'Make The City Shine:' Tulsa Plans Route 66 Roadwork Ahead of 2026 Centennial Celebration

The plans for the Route 66 centennial include some work on the historic highway. The City of Tulsa has rebuilt Route 66 countless times over the past 100 years, but it’s due for several touch-ups, with efforts being arranged to avoid the summer of 2026.

Roadwork is ahead on Admiral Boulevard, one of the historic stretches of Route 66. Tulsa has 28 miles of the highway, anchored by the Cyrus Avery Plaza at 11th and Riverside, which is due for lighting updates while the highway gets some attention too.

"They could mill and overlay, some reconstruction—there's a little bit of everything in there," said Terry Ball.

The Tulsa Route 66 Commission is finalizing dates and locations for what’s expected to be a busy summer of traffic and is asking public works to work around those dates.

“One of the things we were asked to do is to prioritize what we're doing during the 2026, 100th anniversary, so we're trying to limit the impact of road construction when we have a lot of visitors in town, and we hope to minimize the impact of construction projects,” Ball said.

The intersection of 11th and Sheridan could be under construction that summer, along with the Route 66 bus line. Additionally, 11th near Harvard will be resurfaced, worn-out striping will be replaced, and new Route 66 badges will be applied. Some sections are already underway or completed, like the resurfacing of Admiral near Harvard.

“Our goal is to really make the city shine,” said Ken Busby of the Tulsa Route 66 Commission.

The Commission is also approving new neon sign projects and planning multiple events, with thousands of people expected over several weekends.

“We have such an opportunity to really capitalize on Route 66 for Tulsa and Oklahoma, and we're going to make every effort to maximize that,” Busby added.

The City has a long list of Route 66 road projects in the works, with more likely to come after the centennial. The City is already advertising itself internationally as the Capital of Route 66 and expects a lot of visitors to see the road.