Tulsa County is getting $8 million in federal money to rebuild Garnett Road to help prevent flooding.
The project will rebuild about a mile of the road between 91st and 101st streets and raise the 101st Street intersection by several feet.
Residents and business owners in the area say the upgrades can’t come fast enough.
Neighbors say flooding is a persistent problem
Snow is still on the ground near 101st and Garnett, and one nearby family is taking full advantage.
“We just drove by and thought, oh, this might be a good hill. And so we came out, and we’ve literally come every day now,” said Kristin Struck, who lives nearby.
But Struck says the weather isn’t always this fun. She says flooding is an issue every year.
“There definitely is a lot of puddling on the side. We have had to avoid this road a few times,” Struck said.
FEMA grant to fund long-delayed project
Tulsa County requested the $8 million in FEMA funding to rebuild the road from 91st to 101st streets.
Tulsa County says the FEMA grant was supported by several regional leaders and partners, including U.S. Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, the cities of Broken Arrow, Tulsa and Bixby, the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, Saint Francis Health System and the William K. Warren Foundation.
“This project has been in the works for years, and really, there’s been a lag in the funding,” said Tulsa County District 3 Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley. “But with creative solutions from our highway department, we’re working on a grant through FEMA, which is a hazard mitigation grant to mitigate the flooding in this area.”
Intersection improvements planned at 101st and Garnett
The county also plans to raise the intersection at 101st Street in hopes of mitigating traffic backups, which Struck and other nearby residents regularly deal with.
“It’ll have turn lanes. Much, much greater capacity to let traffic through and go in all different directions,” Dunkerley said. “So it’s going to be a little bit different, but it’s going to be a major upgrade to the intersection.”
Construction will close the intersection for about nine months once it begins.
“But the payoff will be worth it because traffic has been backed up for years in this area,” Dunkerley said.
Looking ahead
Struck says she’s not picky about the changes, as long as one thing improves.
“Just less flooding. I mean, that would be awesome,” she said.
Tulsa County says it plans to start accepting bids on the project immediately, with construction expected to begin in the spring.
After this project, the county will partner with Tulsa and Bixby to upgrade two miles of 101st Street from Garnett to Memorial.
This article was originally published by News on 6. You can see the original story here.