If you are seeing orange barrels more than your loved ones, it’s likely you’re a daily commuter in Tulsa.
The “spring bloom” of construction season is upon us, said Paul Zachary, Tulsa’s director of engineering.
“We hit the 40 degrees, 50 degrees and rising that we need for asphalted concrete — that’s when those projects are going to get going,” Zachary said.
In midtown, there are projects on several of the city’s arterial streets. In south Tulsa, a road rehabilitation and waterline reconstruction project on East 91st Street from South Harvard to South Yale started Monday. In west Tulsa, North Gilcrease Museum Road between West Edison and West Pine Street has been closed since November.
That’s not including construction projects on the city’s highways, such as “Tulsa’s Stonehenge” at the I-44/Highway 75 interchange or the Highway 75 project near Jenks.
The Flyer requested a comprehensive list of city road projects March 27 but received an incomplete version. Despite notifying the city of omissions in follow-up requests, we received no further response before publishing this story.
‘We know that it will definitely hurt our foot traffic a little bit’
A road project on South Harvard between East 21st Street and East 31st Street created a traffic snarl and a drop in sales for Trencher’s Delicatessen at 2602 S. Harvard Ave., according to Tim Slavin, the deli’s general manager.
“It’s definitely made it difficult for people to get over here,” Slavin said. “We’re a little bit fortunate in that we’re right off of the highway exit, so we do have a little bit easier access than a lot of the other businesses right off that highway exit or through the neighborhood.”
Slavin said the city notified the restaurant a few months ahead of the project starting and estimated it would take about a year to finish.
“We know that it will definitely hurt our foot traffic a little bit, especially people seeing us and pulling over off the street,” Slavin said. “We’ve been doing a lot of things on our end to strategize our online and delivery business. We were preparing to kind of make a pivot … because of the changes that were coming, but also just for growth in our business.”
‘Spring bloom of orange cones’
The city completes around $100 million worth of road construction projects each year, Zachary said. However, in addition to the usual “spring bloom,” he noted the city is now in the final years of the Improve Our Tulsa 2 and 3 packages.
IOT2 and IOT3 were voter-approved capital improvement packages in 2019 and 2023. Many of those projects are in the final stages of design or just beginning construction. Years one through four are motley focused on design, Zachary said.
“If we’re in a seven-year program (like IOT2) — you bet you are seeing a lot of orange barrels,” Zachary said. “But, I will tell you that we always have what we call the spring bloom of orange cones.”
To that end, IOT1 and 2 — passed in 2013 and 2019, respectively — represent the largest-ever investments into the city’s streets, among other improvements. According to the city’s website, IOT1 included $355 million in general obligation bonds and an additional $270 million from an extension of the third penny sales tax for street and bridge improvements.
IOT2 included $427 million for streets and transportation systems, while IOT3 marked $295.8 million for streets and transportation and $93.8 million to fill inflation gaps for projects already approved in the first two phases of Improve Our Tulsa.
An additional $30 million in federal grants filled funding gaps caused by inflation, Zachary said. He said the city will receive the last of the federal funds in 2029.
“We just had to spread that out so that we can finish the jobs and do the jobs as they were voted on, as they were promised,” Zachary said. “And I can tell you, I’ve been doing this now for 31 years at the city with our Sales Tax Overview committee … there hasn’t been one city project that we have not finished on full scope — and we pride ourselves on that.”
He encouraged motorists and businesses to call 311 at the City of Tulsa if they believe adjustments need to be made at street construction sites to allow for better traffic flow.
“We just call (citizens) our roadside inspectors out there,” Zachary said. “It’s like they see things that our designers didn’t, or we’re just not familiar with the traffic flow path in that specific area.”
Projects currently under construction, according to City of Tulsa:
- Bridge Rehabilitation – Bridge No. 204, Mingo Road, 31st St.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation & Waterline Replacement – Harvard Ave., 41st St. S. to 51st St. S. to 41st St.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – 49th W. Ave., Charles Page Blvd. to Edison St.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – 36th St. N. (Bridge No. 275 and Approaches)
- Street Rehabilitation & Waterline Replacement – E. 11th St., S. Lewis Ave. to S. Harvard Ave.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – E. 15th St., S. Lewis Ave. to S. Harvard Ave.
- Maintenance Zones 155, 3075 & 4023
- Street Rehabilitation & Waterline Replacement – Utica Ave., Pine St. to Admiral Blvd.
- Arterial Bridge Rehabilitation – Bridge 232A over Berryhill
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation & Waterline Replacement – E. Admiral Pl., Lewis Ave. to N. Harvard Ave. (Includes Intersection)
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – E. Pine St., N. Harvard Ave. to N. Yale Ave.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – 31st St., Yale Ave. to Sheridan Rd.
- Arterial Street Reconstruction – E. 4th St., S. Detroit Ave. to S. Lansing Ave.
- Street Rehabilitation & Reconstruction – 91st St. S., Yale Ave. to Harvard Ave.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – 129th E. Ave., Apache St. to Pine St.
Independent Consultant has Inspected Project, Awaiting Approval &/or Final Payment:
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – Apache St., Peoria Ave. to Lewis Ave. (Bridge 343)
- Street Rehabilitation – Sheridan Rd., 91st St. to 101st St.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – N. Lewis Ave., Apache St. to 36th St. N.
- Arterial Street Widening – E. 91st St. S., S. Memorial Dr. to S. Mingo Rd.
- Arterial Street Reconstruction – Gilcrease Museum Rd., W. Admiral Blvd. to W. Pine St.
- Street Rehabilitation – 21st St., Yale Ave. to Sheridan Rd.
Project Substantially Complete, Working on Punchlist Items:
- Street Rehabilitation – 51st St., Mingo Rd. to Garnett Rd.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation – S. Peoria Ave., I-44 to E. 41st St. S.
- Arterial Street Rehabilitation & Waterline Replacement – SW Blvd., W. 23rd St. to W. 40th St.
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