James C. Nance Memorial Bridge(bridge between Purcell and Lexington) Closed

[Plutonic Panda]

I'll definitely call in and make my voice heard, at least by someone.

[MWCGuy]

It is too bad the river is not a deep enough for a ferry service.

[macfoucin]

Most of the time the river I shallow enough you could walk across it. I heard someone mention the temporary military bridges they used in Iraq would be great in this situation but haven't heard anything further. I'm not familiar with these bridges so don't know...may be worth looking into. It's a pretty difficult situation for a lot of families in Lex and Purcell that commute everyday.

[Just the facts]

This is golden opportunity for Lexington and Purcell, if they would only seize the chance. On the Purcell side they should reroute the bridge approach so that it puts cars on Main St instead of by-passing their business district. On the Lexington side they should remove SR 77 which by-passes their entire business area and restore their street grid. People wonder why these small towns are dying - well here is their answer, they routed everyone around their local economic engines. Finally, they should put a toll on the bridge to encourage businesses to open on both sides of the river. You can already see proof of this concept working because one bank is already opening a branch on the Lexington side temporarily. When is the last time a bank opened in Lexington?

[ou48A]

I spoke with the owner of a lumber yard in Lexington a few days ago....
She said that her business was down by about 75%.
She said that business had increased at a Purcell lumber yard by about 75%
Nobody in that area would want a toll bridge.

[ou48A]

One of the complicating factors and reasons why this bridge is so long is because there are several sets of rail road tracks below the bridge... It makes a temporary bridge and the approaches more costly

[Just the facts]

The person who owns the Lexington store front where the new bank is, is benefiting. So are the 1,000 customers of this bank who live on the Lexington side of the river. If 75% of Person's Lumber business is on the Purcell side of the river then they are obviously located on the wrong side of the river. Besides, a toll doesn't mean people can't cross - it would just mean that people choosing to do so would be the ones paying for it. Add it to the states turnpike system so tax dollars aren't used. I think a 50 cent one-way toll is reasonable (pay going into Purcell). Maybe then the state could afford some of those income tax cuts.

[ljbab728]

People wonder why these small towns are dying - well here is their answer, they routed everyone around their local economic engines.

Really, Kerry? I think the people who live there would be very surprised to hear that their towns are dying.

[Plutonic Panda]

To JTF

Population in 2012: 5,952 (81% urban, 19% rural). Population change since 2000: +6.8%

Read more: Purcell, Oklahoma (OK 73080) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news

Population in 2012: 2,197 (94% urban, 6% rural). Population change since 2000: +5.3%

Read more: Lexington, Oklahoma (OK 73051) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news

Sure is a shame to hear about these dying towns

[ou48A]

To JTF





Sure is a shame to hear about these dying towns

YEP Because the lumber yard owner in Lexington told me that “quite a few new homes have been built” near the Lexington area in recent months....So the most recent statistics may not have a full handle on the local population numbers?.....

[macfoucin]

I can assure you these towns are not dying. Will they always be "small" towns?...probably so, but with I-35 running right beside both towns they won't be going anywhere soon.

[Plutonic Panda]

Not sure about Lexington, but I've heard from multiple people that Purcell and the surrounding area is really on a roll with the local economy booming, so I would only assume the same thing for Lexington. Also have seen a couple articles how the suburbs posted their strongest year for growth in 2013 since 2008.

[ou48A]

Not sure about Lexington, but I've heard from multiple people that Purcell and the surrounding area is really on a roll with the local economy booming, so I would only assume the same thing for Lexington. Also have seen a couple articles how the suburbs posted their strongest year for growth in 2013 since 2008.

Yep.... There is a big oil boom in the SCOOP play just to the west of that area.
Not too many folks in OKC or the out of state crowd really comprehends the significances of this new play to our state.
There is housing shortage in someplace. There are plenty of small towns that are booming in population relative to their size and due to a oil / ng boom. People are living in tents and cars.

The Purcell area has also seen I significant influx of people in the horse industry in the past 20 years... Some of them moved in from California because of how screwed up that state has become.

