New Orleans Street widening in east Broken Arrow complete

Source: City of Broken Arrow

The improvements project associated with the widening of New Orleans Street (101st St.) between 209th East Avenue and 215th East Avenue by Events Park in east Broken Arrow is complete.

Construction on the $2.3 million dollar project began in mid-September and was paid for with funding from the 2018 General Obligation Bond. The improvements included:

• Widening six blocks of New Orleans Street from two lanes to three lanes

• Dedicated right turn lane into Events Park

• New 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalk on the south side

• New 10-foot-wide concrete trail on the north side

• New curbs and gutters for improved stormwater drainage

• New pedestrian signal crossing

• New roadway surface

"This is an important project for this part of our community that’s seeing a lot of growth,” said Streets and Stormwater Director Rocky Henkel. “These improvements will help alleviate some of the traffic congestion for those attending the growing number of events at Events Park and our state-of-the-art softball facility, Challenger Sports Complex.”

Click on the before and after image to watch a short Broken Arrow in Motion Take 5 video featuring City Manager Michael Spurgeon and Streets and Stormwater Director Rocky Henkel discussing the importance of these improvements.

Wagoner County officials have an improvements project planned for New Orleans Street east of 215th East Avenue. Construction to add a third lane up to 225th East Avenue, a roundabout at 225th East Avenue, and full roadway reconstruction up to 241st East Avenue is expected to begin in the fall of 2023.

During the summer of 2022, the City of Broken Arrow and Wagoner County reached an interlocal agreement regarding shared public infrastructure. Prior to the agreement, the City owned the westbound lane and the County owned the eastbound lane of New Orleans Street from 209th East Avenue to 215th East Avenue. As part of the agreement, the City took ownership of the six blocks of both lanes of New Orleans Street, and the County took ownership of the bridge on County Line Road near 161st East Avenue.

According to Wagoner County officials, construction on the bridge began in early March and is expected to be completed during the summer of 2023.