Comes now the morning newspaper, with news that Mayor Cornett has endorsed Congressman Istook who is attempting to get the Republican nomination to run for governor later this year.
The mayor professes “disappointment” that the state hasn’t come up with any money for the Crosstown Freeway project, which seems to be his major concern because that is the primary rhetoric behind his endorsement for Istook. He says we wouldn’t have the project if it wasn’t for Istook, who is also praised for being our congressman during the “renaissance” of Oklahoma City, as if there was some connection between those events.
So it looks like our man Cornett wants to be the next congresscritter to represent “Big Concrete”, because that and the trucking industry are the only beneficiaries from the Crosstown I-40 relocation project. It is not a matter of economic development for Oklahoma City, it is a colossal mis-allocation of resources, a classic Washingtonian boondoggle where good money is continually thrown after bad. It benefits only those who are getting the construction checks, major welfare queens like highway construction companies and engineers.
The losers are many, starting with the people dispossesed for this federal stupidity, the residents of the Riverside and Walnut Grove neighborhoods. ODOT put one resident of Walnut Grove into a house without any heat! with plumbing that didn’t work!
The people of central Oklahoma are also losers, because the new road will roll right over the railroad switching yard of Union Station. This is important heritage transportation infrastructure that the City and the State and the Feds are just flushing down the toilet. With that interchange, plus the existing rail lines, we could have a commuter rail system on the fast track for a much lower cost than the price if we have to build everything from scratch. They say the Crosstown is falling apart, but in fact, all we need to do is route truck traffic around downtown on I-240, I-44, and the Kirkpatrick Turnpike and then we could just repair the I-40 Crosstown Freeway and it would be fine. We could do that for a fraction of the cost of this gold-plated freeway they are building.
But those ideas are too simple, logical, and rational for the big brains at ODOT, City Hall, and Congressman Istook’s office. Save money, be frugal, don’t piss on our ancestor’s graves? “What quaint thoughts you have, Bobby Max,” say these politicians. “There’s no money to be made for our friends the highway and concrete contractors in your ideas about frugality and social justice.” And what about the common good? sez that fool Waldrop. “Well, the only good we care about is what is good for us and our friends who give us such large campaign contributions. How can it be otherwise?”
So it goes. Good, old fashioned, Oklahoma political corruption. The Crosstown freeway will be finished about the time that gasoline gets to six bucks a gallon and Oklahoma City will be in dire need of an efficient and extensive public transportation system WHICH WE WON’T HAVE thanks to leaders like Istook and Cornett who care more for the fortunes of wealthy contractors than they do about the common good of the people.