Gilcrease Extension Begins

By Local Report    
Wednesday, 08 November 2006
Mayor Kathy Taylor and O.D.O.T. officials officially broke ground today on Phase Five of construction for the North Leg of the Gilcrease Expressway.

Gary Ridley, ODOT Director, and Charles Hardt, City of Tulsa Public Works Director, assisted Mayor Taylor in the ceremony, as well as Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Phil Tomlinson and Guy Berry, ODOT Division 8 Commissioner.

“This section of the Gilcrease Expressway will be a great new addition to the City’s overall transportation infrastructure and particularly of benefit to economic development in north Tulsa,” Mayor Kathy Taylor said. “I am glad to be part of this cooperative effort with ODOT.”

This phase of construction for the Expressway involves work between N. Lewis Ave.and the Tisdale Parkway, at about 3200 block north. Work is expected to take about a year and a half and includes building seven bridges and preparing the 2.2 mile stretch of four-lane road for paving. The project also calls for building a trail from Dirty Butter Creek west to the Tisdale.

According to Henry SomdeCerff, City of Tulsa engineer, total cost of this north leg from Lewis to the Tisdale is about $56 million dollars. Total expenditures for this extension are now estimated at $56 million with $30 million coming from federal funds, $15 million from State CIP funds, and $11 million coming from Third Penny Sales Tax Extensions in 1991, 1996 and 2001, as well as the 2005 Bond Issue.

Phase Six of the projects include paving the prepared roadbed, including an interchange with Peoria Avenueand a signalized intersection with the Tisdale Parkway. Phase Seven includes planting and landscape work from U.S. 75 to the
Tisdale Parkway.

The Gilcrease is the final project to stem from the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Transportation Plan, circa. 1960s, which outlined the city’s transportation needs and projected growth through 1985.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 November 2006 )