HomeNewsArticle Display

OKC construction project to affect Tinker traffic

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. O'Brien
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Beginning Aug. 2, a construction project conducted by Oklahoma City will affect Tinker. Taking approximately six months to complete, the project will reduce Douglas Boulevard to one lane in each direction.

The city is replacing a 60-inch water line.

"There will be major delays from north to south on Douglas between 59th to 29th Streets. Plan accordingly," said Randon Rieger, Tinker Support Services Joint Venture engineering team lead with 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate. "The road will be reduced in one-quarter-mile increments. Drivers on Douglas should expect major delays as traffic merges into one lane, creating a bottleneck ahead of the construction site. With the heavy traffic on Douglas during peak hours, the bottleneck could stretch for the better part of a mile and make the construction zone seem like it runs the length of Douglas from Interstate 40 to I-240. We encourage people to plan ahead and use other gates as much as possible."

The 60-inch transmission line is being placed within the easement east and outside of the roadway just south of Southeast 59th Street to just near the property line separating the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Technology Center complex and Twaddle Army Reserve Center. It then jogs into roadway and continues north to a point north of Lancer Gate, No. 20, and then jogs east back into the easement outside the roadway, Mr. Rieger said.

Due to the placement of water line, pavement on Douglas will be demolished and replaced upon completion of the project. Construction will progress from south to north along Douglas, so folks approaching Lancer and Liberator, No. 21, gates from the north may not encounter a traffic bottleneck through Oct. 3, after which construction will move north of Liberator Gate. After Oct. 3, access to Liberator Gate from the south will improve. In mid November, access to Lancer Gate from the south will improve as construction moves north of Lancer Gate.

Mr. Rieger said the last time there was construction on Douglas Boulevard was in 2006 during the production of the tow-way that connects Tinker to the MROTC.