Funding pulled to repair chronic flooding trouble spot at 43rd and Sheridan in Tulsa, city working on conceptual plan

The City of Tulsa has not identified funding to fix a chronic flooding problem at 43rd and Sheridan, after a celebrated federal grant for the work was pulled by the Trump administration.

In February 2024, the city was awarded a $19.5 million grant for projects that make infrastructure more resilient, but FEMA reversed course this year and now calls the grants "wasteful and ineffective."

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Without the federal grant, the City is now looking at options to use city funds, according to a spokesperson, who said the city was awaiting further guidance from Oklahoma Emergency Management on grants, but a spokesperson for that agency said it has no indication the federal grants will be restored.

The road floods regularly at 43rd and Sheridan, at the low point of a 15-acre drainage basin for Fulton Creek. The city has said previously that the storm drains leading to the creek would be enlarged, the creek would be cleaned out, and two retention ponds would be needed to reduce flooding.

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The site commonly floods during heavy rain and has been the site of multiple water rescues, even though it's an arterial street in the middle of Tulsa.