Tulsa Rail Crossing Upgrade Creates Another Construction Headache

A new rail crossing improvement is the latest construction setback for some businesses in midtown Tulsa.

They're on a section of Lewis that's been under construction on and off for years. Now there's a new project to install railroad crossing arms by the Union Pacific track.

At 12th and Lewis, workers have dug up part of the median they finished not that long ago.

"We think they're done with a section and here they are tearing it out again, doing more work" said Toni Beam, who has worked around the construction for years at the Antique Warehouse. "We've seen a lot of construction here."

The store is closing, not because of construction, but because the owner is retiring.

The new construction job is because of the trains, several a day, moving slow, but with all the traffic, it's a safety issue.

The reason for the redo, according to the City of Tulsa, is the median wasn't built quite wide enough the first time to meet standards. City inspectors were out today rechecking measurements on the median.

"It's definitely slowed business down" said Calvin Compton, with Starship Records. "We make it about two months without barrels and then they come out again, and stay, for 6 months, 8 months."

The new crossing arms will block traffic on Lewis as a train passes, improving safety on a section of road with traffic around Mother Road Market.