The Skelly Drive (51st Street) and Peoria Avenue intersection, shown looking south, underwent a major renovation as part of the I-44 widening project between Riverside Drive and Wheeling Avenue.
The project included widening the interstate to six lanes, plus merge lanes between ramps, and reconstructing intersections at Riverside Drive and Peoria Avenue. Most of the project's right of way was taken on the south side.
At Peoria Avenue, work began on building the future eastbound section of the new bridge, and traffic then was diverted to this bridge while the old bridge was demolished and replaced with the westbound section of the bridge.
The I-44 and Peoria Avenue intersection was widened to keep four through lanes (two each way) on Peoria Avenue. However, the left-turn lanes now begin before the opposite side's frontage road and continue through to the next frontage road instead of beginning under the bridge. Right-turn lanes also were installed on Peoria Avenue and the frontage roads (for the correct direction). The frontage roads are five lanes, with one lane entering a U-turn under each side of the bridge, a second lane for left turns only, a third lane with an option to turn left or go straight, a fourth lane for straight traffic only and a fifth lane for right turns. The previous frontage-road design had three lanes, with a left-turn lane, a lane with an option to turn left or go straight and a third lane for right turns.
The intersection also services Riverside Drive, as all traffic from Riverside Drive that wants to travel west on I-44 must utilize the U-turn under the west side of the bridge to gain access to I-44. This also applies to eastbound I-44 traffic wanting to access Riverside Drive.
The business community also has changed, as the shopping center on the southeast corner was shortened to make room for the eastbound frontage road. This resulted in the demolition of the old Mays (formerly Eckerd's) Drug Store and the relocation of the drug store (now Drug Warehouse) to a new facility near the I-44 and Peoria Avenue intersection. An old Fotomat also was demolished, as were a couple of gas stations. On the northwest corner, the Camelot Inn has been demolished and is being replaced with a Quik Trip. Photo taken July 28, 2012.
DEVELOPING TULSA: THE AUSTIN HELLWIG COLLECTION
