Construction begins on new Highway 97 intersection

Sand Springs, OK - The City of Sand Springs announces plans for additional construction at the recently acquired 18-acre Sheffield Crossing Development District (2300 S. Hwy 97) in Sand Springs. Following the City’s award of a $1.58M bid for the project, the contractor has begun construction of a new highway intersection with traffic control signals, roadway improvements and more along Oklahoma State Highway 97, just north of the Arkansas River. The work is slated for completion later this fall.

This new entrance (at the site of the former steel mill plant entry) will come with a new southbound turning lane, leading into Sheffield Crossing. Additional work will deliver a storm water system (to help carry rainfall away from the redevelopment area) as well as a new water and sanitary sewer line.

All of this is happening as the result of the City’s desire to bring new retail development to this high-profile site in Sand Springs.

“Since the land acquisition in 2017, which was the result of an excellent public/private effort with the OmniTRAX group, the City has pushed continuously towards improvements here. Planning, budgeting and more take time to coordinate, and we are pleased to now award the work and welcome the general contractor to the site,” stated Sand Springs City Manager Elizabeth Gray.

The City’s push adds to the value of this, the largest City economic development project in fifteen years. While the site is not completely ready, a commercially viable retail pad site will also receive rough grading for use in the future.

Drivers may have noticed a large mass of reinforced concrete still stockpiled there. This material is the result of a previous phase of demolition. The City is working with OmniTRAX (who are the current owners of the material) to finalize plans to repurpose the material in a future phase of the project.

While not part of this project, the City is also planning to add a paved (internal) roadway that will connect traffic from Morrow Road (near current Wal Mart site), through the Sheffield Crossing development, onto southbound HWY 97. Those project plans have not been finalized.

“It takes the full support of our City Council members, a vision for redevelopment, a committed staff and time to pull together multi-million dollar projects such as these in our community”, stated Mayor Jim Spoon. “We’ve been actively working on this for more than two years and feel this work will truly set the stage for our next phase of success.”

The 18-acre Sheffield Crossing site is owned by the City of Sand Springs. Inquiries about potential development or pad sites may be directed to staff at grant@sandspringsok.org or at (918) 246-2504.