TULSA, Okla. — Last year, FOX23 told you about dangerous conditions on bridges at Tulsa’s Mohawk Park.
Two golfers who frequent the course pleaded with the City of Tulsa for months to make much-needed improvements to keep people safe.
“There comes a point when someone has to standup and say, hey wait a minute, this isn’t right,” said Larry Huey.
Huey and his friend, Rod Garrett, were fed up after fighting to get crumbling bridges fixed at the park. Bridges were missing boards, holes, and some pieces of wood were rotten.
After sending dozens of e-mails and making phone calls to the Parks and Recreations Department and City of Tulsa, Huey and Garrett decided to call FOX23.
When FOX23 began airing stories about the issue, FOX23 talked to Anna America from the city’s Parks and Recreations department.
America said she knew about the conditions but didn’t have the money to make repairs.
“Funding, it’s always going to be funding,” said America during an interview.
Several months later, the city spent $6,500 on materials to fix two bridges. Workers put in new wooden planks and removed broken, rotten ones.
Tulsa County did the repairs for free.
Huey and Garrett were thrilled about the changes but admitted that the work isn’t done just yet. “This project is only 50% finished,” said Garrett.
There were still two bridges, called low-water crossings, that need to be replaced. However, America said it would cost about $1,000,000 to replace just one of the bridges.
“We didn’t want them to spend a million dollars,” said Huey. “We wanted them to be safe.”
America later said that she came up with a cheaper option and would use FEMA money. It would cost $29,000 to repair both bridges.
FOX23 went back to check, and one year after our first FOX23 Investigation, workers have poured concrete, and railings are standing straight. “Everything is safe, and that’s all that we were really after,” said Huey.
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