Tulsa District 8 City Councilor Phil Lakin told NewsChannel 8 he's excited about the promise of traffic congestion relief that a $13 million interchange project on Memorial brings with it.
Oklahoma's Department of Transportation told NewsChannel 8 the project is expected to improve the U.S. 169 and Creek Turnpike interchange, by constructing the first-ever diverging diamond interchange in eastern Oklahoma.
"A diverging diamond interchange is a newer kind of intersection," said ODOT spokesperson TJ Gerlach.
Gerlach said once the project is complete, signs, signals, and road markings will take drivers to the opposite side of the road.
“When somebody’s getting on they’ll move over to the left side and then they’ll just be able to make a simple left-hand turn onto the ramp," said Gerlach, "Likewise when they’re coming off it’s just an easy turn right into traffic that’s already flowing with them.”
Gerlach said these changes are in hopes of creating a safer interchange with fewer collision points and allowing for turns onto the highway without using any sort of turning signal through dedicated ramps.
Oklahoma's first diverging diamond interchange was opened in September 2020 in Elk City. Gerlach said he did not have traffic reports detailing an unusual amount of accidents caused by the addition there.
NewsChannel 8 reached out to Elk City leaders to check on those numbers, but as of Monday had not heard back.
"We do expect a little bit of a learning curve [for drivers], maybe a week or maybe two weeks," said Gerlach of the potential problems for drivers.
Tulsa City Councilor Phil Lakin told NewsChannel 8 that a big project like the diverging diamond interchange was long overdue for the area.
He said he had heard a number of complaints from residents in his district about how rough the traffic was and that this could be the solution those residents desperately need.
"Memorial has been a traffic problem for 20 years," said Lakin. "Even way before I was a councilor people had, just gripes about the traffic congestion on Memorial.”
Lakin told NewsChannel 8 the area sees about 50,000 cars passing through every day, and that the growing number is more than likely linked to the growth in that area over the past several years.
“There’s been so much business development and residential growth in this part of town," said Lakin. "We’ll just continue to see it too as Bixby grows and as parts south of Bixby grow."
North and southbound Memorial Drive will maintain two lanes in each direction between 93rd St. and 97th St. throughout the majority of the project, except for a brief period when northbound traffic will be narrowed to one lane under the US-169 bridge.
Gerlach said he was unsure when in the timeline that narrowing was expected to take place, but would share updates when he had them.
No ramp closures are expected for either U.S. 169 or the Creek Turnpike during construction.
Work is expected to wrap next spring.