The drive on 23rd Street, between Houston Street and New Orleans, will become considerably smoother soon with a road resurfacing project that’s currently underway. “We are on 23rd Street, also known as County Line Road, and we’re overlaying the roadways with asphalt from Houston Street, all the way down to New Orleans Street (101st Street),” said Assistant Director of Streets and Stormwater Zack Smith. Smith said the project is estimated to cost $280,000 for two miles of roadway.

“This stretch of roadway had a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) in the mid-20s, which, if you’re not familiar with PCI, that’s in the poor range,” Smith said. “Basically, second to the bottom as far as how the scoring goes. "The City of Broken Arrow hired an outside consultant to evaluate every road in the City. They rated each road within Broken Arrow city limits to help the City scientifically prioritize road improvements based on the greatest need. This particular roadway had what Smith called alligator cracking, also known as rutting.

“Lots of heavy trucks run down this road, so it gets a lot of use,” he said. The constant use by heavy vehicles leads to cracking and the formation of ruts. However, travelers can expect to see significant improvements to that section of County Line Road in the short term. The project began on Monday, July 14. Smith estimates that the milling portion of the project will take approximately three days, pending weather and unforeseen circumstances, followed by paving the east leg and then the west leg, with striping to follow. The City utilized a third party to mill or grind down the top layer of asphalt, and City Streets crews will complete the actual paving operation.

“We like to do as much in-house as we can to save taxpayer funds,” Smith said. The County Line Road resurfacing project is expected to be finished relatively soon, within a week or so, depending on the weather and unforeseen circumstances. The construction crew has worked on the project in a way that ensures at least one lane of traffic remained open at all times. Flaggers have been on-site directing traffic.

To learn more about the upcoming street projects in Broken Arrow, please visit brokenarrowok.gov/streets.