Turley Residents Concerned Over Rapidly Deteriorating Roads

Some Tulsa County residents said they are fed up with decades-long damaged roads.

“There’s potholes everywhere!" resident Frank Oats said.

Oats said he has lived in Turley all his life. He joked the potholes on his street may be older than he is.

“I've lived in the Turley area for 77 years. I will be 78 on my next birthday, and I haven't seen any major repairs done on these roads in over 60 years,” Oats said. “I think it has a lot to do with dragging this community down.”

His neighbor, John Bowles, even had some run-ins with the law.

“We got a new car, and I was so careful in avoiding these potholes, the police stopped (me) for suspicion of drunken driving,” Bowles said.

Jason Turley is the chairman of the Turley Community Association.

“They're horrible, they're depleted, exhausted,” Turley said. “I’ve heard dying, dead. Those are the words to describe the roads out here.”

Turley also said the roads are impacting the community’s future growth.

“No one wants to live in a place they can’t drive down a road with their car to get to the driveway,” Turley said. “No one wants to go the store if they have to avoid 40 potholes.”

Residents said that East 69th St. North is one of the worst roads in the area.

They said the county has only patched the potholes, so residents called their county commissioners.

District 1 Commissioner Stan Sallee heard the complains loud and clear.

“Those residents are disappointed in having roads that are not accessible,” Sallee said. “They're taxpayers and deserve to have roads to drive on, so we are trying to get them to the point where they can see noticeable improvements.”

Sallee toured the area a few months ago with residents and engineers. He said the county is doing an audit to assess damages and plan future projects.

Residents are skeptical of commissioners making Turley a priority, given the big road repair projects already underway throughout the county.

“I know the county has a lot of projects going on and hopefully we get on the list,” Bowles said.

Commissioners said the study and audit should be completed in May.