TRAVELER APRIL 1-Commissioners are also expected to approve a joint meeting with the County Commission to discuss a plan by a local casino to rebuild county roads to bypass Arkansas City.
Get real.....these people are not trying to sabatoge Arkcity........
City commissioners object to the road, feeling it would lead people around the city instead of taking them on existing roads through the city. People who are passing through are at least potential shoppers.
If the casinos were not there NO ONE would be coming through like they do now.
The casino has offered to pay for improvements to the roads, which is an idea county commissioners have said they like.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 8 at the County Commission chambers.
The proposed roadway would benefit the one casino, Commissioner Patrick McDonald said. It would also bypass the casinos that are closer to Arkansas City.
So why would it matter to the city if this road bypasses the other casinos? Would love to hear the explaination....Or are you just saying you want to have control over the situation?
Arkansas City would still be supplying fire and ambulance service to the area, so city officials are opposed to the idea.
So if AC does supply the casino with fire and ambulance service...are they not going to be paid well for this service? If so then what is the big deal??
"It's not just the traffic. It is traffic that is more suspect," Commissioner Joel Hockenbury said. He added that drivers who have had too much to drink might take that road to avoid having to come through Arkansas City.
So your plan is to route these drivers through the city?????What kind of rational thinking is that? Unless there will maybe be revenue for the city having drunk shoppers or DUI's. If they don't pave the road...the gamblers will still come, they will just be using the county road they have always been using....only it will be crappy, narrow, and we will have to do the maintenence on it ourselves.........Let them pave the darn road...without them absolutely no one would be coming through this area unless they were on the road to somewhere else....
"They need to understand why are concerns are important," he said.
I think we all know why your concerns are important to you....
At the work session Monday, they also discussed asking the casinos south of Arkansas City to help with the highway between the state line and Newkirk.
WE SHOULD SUPPORT AREA BUSINESS, WHY WOULD WE CARE IF THEY WANT TO BUID A ROAD, IF THEY ARE DRUNKARDS GOING TO THE CASINO I WOULD WANT THEM AS FAR AWAY FROM MY CITY AS WE CAN GET THEM. On a lighter side i think it is great that the casino isnt asking fior a tax abatement and is actualy footing some of the bill for progress,,, Lets support this chance for the county folks to get some upgrades
There are quite a few factors here that the paper completely overlooked.
Yes it would be nice if all the traffic were funnelled downtown to increase business, but I don't think it is at all necessary. I'm sure any that are interested will take the shorter, more convenient route through town on 166 to 77.
One casino (which won't be on 77) is willing to pay a large sum of money to make sure traffic goes along county roads to make sure people see this their casino first. The road will be widened and perhaps add shoulders.
At first glance it is nice that an Oklahoma casino would pay for our roads, with possibly some maintenance money to help. But these roads will not be the thicker asphalt of a highway. These roads will not be sturdy enough to handle the traffic that will be put upon it (more cars, and probably busses). These roads will have three 90 degree turns, not sure about stop signs. There will be a lot of upkeep required to maintain these roads, and I am sure there will a large increase in emergency services. There will also be major delays when the farmers in that area have to move their equipment, and probably more danger.
The taxpayers of Arkansas City pay approximately 1/3 of the county taxes. Anything over what the Casino pays for this project will come out of our pockets. The county pays by contract for the emergency services, and that would probably have to be renegotiated. If this goes up, the taxpayers of Ark City pay 1/3 of that too. The city may have to add more people and equipment to adjust for it. If other services are required for the road after a time (lighting, drainage, additional maintenance, etc...) the county will have to pay the bill, and yes, that means 1/3 of whatever costs will come from the taxpayers of Ark City.
There is no positive to this except possibly to this one particular Casino. The county and the people of Ark City come out the losers. Every which way.
WOW talk about holding up progress, you sound like a 60 year old concervative,, come on Patrick give us a break your just hopeing you might sell another book... And the someone outside the city might make a dollar, i was planing on opening a Strip bar out in the country,, looks like i might need to start looking in city limits
Truth be known, most of the people enroute to the casinos from the interstate already use the old county road...so we will have to foot the bill anyway...drive out there in the area any time of the evening or night and watch the traffic turn off on that county road...most of them are going over to the interstate to go back to Wichita. We are going to foot the bill anyway...only the road won't be as safe if not improved or widened. And if the county is going to have to foot the bill on all of these costs...why do the county commissioners like the idea of the casino paving this road? Did I misunderstand that it was AC Commissioners that had a problem with it, not the county commissioners?
Why does it matter to AC Commissioners who's casino gets noticed first? Shouldn't be an issue to them....it is all business...and none of AC's for sure who gets noticed first. Sure we already do have a bypass but it is not used by some of the ones taking the South Haven exit...they will use the county road...and do....ALOT!
I guess if the price for services rendered are needed then AC should sock it to em with that....like they did the rural people not so long ago...make them pay for the services needed....more revenue.....Funny how taxes only become an issue when they want things to go their own way!
I think the casinos should be allowed to upgrade the old road. I also think there should be a stipulation that the new road have an extra wide shoulder, so the deputies will have more room to pull over all the drunk drivers.
I drove out on the county road to take a look and see what was being talked about. The road does need improvement. Has anyone sat out there and do a car count now to see how busy it is, I saw at least 4 cars in the area in 15 minutes on a saturday about noon. I also wonder, are they also going to improve the 1.3 mile back east to Hwy 77 for Oklahoma patrons? All I read is the improvement going west, north, and west again. If the road is already busy and casino not built yet, common sense says it will increase alot when a casino does open. I also thought there was going to be a west by pass of Ark. City in the future, Will that affect the improved county road, or will they even come close to each other.? Just simple questions mixed probably with rumors, I really don't know but is something to think about.