[Plutonic Panda]

Is Scoop comparable to what is going in the Midland-Odessa area? That would be awesome if so.

[ou48A]

Is Scoop comparable to what is going in the Midland-Odessa area? That would be awesome if so.

Its debatable at this point. CLR indicates that its much larger, some say its not...
The west Texas stuff is a huge deal too.
Right now the Scoop is not as well developed so I don't think anyone can say with any great certainty just how big it is but its fair to say that both are very big plays. They may be consider as giant's in oil field terms....?
If Harold Hamm of CLR is correct with what he thinks about the SCOOP it would easily be the largest oil play in Oklahoma history.
Over time the SCCOP will pump many billions into our states economy.
OU and Norman are well positioned to benefit as well.

[ou48A]

ANALYSIS-Oil drillers in Oklahoma hope to 'SCOOP' competitors

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A handful of energy firms are rushing their rigs to several counties in southern Oklahoma, convinced they've found the next shale play to expand America's oil boom.

While the number of rigs is levelling off in places like the North Dakota Bakken, oil drilling by companies including Continental Resources and Marathon Oil is quickening in what is known as the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, or SCOOP, analysts and officials say.

Continental, known for being one of the first wildcatters to spot the commercial opportunities in the now huge Bakken formation, calls SCOOP a "world class resource," and estimates it could contain 70 billion barrels of oil.

By comparison, Continental estimates North Dakota's Bakken shale oil play contains 24 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Although some experts are waiting for more data before declaring SCOOP a major find, it is creating a quiet buzz amid growing evidence of heightened activity.

"We consider SCOOP one of the top emerging plays in the U.S," said Andrew Byrne, director of energy equity research at IHS in Boston, Massachusetts.

Oil rigs in Oklahoma jumped 17 last week to 155, according to Baker Hughes, the biggest one-week increase in three years. It is nearing the oil rig count in boom state North Dakota, which stands at 168 and is largely unmoved in recent months.

Although the data does not specify whether the rigs are in SCOOP or in one of several other Oklahoma fields, or whether they are drilling traditional vertical wells or shale-related horizontal ones, the focus for many firms is clear.

Continental plans to boost the number of rigs in SCOOP from 12 to 18 this year, and will spend $900 million dollars of its $4 billion budget there, a spokeswoman said.

Marathon did not comment beyond the information provided to analysts last month, and another prominent driller, Newfield Exploration Company, did not respond to requests for comment. Both companies are expected to shed more light on their plans during quarterly earnings in the coming weeks.

A SOUTHERN EXTENSION

SCOOP is helping revive oil production in Oklahoma, one of America's oldest oil patches.

Most shale drilling in the state has yielded natural gas. But oil output has risen by over 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the past two years, reaching a near 25-year high of 323,000 bpd in October, according to U.S. government data. Over a quarter of that is thanks to SCOOP, company data show.

Part of the Woodford Shale formation, SCOOP is a southern extension of the Cana play, a belt several miles wide containing wet gas, according to Rick Andrews, a geologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey at the Oklahoma University.

Continental and Newfield first started exploring SCOOP in 2012, but output only began ramping up last year. Since then, others have joined. Marathon Oil Group expanded its play in Cana south to invest sizeable resources in SCOOP, the company told analysts in a December presentation.

Continental's founder and Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm called SCOOP the company's "stealth play," according to President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Bott.

"We invested and saw some oil results, so we leased large, large, large footprints," said Bott. "We secured the lion's share of the acreage in what we think is this play."

Matt Portillo, managing director of equity and research for Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co, said activity has materially increased in SCOOP in the last six months and that he expects Newfield to double its rig count this year.

BIG, OR NOT?

Early excitement in a shale formation does not necessarily spell success.

Companies flocked to the Collingwood shale in Michigan in 2010 in a giant collective land grab, only for wells to disappoint. The Utica shale in Ohio, initially touted as a major oil find when drilling began in 2011, is now proven to be filled with less lucrative natural gas.

