| Updated: 2/08 5:52 pm |
Published: 2/08 3:46 pm
|
Traffic problems in south Tulsa might be getting a little better, but it’s been an especially bad week.
The traffic lights along Yale between 61st and 71st weren’t in sync causing drivers to wait for up to 40 minutes.
The goal is to widen Yale from five lanes to seven, but drivers we spoke with say not only are they having to leave a half hour early to get through here, they’re also having to pay for damage to their cars caused by the uneven surface.
A sea of orange cones and construction barrels greet drivers heading north and south on Yale.
"It's terrible because I had surgery back in September, and my doctor is over across from the hospital,” says Patti Frisby.
She says getting to Yale isn’t so bad, but once you’re there you then spend half an hour trying to get to your destination.
"I would have to leave 30 minutes ahead of my appointment time to get there, and the physician's office would call and remind me so I wouldn't be late,” says Frisby.
Drivers say the morning and evening rush hours are when it gets really bad, and it’s costing some.
“With the potholes and the different elevations they have in the road now, it's messing up the alignment in my vehicle and it's costing me money,” says another driver.
FOX23's Sharon Phillips went straight to the city to find out when drivers can expect some relief. I was told the lights are synchronized in the area, but the city says it recently had to turn them off because the left turn lanes were closed.
“We split-fazed it which means we let the north side go and then stopped it and let the south side go,” says Kurt Kraft with the City of Tulsa.
The synchronization was just turned back on Thursday, and it hopefully will provide some temporary relief for weary drivers. The construction project here is expected to be completed by March.
Paramedics with EMSA say they rely on their lights and sirens to clear a path and haven’t had much of an issue.
