissette said. State agencies are looking to slash budgets by as much as 10 percent.
If Morrissette succeeds in creating the task force, he estimated it could begin work this fall and issue a report by June 2012.
“Everyone wants it to happen sooner rather than later,” Westcott said.
The rail line between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, much of which is already owned by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, would run on a line roughly parallel to the Turner Turnpike. ODOT owns a rail line from Oklahoma City to Sapulpa. Burlington Northern Santa Fe owns the line from Sapulpa to Tulsa.
The pieces are coming into place, Westcott said.
A key piece fell into place last month, when ODOT received a $49.4 million grant to replace the Interstate 244 bridge over the Arkansas River in Tulsa. The I-244 bridge replacement project is considered critical to Tulsa’s proposed rail transit development plans, ODOT said.
The project will include a new section of the westbound highway, two dedicated future rail lines in a double-decker-style bridge. The reconstructed bridge will be Tulsa’s first “multimodal” crossing to accommodate highway, pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well as a high-speed commuter rail.
Design plans have been expedited. The rail line would travel at 80 mph to start, Stair said.
“With upgrades, the speed could be increased to 120 mph,” Stair said.
A round-trip ticket would cost $35, Stair said. Stair, who has been working on the issue for 10 years, suggested a public-private plan would ease the state’s cost.
The grant, awarded under the Recovery Act’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, is designed to promote innovative transportation projects that provide economic and environmental benefits to a metropolitan area, region or the nation, ODOT said.
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