ODOT: US‑81 diamond grinding to start mid‑March; local business reports $20,000 February revenue loss

Staff member, a city staff member, said the Oklahoma Department of Transportation update for U.S. Highway 81 calls for diamond grinding to arrive in mid‑March and last about three to four weeks, followed by joint sawing and sealing and traffic striping.

The update, delivered during a Mayor and Board Commissioners meeting, said all new concrete work is finished — including ditch lining, median concrete pours and patching — and that remaining work includes backfilling, saw cutting of the center median, diamond grinding, sawing and sealing of joints and miscellaneous traffic items. "The miscellaneous traffic items" include "traffic striping of signs and things of that nature," the staff member said.

The staff member said cold weather earlier this year delayed availability of the diamond grinding machine, which is in limited supply statewide, and that ODOT expects striping to be substantially complete in May. Based on that schedule, the staff member said overall completion would likely be sometime in June and that contractors will probably begin removing traffic cones and control devices once striping begins.

Commissioner, a board member, raised economic concerns, saying a business owner on Willow reported losing about $20,000 in revenue in February because U.S.‑81 was reduced to one lane in each direction while Cleveland remained closed. "They lost about $20,000 in revenue in the month of February," the commissioner said, adding the board should consider encouraging use of detours and alternate routes so local businesses do not suffer while construction continues.

The staff member said they would reiterate information about detours and alternate routes to the public. No formal action or vote was taken on the matter during the meeting.

The discussion was limited to the ODOT schedule and local economic impacts; no changes to the work plan or additional funding requests were recorded.