News
Gilcrease Expressway Public Meeting
ARCHIVED PRESS RELEASE: Published 1-11-2010
Tulsa area residents are invited to a public meeting on
Wednesday, Jan. 13, about the Gilcrease West Expressway. The
meeting will be held at the new Tulsa County Chandler Park
Community Building, 62nd West Avenue and 21st Street (Avery Drive).
Registration for the meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m., and the
presentation will begin at 5:45 p.m.
"The Gilcrease Expressway is an important and required priority
for regional economic development in Tulsa, surrounding cities and
Tulsa County," said Mayor Dewey Bartlett. "We're going to get it
done."
The Gilcrease loop first appeared on Tulsa metropolitan area
expressway system maps in 1961 - beginning at I-244 near Tulsa
International Airport and looping around the north and western
parts of the city to I-44 in southwest Tulsa. Initial segments were
linked with Highway 75 in north Tulsa by the early 1990s. The
roadway was extended to the Tisdale Parkway a year ago. Contracts
are in the execution phase to continue the road westward to 41st
West Avenue near the Post Oak Lodge and Tulsa Botanical
Gardens.
From the south, a critical link was constructed from I-44 to
41st Street in the 1980s. However, a six-mile gap remains -
including a crossing of the Arkansas River at 57th West Avenue and
interchanges with the Sand Springs Expressway, Charles Page
Boulevard, 21st Street and other major roadways.
The project is eligible for federal highway funding, and
environmental work has been done. Also, significant parts of the
right-of-way have been acquired. However, the major expenses lie in
bridging the river and connecting with the expressway. The
estimated cost of the bridge connecting West 21st Street and
Charles Page Boulevard is $80 million.
District 2 Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith said, "It is
... important to remember that public safety will be significantly
enhanced with additional access across the Arkansas River."
Sand Springs City Manager Douglas Enevoldsen said, "The
Gilcrease is the missing link in Tulsa's and Sand Springs' overall
regional transportation plan."
# # #
