'It Can Be Pretty Jolting': Improvements To Memorial Drive Will Remove Dips In Roadway

An emergency repaving job on South Memorial in Tulsa fixed the road but also created a new problem.

Memorial Drive looks smooth from above, but down on the ground where people are driving, the dips are obvious.

The one-mile stretch from 71st to 81st has drain inlets along the outside lanes, that are three inches lower than the road.

It creates a rolling effect for drivers that have generated hundreds of complaints to City Hall.

So, with City Councilor Phil Lakin behind the wheel, News On 6 took a drive on Memorial.

"It can be pretty jolting from time to time," Lakin said. "Just depends on which one you hit and how you hit it. That one was pretty good right there."

After a bitter freeze three years ago, the road was cracking, and the city ordered emergency repairs.

The budget was tight, so the decision was to fix the road and redo the drains later.

It was not a mistake, that it ended up like this.

"Not a mistake at all, this was a completely unplanned experience for anybody," Lakin said.

To help people avoid the dips the City added a line along the outside edge.

To eliminate the problem, the City plans to dig up the drains and make them level with the road.

Councilor Lakin and Councilor Lori Decter Wright are directing discretionary money toward making the $250,000 fix.

"It's a beautiful stretch of road, minus the dips, now we're going to fix the dips so it will be a beautiful stretch of road," Lakin said.

The repairs will take several months and during that time, the outside lanes of Memorial will be closed.

The City Council votes on the money for the project on Wednesday, and the work will start this spring.