TULSA, Okla. — In a year of unpredictability under COVID, there is one constant for one West Tulsa neighborhood...disruptive construction.
"We are living with it every single day," said West Highlands resident Sarah Barrett.
The street rehabilitation project is already past its 300-day calendar completion date, according to the City of Tulsa.
Now, neighbors wonder if they will ever have any peace and quiet. A progress board posted outside the neighborhood shows the project is less than 50% complete.
"It really feels like it will be another year," Barrett said.
Barrett said the construction dump site appeared at her backyard fence without warning.
"My girls were taking the puppy out and noticed that there were several men camped out behind our backyard," she said.
The project marked for completion by July 31 is still causing Barrett and her family daily headaches and early morning wake-up calls.
"We don't need an alarm clock," she said.
Barrett works from home on achieving her degree, and her daughters focus on schoolwork. She said they have to wear earbuds to block out the constant commotion.
She said her son has not been able to spend any time in the backyard this summer because of the noise and dust hovering in the air.
"There's just no relief," Barrett said.
City engineers tell Barrett the contractors had no other choice. In an email to her, a city engineer said outside her backyard fence was the "least intrusive" area to stage the dump site.
"If we would've known this is what we were going to deal with, we would've put our house on the market and gotten out of here," she said.
Now, Barret said, all she and her family can do is wait until the day workers pack up the site and finish the project for good. She said engineers tell her that date will be before the winter holiday season, but with a lot of work left out on the road she is not so hopeful.
"I don't have any confidence," Barret said.
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