BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — A road widening project will increase Houston Street in Broken Arrow from three lanes to five. Some people living there call this progress, but others have mixed feelings about it.
City leaders said the widening will take about a year to complete and will stretch from Olive to Garnett. 2 News went to the Rose District and spoke to Kambria Thomas about the project.
"I think that's great that street is really small, so I think expanding it would be really good, and it will help with traffic around that area," said Thomas.
The $5.7 million dollar project was first approved in 2018 through a general obligation bond. City leaders said a rise in traffic in recent years inspired this plan.
Kerry Kean lives in Broken Arrow and said she can't wait to be no longer stuck in traffic.
"Sometimes it's kind of hard to maneuver around traffic getting from Broken Arrow to Tulsa, and I do a lot of business on that side of town, so yeah, I'm anxious for that," said Kean.
However, not everyone is as excited as Thomas and Kean. 2 News noticed people online had concerns about the expansion potentially diminishing the scenery. 2 News spoke to Charlie Bright, the Director of Engineering.
"When we widen roads like this one, we try to be as least impactful as possible to the area's trees and landscaping. Of course we do have to widen a total of 24 feet of pavement," said Bright.
Thomas said Broken Arrow has more than enough greenery to go around.
"I feel like if you go further and deep enough, there's still more greenery scenery to see so that it won't hurt," said Thomas.
City leaders said they will soon try to pass another bond in 2026 that will allow the people to vote on more projects like this one.
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