The City of Tulsa announced the temporary closing of Riverside Drive near the construction of Phase I of Tulsa’s new world-class park.
The closure will take effect on Monday, July 13 and stretch from 24th St. to 41st St. and reopen in conjunction with the opening of A Gathering Place for Tulsa. The closures will be clearly marked and alternate routes will be provided for commuters.
“We have prepared for this project and planned for traffic management on alternative routes for two years,” said Paul Zachary, City of Tulsa Director of Engineering Services. “Our engineers have studied various traffic scenarios and volume to anticipate issues impacting traffic flow and congestion. There will be issues we could not anticipate and we ask for patience from our citizens as we work to address them and maximize flow and address any issues that arise.”
Zachary said engineers reviewed partial and intermittent closures of Riverside Drive and the trails, but found that full closure is the best way to ensure safety of pedestrians and drivers while allowing construction operations to work as efficiently as possible. Alternate routes to downtown include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Southeast Tulsa: Highway 169 to the Broken Arrow Expressway or 244 to downtown
- South Central Tulsa: Harvard or Lewis to 15th St., the Broken Arrow Expressway or 11th St. to downtown. Also, I-44 to Highway 75 to downtown.
- Southwest Tulsa: Creek Turnpike to Highway 75 to downtown
- Midtown: Peoria, Lewis or Harvard to I-44, Broken Arrow Expressway, 15th or 11th streets to downtown
The Riverside Drive closure will extend through the duration of the construction of the park, which is expected to be completed in late 2017.
“While we understand the inconveniences the closure will cause some commuters, we are grateful for the partnership with the City of Tulsa for making the process as seamless as possible, and helping identify multiple alternate routes,” said Jeff Stava, executive director of Tulsa’s Gathering Place. “We recognize that this phase of the construction process will require community-wide support and patience, and we greatly appreciate the cooperation of all Tulsans during the development of this transformational park for our city.”
With construction well underway for the $350 million project, the closure of Riverside Drive will allow large equipment to maneuver safely during the major construction phase, and increase ease of access to the site allowing work to be completed as quickly as possible.
In addition to road improvements, the temporary closure of Riverside Drive will allow for construction of the Land Bridges, the Pedestrian Bridge over Riverside Drive and underground utilities.