City approves $500,000 for Liberty Parkway Trail retaining wall repair

The City of Broken Arrow approved approximately $500,000 for repairs to a retaining wall on the Liberty Parkway Trail, officials said during a council meeting recap.

Eric McCullough, director of communications for the City of Broken Arrow, said the funding is for the closure area between Aspen and Elm where a roughly 22-year-old retaining wall is failing.

Councilor Lisa Ford said the trail is heavily used by runners and bicyclists and that some users have been attempting unsafe detours around the closure. “It is a very active trail,” Ford said.

Charlie Bright, director of engineering, described technical challenges related to the site and the work needed. Bright said the wall runs roughly 1,000 linear feet and varies in height from about 8 feet to about 2 feet. He outlined a plan to perform in-house design work and to contract construction out, and said construction is likely to start in the spring.

McCullough cautioned that other roadway work by the OTA will affect nearby segments and that portions of the corridor may close at different times. In the meeting recap, staff said Liberty Parkway Trail may close in October as OTA reconstructs about a mile section from Garnett to roughly a half mile south of New Orleans Street; McCullough characterized the timing as dependent on OTA work.

No mover/second or roll-call vote was recorded in the meeting audio; the recording states the council approved the funding. Officials said staff will attempt to lower costs by doing design work in-house and then contracting construction.

Bright said the site’s distance from staging areas will complicate bringing asphalt and other materials to the work area. City officials said the project is intended to restore safe trail access for residents and trail users once construction is complete.