Broken Arrow Road Expansion Shows City's Growth

The City of Broken Arrow is tackling some growing pains. It is expanding Lynn Lane, one of the city's busiest streets.

18,000 cars drive on Lynn Lane daily, that's one reason the widening project is necessary. Traffic is often at a standstill, and because of that, some local business owners are welcoming the construction, including Jordan Garrett, manager of Riviera Tanning Spa.

"Trying to turn left into the business is almost impossible. You're waiting for about five minutes," Garrett said.

That's why the city is expanding Lynn Lane between the Broken Arrow Expressway and Albany, or 61st Street. The orange barrels will cause bottlenecks for people shopping or even driving to Broken Arrow High School.

"With Target and all those other places over there, it is tough getting in and out," said Broken Arrow resident Terry DeLozier.

Garrett, said he thinks the end result will be worth it, "At the end, yeah, it's going to be worth it cause traffic is going to flow a lot easier."

A few years ago Lynn Lane was expanded to three lanes; the city has now outgrown that, so it wants to widen the street to five lanes.

Chamber of Commerce CEO, Wes Smithwick, said roughly one-third of Broken Arrow's population lives within a two mile radius of the area.

"The growth finally hit a point last year that caused congestion in the evening hours particularly heading north." Smithwick said.

He called the area the epicenter of the city's northern economic development. A brand new shopping center is in the works, which will have a Sprouts and other stores and restaurants. The project will also connect Hillside Drive to the Bass Pro Shop.

"It says we're a city where people want to live. We're a city where people want to shop and come and do things," Smithwick said.

He said the road work will not only ease traffic flow for residents, but he hopes it will continue to encourage Tulsans to shop in Broken Arrow.

"What we're also finding is people all around the metro area enjoy coming out here to shop, so we're trying to create an environment, and make sure the traffic flows nicely, where people can get in and get out," Smithwick said.

During the construction Broken Arrow Police say they will strictly enforce the 25 miles per hour speed limit. So be sure you take it slow if you're driving through this area.