City Crews Continue Work To Repair Highway Street Lights

The City of Tulsa continues work to repair highway lighting left inoperable because of stolen wire and accidents that knocked down poles.

City crews are currently working on Highway 11 eastbound near the airport and will reverse direction to work towards Highway 75 and the Gilcrease Expressway next.

The City prioritized roads leading to the airport since it’s where some visitors get their first impression of Tulsa.

2/4/2016 Related Story: Task Force Takes Steps To Repair City's Highway Lighting System

The work has been complicated by collapsed conduit tunnels between the poles and damage to controllers caused by thieves disabling the circuits.

The city is replacing stolen copper wire with less valuable aluminum and posting signs to alert thieves to the change. Theft of highway lighting wire has declined, according to the city, but it’s happened during a decline in scrap metal prices and after several arrests of copper thieves.

The City reports the lights are on along the Gilcrease Expressway from Harvard to Yale and from Lewis to the Tisdale.

The City has yet to begin work on most other highways and expects the work on Highway 11 to be complete in June.

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City Repair Status As Of March 10, 2016: