Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith and City Councilors Blake Ewing and Karen Gilbert gathered Thursday morning at East 11th Street and South Yale Avenue to dedicate the recently completed Vision 2025 Route 66 Enhancement: Scenic Byway – “Cultural Crossroads.”
“The City of Tulsa and Tulsa County both celebrate this Route 66 enhancement and intersection improvement made possible through Vision 2025, approved by voters one decade ago, and through the 2008 Fix Our Streets bond issue,” said Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. “Route 66 is not just part of our past. In Tulsa, we value the cultural heritage we have in Route 66, and we continue to promote Route 66 for current economic development.”
Combined with reconstruction of the entire 11th and Yale intersection, the Scenic Byway – “Cultural Crossroads” features a one-of-a-kind concrete Route 66 shield embedded in the intersection, concrete emblems noting the eight states through which Route 66 passes, a Centennial Clock, and plaques describing the cultural development around the intersection. Other streetscape elements include stamped concrete on the corners, decorative fencing, benches, trees and shrubs.
Funding for the Route 66 features at the intersection was approved by Tulsa County voters who passed the Vision 2025 sales tax in 2003. A $550,000 investment from Vision 2025 helped Tulsa obtain a $385,000 Scenic Byways grant from the Federal Highway Administration. Route 66 is an official Scenic Byway designated by the Federal Highway Administration.
Reconstruction of the intersection, including new waterlines, traffic signals and drainage improvements, was funded by $2 million from the 2008 General Obligation Bond Issue.
Tally Alame and the Harry Kravetz Family, business and landowners at the intersection, donated easements on the northwest and northeast corners, where most of the special Route 66 features are located.
Also as part of this project and to help locals and tourists identify the famous roadway, Historic Route signs were posted at intersections across the city along 11th Street and Southwest Boulevard, where Route 66 passes through Tulsa.