TULSA, Okla. — Residents at Longview Lake Estates in Tulsa are trying to determine who is responsible for cleaning vulgar graffiti from an ODOT retaining wall near the neighborhood.
In April, we did a story that included the removal of a homeless camp in a grove of trees at the back of the park near the ODOT retaining wall that separates the park from Highway 169.
There's a small creek running through the area making it harder to reach the wall.
While the camp is gone, the trash from the homeless camp still litters the area, but it's what was spraypainted on the wall that has homeowners upset, especially since it is near the children's playground.
"They painted on the wall all these horrible things," said Robbie Thames.
While visiting the Tulsa State Fair, she came to our listening booth to let us know about the issue and her unsuccessful efforts to get ODOT to paint over it.
"I was told I could get a white paint and paint it and I said I cannot, there's a creek there and I'm too old," she said. "I would hurt myself."
2 News contacted T.J. Gerlach with ODOT and learned state law only requires ODOT to keep offensive graffiti off the side of the wall facing the highway.
"The reason for that is most of them butt up against private property," Gerlach said. "We just don't have the authority to traverse that property to access the wall."
So it's up to the private property owner, in this case the Longview Lake Estates neighborhood association, to paint over the offending messages.
We asked if the neighborhood association could give ODOT permission to clean up the offensive messages on its park grounds.
He said, in theory, yes, but it would need to go through ODOT's general council office to draw up an agreement, which doesn't happen often and takes a lot of time.
Right now, Thames wants the graffiti covered up before the leaves fall, making the offensive messages more visible.
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