Weekend Travel Plans Detoured

One of Tulsa's main arteries is closed this weekend. Drivers who normally use Highway 169 to get around South Tulsa may need to find an alternate route. Construction of a new road is taking over

Saturday, April 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

One of Tulsa's main arteries is closed this weekend. Drivers who normally use Highway 169 to get around South Tulsa may need to find an alternate route. Construction of a new road is taking over at 169 near the 91st exit.

As drivers in Tulsa are getting used to dodging barrels and construction zones on 169 traffic will have to get off the road. As more and more people pour into South Tulsa the roads get more and more crowded. Get ready, you're about to feel some growing pains

"This weekend we're going to be closing southbound U.S. 169 from 91st to Mingo," says Oklahoma Department of Transportation's Greg Coker.

That means going south bound on a one-mile stretch of 169 will be out of the question. Instead, drivers will be rerouted when they get to the 91st street exit. They'll be able to take 91st to Mingo and Mingo to the westbound creek turnpike. It's about a mile detour.

"Be patient we're doing this as fast as we can. We apologize for the inconvenience but if everybody would just take it a little slow we'll be out of here as fast as we can," says Coker.

They're hoping to be gone by the end of the summer, that's the deadline for the completion of the Broken Arrow South Loop extention of the Creek Turnpike. This weekend and next they'll be laying steel beams across the roadway, so they don't want cars underneath. When the new route is finished the project manager says drivers will like it.

"It will make it very easy who work in downtown Tulsa who live in Broken Arrow, instead of taking the expressway they'll be able to come down here," says Coker.

Now Southcrest Medical Center is about the only business that is over this way. The project manager says traffic getting to and from the hospital shouldn't be affected.

Also, traffic in the northbound lane won't be shut down completely, one lane will still be open.