Emergency Order Issued To Replace Waterline At 21st And Peoria

Tulsa City workers are repairing water main breaks triggered by the extreme cold.

1/17/2017 Related Story: Tulsa Intersection Remains Closed After Water Main Break

A new leak popped up Wednesday near 21st and Peoria, and the city is responding with a big fix.

The city plans to dig up 300 feet of street and water line to hopefully fix it for good.

It's been in the plans but now it's being bumped up to emergency status.

The City repaired the big break and buried the line, but soon discovered another crack nearby.

The water was flowing from the line they had just buried.

The good news is the overall damage is less than it appeared when water gushed from under broken slabs of asphalt.

“Although it was buckled up yesterday and looked really bad, when we got in there, we found it was an overlay and had a solid base, so we hope to get in there and repair it and get part of it opened back up,” said Eric Parker with the City of Tulsa. 

That means part of the road can be repaired and possibly reopened as the City undertakes a much bigger project.

The City plans to issue an emergency contract to dig up and replace 300 feet of the water line extending through the intersection and connecting a new pipe by Woodward Park.

“And we're doing it with that intersection the way it is. Because we have to get in there and make some repairs, so this is just the perfect opportunity to jump in there and do it,” said Parker. 

Though the damage goes across all four lanes, the city hopes to quickly fix the 2 lanes on the North side to allow some traffic to get through.

The water line replacement and street rebuilding work will keep the intersection blocked; the current estimate is two weeks.
The cost is still an unknown.

"This is what happens in December and January and February, so we budget for this stuff," Parker said. 

The city of Tulsa released this statement regarding the water line replacement: