Road improvements in Cowley County ? associated with a new casino project in Oklahoma ? would be completed in phases if the project is approved, Jeff Lieb, roads director for the Ponca Tribe, said Monday.
The tribe initially plans to spend roughly $1 million to pave about 1.6 miles of State Line Road west from U.S. 77 and one mile of 41st Road north from State Line to Cowley 22. Additional phases of the project, including plans to widen and resurface Cowley 10 and 22 southwest of Ark City, would be done later, Lieb said.
Tribal officials have asked Cowley County and Bolton Township to consider approving the project because it would provide a faster route to the planned $60 million Ponca Fancy Dance Casino, which will set just south of the state line.
Lieb met with county commissioners, and residents in the area where the work will be done, at a regularly-scheduled meeting in Winfield Tuesday. He said an engineering plan for the project is in the hands of tribe leaders and should be submitted to Cowley County officials soon.
Commissioners will review the plan before making a final decision and would have to approve of the project being done in phases.
Lieb’s comments are the first public indication that the work would be divided into stages. The Ponca Tribe’s longterm plan is to improve more than eight miles of rural Cowley County roads at potential cost of $3 million or more.
No time frame was given for finishing the entire project and Lieb did not say specifically how much money was available for improvements beyond the announced $1 million.
The sections of road being paved are dirt – and gravel-surfaced roads that are the most in need of fixing. They would connect with Cowley 22 and Cowley 10 to create a hard-surfaced connection between U.S. 166 west of Ark City and U.S. 77.
Cowley 22 and 10 are asphalt but need widened and improved to handle increased traffic, county officials have said. The improved route is meant to provide easier traveling for casino visitors coming from the north, especially Wichita.
Arkansas City officials and land owners in the area are concerned about the route becoming a mini-bypass around downtown. Ark City officials have voiced concern about potentially lost retail revenue and farmers in the area say increased traffic will make the roads harder to use for agricultural purposes.
Joe Smith, a Cowley County farmer who lives along a road targeted for improvement, said county commissioners must make sure the roadways remain safe.
“I encourage the commission to force this traffic onto state and federal highways,” he said. “Or at least get the roads widened enough for farm equipment” and vehicle traffic.
Smith and others who have issues with the tribe’s proposal admit that traffic is already up but worry better roads mean even more traffic.
County Engineer Dale Steward told the commission that a recent traffic count showed that 750 cars already used the route on weekdays. That number jumped to 1,500 on the weekend.
Cowley County officials are more likely to want the project done all at one time and not in phases, manager Leroy Alsup said Wednesday. He said he’d like to find out more about why the Ponca Tribe wants to divide the project into parts.
“Is it a financial concern or are they offering this as a compromise to a bigger road project,” he said rhetorically. “I think we’d like to see the project done at one time, so that 10 years from now you don’t have a couple roads that were never improved and in bad shape.”
