Tulsa Metro Highways | Small projects and construction

[Plutonic Panda]

A general catch all thread for Tulsa area roads and freeways that don't warrant their own thread.

[Plutonic Panda]

From the February 7th commission meeting:

At their Monday, Feb. 7, meeting, members of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a nearly $14 million contract for reconstruction of the US-169 bridges over 76th St. North in Owasso, pictured here. The replacement structures will be built to accommodate planned future widening of the corridor to six lanes.

https://oklahoma.gov/odot/citizen/newsroom/2022/february-commission-meeting-wrap-up--oklahoma-transportation-s-r.html

[bugo]

Not a state highway, but 81st between Sheridan and Memorial is being widened.

[Plutonic Panda]

Not a state highway, but 81st between Sheridan and Memorial is being widened.

I should clarify this can include any road project not just state roads. Just ones small enough to not warrant their own thread.

[bugo]

I haven't been that way in a month or so, but they were working on Memorial at 71st and 81st. It was a mess. I avoid that part of town as much as possible.

[rte66man]

I haven't been that way in a month or so, but they were working on Memorial at 71st and 81st. It was a mess. I avoid that part of town as much as possible.

I hear you. Every time we go to Tulsa, we end up on 71st somewhere between Memorial and Garnett. A flippin'  nightmare.

[Plutonic Panda]

From the February 7th commission meeting:

At their Monday, Feb. 7, meeting, members of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a nearly $14 million contract for reconstruction of the US-169 bridges over 76th St. North in Owasso, pictured here. The replacement structures will be built to accommodate planned future widening of the corridor to six lanes.

https://oklahoma.gov/odot/citizen/newsroom/2022/february-commission-meeting-wrap-up--oklahoma-transportation-s-r.html

Tulsa World article on this project: https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/odot-to-begin-14m-bridge-expansion-along-u-s-169-in-owasso-this-spring/article_9cb69efe-8acd-11ec-88f4-1ba700500888.html

[Plutonic Panda]

New south river bridge being looked at near Jenks at 131st. Bridge would reportedly be tolled which really makes me wonder with the other bridge directly south being free how successful it would be.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/area-governments-to-take-another-look-at-possible-south-tulsa-toll-bridge-over-arkansas-river/article_0f78bd92-90d1-11ec-99af-f7ebec13045b.html

[BigOkie]

I haven't been that way in a month or so, but they were working on Memorial at 71st and 81st. It was a mess. I avoid that part of town as much as possible.

I hear you. Every time we go to Tulsa, we end up on 71st somewhere between Memorial and Garnett. A flippin'  nightmare.

I try and avoid 71st anywhere along it like the plague.  It's nothing but traffic hell all day long.  Over the weekend spent some time with the GF down Memorial south of the Creek and that is even worse.

[BigOkie]

Not a state highway, but 81st between Sheridan and Memorial is being widened.

That section of road has needed that for years.

[Plutonic Panda]

I haven't been that way in a month or so, but they were working on Memorial at 71st and 81st. It was a mess. I avoid that part of town as much as possible.

I hear you. Every time we go to Tulsa, we end up on 71st somewhere between Memorial and Garnett. A flippin'  nightmare.

I try and avoid 71st anywhere along it like the plague.  It's nothing but traffic hell all day long.  Over the weekend spent some time with the GF down Memorial south of the Creek and that is even worse.

This is my experience as well that road needs to be 4 lanes each way.

[Scott5114]

I haven't been that way in a month or so, but they were working on Memorial at 71st and 81st. It was a mess. I avoid that part of town as much as possible.

I hear you. Every time we go to Tulsa, we end up on 71st somewhere between Memorial and Garnett. A flippin'  nightmare.

I try and avoid 71st anywhere along it like the plague.  It's nothing but traffic hell all day long.  Over the weekend spent some time with the GF down Memorial south of the Creek and that is even worse.

This is my experience as well that road needs to be 4 lanes each way.

In my experience, surface arterials with that many lanes just end up being annoying in a different way. With even 3 lanes traffic ends up getting so spread out and staggered that there's no clear break in traffic if you need to make an unsignalized left turn.

[Plutonic Panda]

I like six lane roads because you're less likely to get behind two slowpokes instead of three. They could also install overpasses at some intersections.

