Homes Being Moved To Accommodate I-44 Widening Project

Two homes will be on the move Tuesday, out of Tulsa, out of the path of the I-44 widening project. It's the start of a big job to clear out houses and businesses that are right along the highway.

Monday, August 13th 2007, 9:26 am

By: News On 6

Two homes will be on the move Tuesday, out of Tulsa, out of the path of the I-44 widening project. It's the start of a big job to clear out houses and businesses that are right along the highway. Just north of I-44, between Peoria and Lewis, is where the highway is going to be widened, eventually. Before that can happen, houses needed to be cleared out. The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports a few of them will be demolished, but most will be moved out.

Robin and Patty Hausner are ready to start moving houses. After just a week of onsite work, they have a dozen homes either ready to move or close to it.

â€œProbably half will go out this street and hit Troost, out to Skelly and on to Lewis,â€ said Robin Hausner.

Moving houses on city streets is just half the challenge. First, the houses must be loaded on a truck without damaging them. To make it easier, some parts, especially add-ons, are sawed off.

Robin Hausner says they'll be reconstructed and as good as they were before they were moved, maybe even better.

â€œThey work good for rental property and first time buyers,â€ Robin Hausner said.

The first house to go, from 1528 East 50th Place, will move out Tuesday morning at 9:30. All of the houses that will be moved are north of I-44, and the first wave of them are east of Peoria.

They'll be trucked on Skelly over to Lewis Avenue, then down to 71st street and west over the river. From there they'll go north on Union to Southwest Boulevard and out of the city.

Once the houses are moving, it will only take about a half hour to 45 minutes to get them out of the city. If you're behind one in traffic, the house movers ask for patience.

"We just need them to get out of our way and leave us three lanes of traffic, just keep moving, you know so we can get on down the road,â€ said Robin Hausner.

The state is paying $88,000 to have 45 houses cleared. The man moving them hopes to clear them all in the next six weeks. As for the road widening job, there is no way to estimate when that work will be done, because it's still on the drawing board, and the money isn't yet in the budget.

Watch the video: Houses Moved As A Result Of Widening Project

Click here for Oklahoma Department of Transportation map of planned I-44 improvements in Tulsa.