CLAREMORE — Plans to realign Keetonville Road drew heated words between two Rogers County commissioners this week, as District 3 Commissioner Kirt Thacker felt the current project encroached upon families in his district.
“Well, I’ll be plain about it. My constituents aren’t happy with this (project),” Thacker said. “They don’t think it’s a good idea and they don’t want it. As their spokesperson, I can’t stand behind it.”
Last December, Rogers County officials identified funding for a proposed $5.97 million realignment of the flood-damaged Keetonville Road which has been closed since April 2008.
Circuit Engineering District No. 1, composed of 11 northeastern Oklahoma counties, approved the funding, which is expected to become available in 2014, according to Helm.
Following the securing of funding, schematics for the realignment, known as the Keetonville Road Project, were drawn up and submitted to commissioners for approval.
The proposed realignment starts south of SH 20, picking up existing Keetonville Road and creating a 1.2-mile stretch which bridges the Verdigris River and ties into Tacker Road, a stretch to which Thacker vocalized objections.
“Let me be clear, I’m not against the road itself. I’m against it coming into District 3, as my constituents have expressed to me that they don’t want it,” Thacker said. “Essentially, the (Verdigris) river is the dividing point and anything past the ‘half-way point’ is in District 3 and as such, becomes our responsibility.
“This (project) will involve the taking of land from a family which has been in the area for 100 years, increase traffic on that road, and is quite simply, not a good option for our District,” he said. “People on my side of the river don’t want this and although I work for the county, I’m representing them in this matter.”
Thacker noted that since the Civil Engineering District (CED) approved funding for the project, additional monies had become available through FEMA and as such, requested other alternatives, specifically those which would less infringe upon District 3 to be considered.”
Helm didn’t share Thacker’s opinion, feeling the project was acceptable in its current form, and could not yet be formally funded by FEMA dollars.
“FEMA money can only be used on projects which it designates,” Helm countered. “FEMA never designated the project for the Keetonville Bridge. With regards to our expenses, should money be left over (from FEMA), then it could be considered to go towards other projects but this (Keetonville Road Project) is not one which has not been designated for funding by FEMA.
“This (Keetonville Road Project) is a CED project, not a county project or a FEMA project,” Helm said.
Even so, Helm’s and Thacker’s opinions differed on the appropriateness of the project.
“People in my district, on my side of the river, simply do not want what they feel will be a four-lane highway coming through a dead-end road area,” Thacker said.
“This was a gentlemen’s agreement between us and the CED and if we were to pull it off the table, we would have to go back and look at the realignments again from scratch,” Helm said.
Helm and Thacker continued to discuss and disagree about the project, but no action was ultimately taken.
Located just north of the Port of Catoosa, Keetonville Road connects SH 266 to SH 20, carrying around 2,200 vehicles daily before it began losing ground to the Verdigris River, falling along a lengthy stretch where the river juts west.
About 85 families are affected by the road’s closure, said Helm.
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