It isn’t smooth sailing where the rubber meets the road when driving in northern Oklahoma near the entrance to Lake McMurtry. In fact, there have been quite a number of bumps in the road near Perry along State Highway 86.
The same holds true for County Road 58 up in Noble County as well as certain routes in the town of Tuttle located in Grady County.
Many of Oklahoma’s roadways are not built to endure the weight, volume and frequency of travel when oil and gas drilling activities occur nearby.
The energy sector boom brought jobs and a level of activity unseen in previous years; however, as the economic downturn mired into another bust, communities are left holding the bag in order to figure out how to repair significant damage to their local roads in the wake of corporate bankruptcies.
Red Fork Energy trucks regularly traveled County Road 58 while working in the area. The road developed numerous potholes, requiring maintenance and repair. Despite a meeting between the Noble County Commissioner and Red Fork representatives from Australia, the county sheriff eventually got involved and issued several traffic tickets to the Red Fork drivers. An agreement was reached in order to resolve the matter; however, Red Fork went belly up and declared bankruptcy soon thereafter.
Communities are trying to find a way to grapple with the extensive costs associated with road damage and necessary repairs.
Earlier this year, Rep. Tommy Hardin filed House Bill 1802 in an attempt to alleviate the burden faced by these communities. The bill would require the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to coordinate with ODOT to determine the impact on the roads as a prerequisite to approval of the drilling application. The bill is now dead since it never passed the March deadline to be heard by the House.