TULSA, Okla. — Road work along Peoria Ave. is part of an ‘Improve Our Tulsa’ project that is approaching its one-year mark. The city expects the work to be completed by the end of this year or early next year.
The businesses between 41st and 51st Street are dependent on that strip of Peoria, so their customers can easily reach them. One among many is the Brookside Diner.
“It has drastically changed our business,” said Rhema Cannon, who is the night manager at the diner. “We didn’t think that it was going to affect us so dramatically; I mean, we knew we’d have some issues behind it, but it has been, like I said, 40% that’s huge.”
In just under a year, the eatery’s sales are down 40%. Cannon said she's losing $200 to $300 per week in tips alone.
Cannon worked at the diner for four years and thought things would settle down after surviving the pandemic. No one on staff expected a 10-street-wide road project to have such an impact on the local eatery.
Aside from the revenue hit, regular customers are no longer visiting the Brookside Diner as frequently as they used to.
“When they finally come in after a couple weeks after usually coming in two or three times a week, they tell us ‘it’s so hard to get here,’” said Cannon. “You start to worry, actually; you always think something happened, like, ‘Where are they? Where have they been? I hope they’re okay?’ and they finally come in and you’re like ‘oh hey, where have you been?’ and every time, it’s the construction. Every time.’’
Crews with Becco Contractors have been switching sides of the road and focusing on different parts of the long stretch undergoing treatment. As they work on removing and repaving the asphalt, additional focuses include stormwater drainage improvements, new waterlines, and traffic signals. The work began last April, and it’s an almost $6 million dollar project.
With that, the cones have started weaving in and out to direct traffic away from the work, which can create some uncertainty for drivers. Sherry Arnett, a long-time Tulsan, was grabbing a bite to eat at the diner and said that although she’s driven Peoria many times, the cones and lane closures did confuse her.
“It’s stressful for people to travel over and everything, daily, this is not just once a week this is daily,” said Arnett. “It tears up our vehicles. It’s a mess.”
In an effort to draw more people in, the diner does have some specials running.
As the road work has progressed and moved down Peoria, Cannon said the staff watches each day and hopes it will soon move further from their drive to allow their customers easier access.
"It’s been rough, it’s been rough, but we stick it out," said Cannon. "Like I said, I’ve worked here for a while, so I was here through Covid, and we made it through that. Hopefully, we can make it through this too."
City officials project the work to be finished by Dec. 2024 or Jan. 2025.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
