Semi Rollover Backs Up 69-Highway For Hours Near Eufaula

An overturned semi near Eufaula in a construction zone backed up traffic for several hours Tuesday and some people say delays in that area are happening too often.

TJ Gerlach with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said 69-highway is narrowed to one lane here - and it's been tricky for drivers.

Drivers like Ernest Best are frustrated with sharp construction merge lanes.

“This has been an ongoing issue, it’s a bottlenecked area to get between Eufaula and Checotah," he said.

Best said wrecks there are common - but Gerlach said the spillway and bridge don't leave room for changes.

"We understand it’s a tight merge area. We keep re-evaluating that to see if there’s anything that we might be possibly able to do to change that. And unfortunately, just the nature of that works zone being in such a tight space. This is right now the best option for us," Gerlach said.

But there's hope not far down the road.

Gerlach said the two-year $32-million project will be finished and construction crews will be packed up within a few months - hopefully taking the wrecks and headaches with them.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said there were no injuries - but the patrol and ODOT urge drivers to pay extra attention in the Eufaula construction zones until work is done.