SHAWN YORKS/The GDH
This guardrail alongside the Optima Dam Road near Hardesty is the subject of controversy. The Government gave the Corps of Engineers $1.15 million in stimulus money to replace the guardrail, which protects a nearly empty lake. Many consider the project — which has since been put on hold — wasteful, while others say it's a safety issue that must be corrected.

By TRAVIS RUIZ
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Plans for a new guardrail at Lake Optima valued at $1.15 million are being put on hold after much criticism from local and state officials.
Costs for the project was recently appropriated with government stimulus dollars. The new guardrail would be placed at Lake Optima, which is nearly empty and has never reached more than five percent of its designed capacity.
Many local and state officials have voiced their opinion against installing the guardrail. Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.)  sent a joint letter requesting a reason as to why this project should rank higher than other projects around the state that would seemingly be higher on the priority list.  Also, they asked how they could submit a plan to decommission this project in Congress.
"We (Senator Inhofe) believe that the money could be better spent elsewhere," said Jared Young, Communications Director for Senator Inhofe. "We support the decision of the project being put on hold."
Last week, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers decided to put the project on hold after receiving repeated criticism. They are now looking for an alternative way to fix the problem on the road at the Optima Lake dam.
"That guardrail is not safe," said Ross Adkins, Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa, Okla. "If there was a safety test today, that guard rail would not pass."
The Corps of Engineers is currently researching other ways to fix the three mile stretch of guardrail. The Corp explained that if someone was to get in an accident, it could possibly not hold. Possible solutions include reducing the speed limit, posting warning signs, or even closing the road all together. They want to mitigate the risk of someone falling down the side of the over 200 foot dam.
"What's the cost of a life, how do you figure that?" said Adkins. "Something has to be done."
Texas Co. Commissioner Ted Keeling explained that the guardrail had been repaired two years ago after a fire damaged parts of it. The Corps of Engineers went on to confirm that although parts of it may have been repaired, the guardrail is still not up to code.
"One thing that I can't seem to stress enough for people to even understand is that this road is on government property. The government is responsible, and people drive on it everyday. Something has to be done because it is damaged and is not up to par," said Adkins.