Portillo sees SCOOP maxing out at about 100,000 bpd in 2018, around three times what it pumps now -- versus nearly 1 million bpd from the Bakken or the Eagle Ford in Texas.

"The oil is fairly immaterial in terms of the production numbers," Portillo said of current SCOOP output compared with other plays.

Continental has been outspoken about SCOOP. Its wells produced 20,070 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter 2013, a nearly 300 percent increase year-on-year, according to securities filings.

Moreover, the location of SCOOP, not far from existing pipelines and a major storage hub in Cushing, could eliminate problems experienced in other more remote drilling areas that have relied on trains and barges to bring product to market.

Analysts, meanwhile, maintain that there is potential.

"Geologically it has three hydrocarbon windows similar to the Eagle Ford," said Byrne at IHS in Boston. "That means its got an oil window and an oil content that companies want to target. The actual size of the potential is not defined yet, but it all looks really positive."

[Plutonic Panda]

Its debatable at this point. CLR indicates that its much larger, some say its not...
The west Texas stuff is a huge deal too.
Right now the Scoop is not as well developed so I don't think anyone can say with any great certainty just how big it is but its fair to say that both are very big plays. They may be consider as giant's in oil field terms....?
If Harold Hamm of CLR is correct with what he thinks about the SCOOP it would easily be the largest oil play in Oklahoma history.
Over time the SCCOP will pump many billions into our states economy.
OU and Norman are well positioned to benefit as well.

That is extremely exciting!

[tomokc]

ODOT repairs to this bridge in 2013 caused this year's closure, so says ODOT officials: Oklahoma Transportation Department repairs caused bridge cracks, officials say | News OK

In a Journal Record story today (Deathtrap: Moore tornado debris reveals construction flaws, code violations | The Journal Record), the Briarwood and Plaza Towers elementary schools in Moore were found to have been improperly designed and built, contributing to the deaths and injuries there.

So I post those two stories in this thread with the question: What ever became of competent governmental oversight on public construction projects?

[Just the facts]

okay fine - scrap the toll idea then but both towns could really benefit from having people go through their downtown businesses instead of around them.

[Plutonic Panda]

They need to have two bridges built. A lot of people already go to their downtowns. Why does there have to be a toll to go downtown?

[Just the facts]

They need to have two bridges built. A lot of people already go to their downtowns. Why does there have to be a toll to go downtown?

The toll would encourage people not to cross the bridge, which in turn would result in businesses expanding on both sides of the river to server their customers. Plus, why shouldn't the people in Lexington and Purcell pay for their own bridge? Anyhow, like my previous post, scrap the toll idea if it is too scary.

[macfoucin]

People in Lexington and Purcell shouldn't pay for their own bridge because it's not "their" bridge. It's a state highway (Highway 39). The state messed it up, so the state should pay for it. Adding a toll would be a slap in the face to these communities.

[Just the facts]

So like I said 2 times already - drop the toll idea and just reroute the approaches.

[macfoucin]

Ok cool. I disagree with you on rerouting the Purcell side, not sure about the Lex side. Purcell's Main Street is only a block away and the occupancy rate is pretty well full. Main Street Purcell is very walkable, two lane with center parking. Rerouting a state highway thru here would not improve downtown. Not to mention the Amtrack station at the bottom of the Main Street hill would have to be relocated.

[CaptDave]

ODOT repairs to this bridge in 2013 caused this year's closure, so says ODOT officials: Oklahoma Transportation Department repairs caused bridge cracks, officials say | News OK

In a Journal Record story today (Deathtrap: Moore tornado debris reveals construction flaws, code violations | The Journal Record), the Briarwood and Plaza Towers elementary schools in Moore were found to have been improperly designed and built, contributing to the deaths and injuries there.

So I post those two stories in this thread with the question: What ever became of competent governmental oversight on public construction projects?

Blasphemy!

Don't you know any oversight is a LIBERAL (!!!!!!) plot to come take your guns, close your church, and send you to a FEMA camp. Sheesh.

Or is it simply people are OK with always taking the cheapest option? Cost of everything, value of nothing........