Why doesn’t the City stripe the streets? None of the streets on the west side of town are striped.
City Street Department crews routinely mark/stripe City-owned arterial and some collector streets every year, as weather conditions allow. Residential streets are not striped or marked on either the west, east, north or south sides of town.
And knowing there’s a good chance the reference here could be in regards to Adams, Nowata Road, Hensley, or Washington Boulevard, note these are all highways. Portions of Adams (from the overpass west to Highway 123) and Nowata Road (Highway 75 east to the county line) are Highway 60, Hensley is Highway 123, and Washington is Highway 75. All are owned and maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, not the City of Bartlesville.
ODOT is aware of the complaints and has plans to resurface (and, presumably, restripe/mark) the following highways in Bartlesville as part of the organization’s 8-year plan:
Funding: Federal Fiscal Year 2021
State Highway 123 over the Caney River, 1.7 miles north of the SH-123/US-60 junction ($8,480,000)
State Highway 123 over an unnamed creek, 2.9 miles northeast of the US-60/SH-123 junction ($2,181,000)
Funding: FFY 2022
The right of way and utility design ($21,218 each) portions of the US-60 reconstruction from State Highway 123 east 3.71 miles are slated for funding in FFY 2022.
Funding: FFY 2023
U.S. Highway 60 over U.S. Highway 75 ($3,444,400)
Funding: FFY 2025
U.S. Highway 60 from State Highway 123 east 3.71 miles ($16,695,000)
See the full 8-year Plan at www.oklahoma.gov. See ODOT’s website for contact information.
If you would like to report a City-owned street in need of striping or marking, contact the City Engineering Department at 918.338.4251. To speak with someone with ODOT, call 405.522-8000.
Loud vehicles covered under state statute
Is there a noise ordinance in Bartlesville? If not, we need to shut down really loud vehicles to make our city a more pleasant place to live. If there is such an ordinance it is being ignored by our enforcement officers.
There are several noise nuisance ordinances in the Bartlesville Municipal Code, but the law applicable specifically to loud vehicles is found in the Oklahoma State Statutes, Title 47, Chapter 12, Section 12-402:
“A. Every vehicle shall be equipped, maintained, and operated so as to prevent excessive or unusual noise. Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler or other effective noise-suppressing system in good working order and in constant operation, and no person shall use a muffler cut-out, bypass or similar device. No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in any manner which will amplify or increase the noise or sound emitted louder than that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle. B. The engine and power mechanism of every motor vehicle shall be so equipped and adjusted as to prevent the escape of excessive fumes or smoke, or both.”
According to Deputy Chief Rocky Bevard, Bartlesville Police Department officers routinely issue defective equipment citations to motorists when they are observed to be operating such vehicles.
“It is difficult to respond to and apprehend those vehicles reported by citizens because the violators are mobile and often gone upon an officer’s arrival,” Bevard said. “We can, however, focus patrol in certain areas reported to have habitual problems with such issues. These types of complaints can be forwarded to the Police Department, preferably through our administrative number at 918.338.4050, where the appropriate captain can assign personnel to the problem areas and have concentrated patrols conducted for such violations.”
Regarding other noise nuisance laws, City Ordinance 19-334 deals with disturbing the peace with music (which must be heard at least 50 feet from the source), and City Ordinance 12-94 pertains to unusual noises, dogs barking/howling, and profane or threatening language.
Landfill coupon didn’t come. What now?
We received our utility bill Tuesday and the dump permit wasn’t in it. I’ve looked for it each month. Do I need to wait another month?
No need to wait. City utility customers who haven’t received their coupon permitting a free trip to Osage Landfill can come into City Hall and pick up a voucher from a cashier on the first floor or call 918.338.4224 to have one mailed to them.
The coupon is part of the City’s “clean-up program” to help Bartlesville residents dispose of items that are too large or cumbersome for their weekly trash collection. The coupons are mailed with utility bills in February/ March each year. For more information about the program, see www.cityofbartlesville.org.