We all know that Oklahoma City has some of the worst roads in the nation. Hell, all it takes is crossing the border in Texas or one of our other bordering states, and instantly the ride turns from bumpy to cozy.
There is absolutely no surprise when a massive pothole pops up on our city streets. We learn to deal with them like seeing that same turtle shell on the Mario Kart course. What's more frustrating to me is when those potholes appear in areas that are very-much-not-Oklahoma-City-but-technically-still.
Enter the King Hell Newalla Pothole:
A major pothole was causing frustrations for many drivers on Harrah Road between Southeast 74th and 59th near Newalla.
“We’re going to call it the Harrah Road monster, just be careful, it is dangerous,” Aryn Whitmoyer said.
Whitmoyer says she takes the road to work everyday, and the pothole damaged her tire.
“The pothole is at least I’d say four feet long, I don’t know what the depth is, and three to four feet wide, it’s ridiculous,” she said.
She says at least a dozen people had their tires blown out because of it...
News 4 was able to track down the public works director of Oklahoma City after a few phone calls. He says he didn’t know about the problem, but quickly sent out a crew to evaluate the problem and put up a barricade. He says repairs are expected to start next week.
This is awful for everyone, but can we all step back and realize how insane it is that Oklahoma City is in charge of fixing roads that are basically in Newalla? The road is even named Harrah, which is just as far the hell out into the boonies.
I'm not throwing shade on these areas. I grew up in Midwest City, so I had a lot of friends who either transferred to the school I attended, or I met them otherwise because of proximity. So many of their families lived in areas like Choctaw, sent their kids to Mid-Del schools, and Oklahoma City took care of their utilities, because they technically lived in OKC even though it was a 45 minute drive with no traffic into the heart of the city. Make sense?
Oklahoma City has a larger land mass than any other city in the continental United States except for ones in Montana, Alaska or Florida, and considering the size of our population, it's nuts. I don't know what it would take for city leaders to be able to annex off land to the neighboring communities – maybe a Land Run? – but it would make a lot of sense for everyone involved. If you live in what is essentially Harrah, you'd be better of if your own elected leadership could take care of potholes. If you live in OKC, you'd be better off to not have your tax dollars strewn away to these far-flung areas.
