By Bailey Coyle, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA COUNTY, Okla. — Drivers traveling between Tulsa and Broken Arrow will need to find a new route after the intersection of 101st Street and Garnett Road closed Monday for a major construction project expected to last up to six months.
Tulsa County is rebuilding the intersection as part of a $12 million hazard mitigation and infrastructure project designed to reduce flooding and improve traffic flow along one of the area’s busiest corridors.
“This is a hazard mitigation project, but also very much an infrastructure project,” Tulsa County District 3 Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley said. “It builds a road that allows people to travel through 101st and Garnett without the threat of flooding, or at least a greatly reduced threat of flooding.”
The project is funded in part by a nearly $9 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with county officials saying the project has been in the works for more than a decade.
Why the intersection is closing?
County officials say the intersection sits within the Haikey Creek floodway and frequently becomes impassable during heavy rain.
To address that problem, crews will raise the intersection approximately 5.5 feet and completely reconstruct the roadway.
“We have to do a significant change in the landscape,” Dunkerley said. “There’s really no way to work on an intersection project like this without closing it.”
Officials say the intersection floods several times a year, creating hazardous driving conditions and forcing repeated road closures.
What improvements are coming?
The project extends beyond the intersection itself.
Garnett Road will be widened between 91st and 101st streets. The roadway will feature five lanes south of 91st Street before narrowing to four lanes approaching the intersection, with dedicated left- and right-turn lanes added to improve traffic flow.
County leaders say the upgrades are intended to make the corridor safer while reducing congestion for the thousands of drivers who use the route each day.
Why a full closure was necessary?
Dunkerley acknowledged the construction will inconvenience commuters but said a complete closure was the safest and most efficient option.
He said keeping traffic moving through the work zone would increase construction time, raise costs, and create additional safety concerns for both workers and drivers.
“The fastest we can do it, the cheaper it’ll be, and we’ll stay on budget,” Dunkerley said. “It’s also the safest way to get it done.”
Officials expect the intersection portion of the project to take between three and six months before traffic can return.
What drivers should know…
Drivers will need to avoid the intersection and use alternate routes, including 91st Street or 111th Street to travel east and west and nearby north-south roads such as Mingo Road or Olive Avenue (129th East Avenue).
Dunkerley said thousands of drivers use the intersection daily and encouraged commuters to plan ahead and expect longer travel times while construction continues.
“It’s just going to be a way of life for the next six months,” he said.
County officials say once construction is complete, drivers can expect a smoother, safer intersection that is better equipped to handle both heavy traffic and heavy rainfall. They also say this project is part of a larger effort to improve the surrounding roadway network, with additional improvements planned along 101st Street in the future.