[bugo]

Tulsa begins construction on $29M Yale widening project

Yale Avenue is being reconstructed and widened between 71st and 81st in south Tulsa. This is where Yale narrows to 2 lanes and climbs and descends a big hill. The current road has sharp curves and steep grades and poor sight lines, and it's also sliding down the hill. The reconstructed road will be 6 lanes with a median. It will still have curves, but they won't be as sharp. This is the most expensive street project in Tulsa history, with an estimated price tag of $30 million. This 1 mile long stretch of street looks more like the Ozarks than the rest of Tulsa, and sadly, this rural mountain character is going to be destroyed by the new road. But the old road is literally crumbling and they have to reconstruct it, so they might as well make it six lanes. This will connect I-44 and the Saint Francis hospital to the Creek Turnpike with a 6 lane divided street.

[Plutonic Panda]

That's awesome. Props to Tulsa for actually constructing properly built six lane streets unlike OKC. OKC needs to six lane Penn, May, and Western.

[rte66man]

Tulsa begins construction on $29M Yale widening project

Yale Avenue is being reconstructed and widened between 71st and 81st in south Tulsa. This is where Yale narrows to 2 lanes and climbs and descends a big hill. The current road has sharp curves and steep grades and poor sight lines, and it's also sliding down the hill. The reconstructed road will be 6 lanes with a median. It will still have curves, but they won't be as sharp. This is the most expensive street project in Tulsa history, with an estimated price tag of $30 million. This 1 mile long stretch of street looks more like the Ozarks than the rest of Tulsa, and sadly, this rural mountain character is going to be destroyed by the new road. But the old road is literally crumbling and they have to reconstruct it, so they might as well make it six lanes. This will connect I-44 and the Saint Francis hospital to the Creek Turnpike with a 6 lane divided street.

When I was dating my now-wife, she lived in some apartments at 81st and Yale. At that time, Yale was 2 lanes both north and south of the intersection. Some pretty nail-biting times when we had ice and snow.

[bugo]

When I was dating my now-wife, she lived in some apartments at 81st and Yale. At that time, Yale was 2 lanes both north and south of the intersection. Some pretty nail-biting times when we had ice and snow.

That is a pretty steep hill. That whole area is hilly. The downhill grade just south of 61st and Sheridan heading north can be scary, as there is a traffic light at the bottom of a steep hill. There is also a big hill on Harvard between 71st and 81st with curves, similar to the section of Yale that is being discussed.

[Rothman]

Oklahoma is flat.

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma is flat.

Kay.

[Rothman]

Oklahoma is flat.

Kay.

Awww...wook at the widdle bumpies...

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma is flat.

Kay.

Awww...wook at the widdle bumpies...

Ride a bike down 74B and get back to me. It ain't a whole lot of fun.

I feel bad giving the Arbuckle, Wichita, and Quartz Mountains any degree of legitimacy as "mountains"–they're not–but they are at the very least not flat.

And of course, there's the Talimena Drive:


There are plenty of memes you can use about Oklahoma. There are plenty of things that suck about it, and plenty of things to make fun of that any of us who are from here will happily laugh along with. And I'll even agree with you that a good chunk of it west of US-81 (where basically nobody lives) is pretty flat. But the whole state? Unlike the Duchy of Carhorn, that's not even remotely close to true.

[Plutonic Panda]

I mean depending on how you look at it it isn't even in the top 20 flattest states.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-states

[Rothman]

I mean depending on how you look at it it isn't even in the top 20 flattest states.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-states

Funny how that map was made at the University of Kansas.  Someone didn't like Kansas being called flat...

[Plutonic Panda]

I mean depending on how you look at it it isn't even in the top 20 flattest states.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-states

Funny how that map was made at the University of Kansas.  Someone didn't like Kansas being called flat...

Hah I didn't catch that

[skluth]

I mean depending on how you look at it it isn't even in the top 20 flattest states.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-states

Funny how that map was made at the University of Kansas.  Someone didn't like Kansas being called flat...

Hah I didn't catch that

It's not only Kansas that is flatter than Oklahoma by their criteria. It's Missouri (ever hear of the Ozarks), Wisconsin (has both the Canadian Shield and the Driftless Area), Virginia (I guess the western half including the Blue Ridge and Appalachians doesn't count), New York (Adirondacks, Catskills, etc), Pennsylvania (Alleghanies, etc), and California (yea, there's the Central Valley and Mojave, but the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Ranges aren't flat). OTOH, North Dakota and Illinois are among the least flat states by their criteria and both are ungodly flat with just a few hilly areas. The only real terrain in Kansas is the Flint Hills and they aren't all that hilly. That's the problem with garbage criteria. If I ever needed evidence to show garbage in -> garbage out, that might be Exhibit A.