3-04-2023 1:59pm

Recap, video of Broken Arrow street project meeting

John Dobberstein Editor

Source: City of Broken Arrow

City and County officials met one on one with residents at a crowded Vanguard Academy cafeteria on Feb. 28 and discussed street improvement projects in northeast Broken Arrow.

It was the second time in the last 18 months that officials from the City of Broken Arrow and Tulsa County held a forum to gain public input on upcoming street projects.

"This [meeting] is really about you having the opportunity to engage with the engineering and construction team and the city and county officials to discuss projects that are currently under construction or will be under construction," Broken Arrow City Manager Michael Spurgeon said.

Two of the 10 street projects the city discussed at the last community forum are now complete. The completed projects include Phase 1 and 2 of Albany Street, from 23rd Street to 37th Street.

Three of the 10 projects are currently under contract, meaning construction will begin soon.

Those projects include:

Widening 23rd Street from Houston Street (81st St.) to Kenosha Street (71st Street) including the bridge (est. construction starting time May 2023/est. completion expected May 2025).
Widening Albany Street (61st St.) from 9th Street (177th Street) to 23rd Street (193rd E. Ave.) (est. construction start date April 2023/est. completion March 2024).
Widening 37th Street (209th Street) from Houston Street to Kenosha Street (est. construction starting date April 2023/est. completion March 2024)

The widening projects on Albany Street, from 9th Street to 23rd Street, and 23rd Street, from Houston Street to Kenosha Street, are set to begin next month.

"The roadway project in front of the high school will start around April 10, and that will be a challenge," said Travis Small, City of Broken Arrow Transportation Division Manager. "Left turns will not be permitted at the intersection of 23rd Street and Albany Street. We've have had a lot of discussions with the school system about the project's impact, and we're trying to coordinate with them and make sure we can mitigate that as much as possible."

The five other projects are in various stages, and they include the following:

Widening 37th Street from Kenosha Street to Albany Street (est. construction start June 2024 /est. completion June 2025).
Widening 23rd Street from Albany Street to Omaha Street (51st Street) with a bridge (est. construction start Oct. 2025/est. completion Oct. 2026).
Widening 37th Street from Omaha Street to Dearborn Street (41st Street) (est. construction start Feb. 2025/est. completion Feb. 2026)
Widening Houston Street from 9th Street to Old Highway 51(est. construction start April 2025/est. completion May 2026)
Widening 23rd Street from Kenosha Street to Albany Street (est. construction start Nov. 2026/est. construction complete July 2027)

Tulsa County is working on four projects in northeast Broken Arrow. Those projects are also in various stages. They are as follows:

Widening Omaha Street to five lanes, south from 9th Street to 23rd Street with a 2-lane roundabout (est. construction start Dec. 2023/est. completion Dec. 2024).
Widening Omaha Street to five lanes from Elm Place. to 9th Street. (Est. construction start June 2025/est. completion June 2026)
Rockford Street (31st Street) and 23rd Street roundabout (No estimated start/completion time yet)
Dearborn Street (41st Street) and 23rd Street roundabout (No estimated start/completion time yet)

"We have two roundabouts at 31st and 41st and County Line (23rd Street)," Tulsa County Engineer Alex Mills said. “We do not have the money for the right of way acquisition yet. We’re pending some bond sales in our Vision Program. As soon as we get that, we’ll start acquiring right of way."

After obtaining the right of way, Tulsa County will work with the utilities companies to relocate the utilities and then they can begin construction at the intersections.

They also have two projects slated for southwest Broken Arrow. They include:

Widening Garnett Road to five lanes from New Orleans to Washington Street and expanding and raising the intersection nearly six feet (est. construction start Sept. 2023/ est. completion Sept. 2024).
Widening New Orleans Street from Memorial Drive to Garnett Road (est. construction start Jan. 2025/est. complete July 2026).

At 101st Street, west of Garnett Road, Tulsa County is also replacing a large bridge structure just north of Cedar Ridge Country Club.

“We’re widening Garnett Road to five lanes, it’s four lanes once you get south of the turnpike, and we’re expanding, and actually raising, the intersection almost six feet,” Mills said. “This was important to us to make sure this road was elevated out of the flood plain. Anyone that lives in Broken Arrow knows that when it floods, this intersection gets shut down, and so that was part of the delay.”

This project is federally funded and because of that it will be take a year to start construction on the first mile.

The meeting concluded with an invitation for residents to come forward and examine the maps and ask the engineers and city and county officials specific questions.

"We're going to keep having these meetings because as construction starts, we want to make sure you get a chance to come and talk about what is happening with these projects," Spurgeon said.