Cherokee Nation contributed $11M to upgrade road near casino


The Cherokee Nation owns and operates the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo from Facebook

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma contributed over $11 million to a transportation project near its flagship casino.

The lanes of Interstate 44 that lead to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa were widened a bridge was replaced and ramps were reconfigured for a cost of $45 million, The Tulsa World reported. The tribe contributed money and rights-of-way for the project, the paper said.

The stretch of I-44 around the casino is very busy because it leads to another heavily trafficked highway. Motorists in that area are nearly twice as likely to be in a traffic collision as drivers on other Oklahoma roads, the World reported, based on statistics from the Department of Transportation

Fewer incidents have occurred since the project was completed in 2011, a spokesperson for the department told the paper.

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Find out where in the Tulsa area you're nearly twice as likely to have a wreck (The Tulsa World 9/1)

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