Connors searching for help building new road

By Liz McMahan

The Connors State College president and several Warner residents spoke to county commissioners about getting help building a new road.

Dr. Donnie Nero, who spoke at Monday’s Muskogee County Board of Commissioners meeting, said there have been numerous accidents at the intersection of Oklahoma 2 and College Road since the highway was widened.

He said the narrow, two-lane College Road, which is the only access and egress road to the school, poses a danger to those using it and is no longer sufficient to handle the amount of traffic on it.

There are more than 650 students, plus 75 employees who use the road every day, along with several local residents and Warner school buses, Nero said. The road also is heavily used for events like basketball games and summer youth camps, he said.

Nero said he is proposing the road be built from just north of the Dollar General Store on Oklahoma 2 to the campus. The college owns the property involved, Nero said. The road would be 1.2 miles long.

He said he has not yet found any state funding available for the project, and he plans to pay for much of it through funds raised from the college’s foundation. Foundation board member Jerry Stretch of Warner has offered to donate the shale that will be needed to build a base, and the Town Board of Trustees has pledged its support of the project.

District 1 Commissioner Gene Wallace said the county can offer some help in areas such as arranging for Connors to purchase materials and other items through their bid list.

However, each commissioner has about 16 employees and 435 miles of road to maintain. About six of each district’s employees is assigned to road grader or truck operation, further reducing the number of people they would have available, Wallace said.

Plus, in case of heavy rain, a severe ice storm or other incidents, the county employees would have to be pulled off the project.

Wallace suggested Nero check into the possibility of getting students in a heavy equipment operation class at Indian Capital Technology Center or perhaps the Oklahoma National Guard’s engineering unit to help with the project.

Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926 or lmcmahan@muskogeephoenix.com.

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