Oklahoma City Boulevard Project Close To Completion

There are signs that the new Oklahoma City Boulevard is close to completion. One thousand trees are being planted ahead of the thoroughfare’s late summer opening. “It will be very nice, we have been working on this for a very long time,”

Monday, May 13th 2019, 5:26 pm

By: Karl Torp

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Oklahoma City Boulevard Project Close To Completion

There are signs that the new Oklahoma City Boulevard is close to completion. One thousand trees are being planted ahead of the thoroughfare’s late summer opening.

“It will be very nice, we have been working on this for a very long time,” says Public Works Director Eric Wenger.

Flowers will also be planted in the medians. The OKC Boulevard project began in 2005 and replaces the original Interstate 40 crosstown that was rerouted.

The other transformation will be easily spotted at night.

“The copper wire theft has been an issue citywide,” says Wenger.

The lights along the west end of the boulevard have been stripped of their copper wiring twice. That’s why the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is installing lighter aluminum along OKC Boulevard, which is less desirable to thieves.

ODOT will complete the lights before handing over maintenance responsibilities to Oklahoma City.

Karl Torp

Karl Torp is an award-winning journalist who’s been part of the News 9 team since 2012. He co-anchors the 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on weekdays. Karl loves telling Oklahoma’s unique stories, and he’s also a huge sports junkie. He loves to think of trades that would help the Oklahoma City Thunder win a World Championship (despite knowing little to nothing about salary caps and luxury taxes).

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