The mile of Liberty Parkway Trail between Aspen Avenue and Elm Place has been closed since June 2025. That makes about sixteen months of barricades as of this October. The repair is finally under construction, and the City of Broken Arrow's own schedule puts the finish somewhere around the end of the year.
Reopening the Aspen segment won't make the trail whole, though. A second closure sits under the Creek Turnpike bridge near New Orleans Street and Garnett Road, and Tulsa County's published road schedule suggests it could last much longer. For anyone living in Reserve at Aspen Ridge or the Aspen Ridge neighborhood next to it, the trail is about to get its eastern connection back. The western end toward Garnett and the Mingo Trail is a separate wait.
Where the neighborhood meets the trail
Broken Arrow's planning record puts Reserve at Aspen Ridge west of Aspen Avenue, about a quarter mile north of Jasper Street. The 2018 plan called for its cul-de-sac to connect north into the existing Aspen Ridge addition, which had a single access point onto Aspen Avenue.
The nearest place to get on the Liberty Parkway Trail from there is the city's listed access point at 5700 S. Aspen Ave. It's walk-in only, with no parking lot. The next access point east is at Elm Place and the Creek Turnpike, also access only. The segment between those two points is the one that's closed.
The full trail runs about 9.5 miles. It follows the South Loop of the Creek Turnpike from New Orleans Street at Northeastern State University to where it meets the Mingo Trail near the Creek Turnpike and Mingo Valley Expressway. The city rates it moderate difficulty.
What crews are rebuilding
The problem is a failed wall beside the path. The city describes it as about 800 feet long and between 2 and 8 feet tall. The fix is a full replacement. Crews are demolishing the old gravity wall and part of the trail, then building a reinforced concrete retaining wall and a new walking path, and improving drainage so it ties into the existing drainage system.
Here's how the timeline has gone, using the city's own updates:
- June 2025. The segment closes after engineers find the failing wall is no longer safe.
- June 15, 2026. The City Council approves an $861,086 contract with Cherokee Pride Construction for the rebuild, according to the city's council highlights.
- July 29, 2026. The city says construction will start in mid-August and take about four months.
- September 24, 2026. In its Broken Arrow in Motion update, the city reports the contractor working on steel footings, with nine sections already done and the trail still closed.
A mid-August start plus about four months lands around mid-December 2026. That's simple math on the city's estimate. No one has announced a reopening date, and as of the September update the city hadn't given one. Weather, inspections, and the punch list at the end of any concrete job can all move it.
The July update was mostly a warning. The barricades on both ends of the closed segment had been moved out of the way, and the site was about to become an active construction zone. Jennifer Tillson, the city's special project manager, told the City of Broken Arrow's news team that the risk was real:
"Every time I have visited the site, we have had visitors, and it's just not safe. There's a risk the wall could fall, and soon this will be an active construction site, which poses even greater risk. I encourage people to find other trails to use in the meantime."
The other gap, and why it outlasts this one
The trail's second closure is under the Creek Turnpike bridge, where the path runs parallel to New Orleans Street and on north to the Garnett Road connection. The city says that closure will last as long as the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's bridge project does. It also lists the 95th and Garnett Road parking lot as temporarily closed.
Neither the city nor the OTA has published an end date. The closest thing is a March 30, 2026 presentation from a Tulsa County public meeting on the Garnett Road project. It splits work on Garnett between 91st and 101st into two phases of about six months each. Phase 1 was set to begin June 1, 2026, and Phase 2 starts once Phase 1 is done. The presentation says the Liberty Trail at 96th and the trail parking lot east of Garnett under the OTA bridges close during Phase 2.
Run those two estimates back to back and the end lands around mid-2027. Treat that as a rough guess built from county estimates, not an official reopening date. What it does show is the likely order. The Aspen-to-Elm wall should reopen first, and the far western end of the trail will probably stay cut off well into next year.
For Aspen Ridge, that means the trail will most likely come back in pieces. Once the wall is done, the stretch east from Aspen toward Elm and on to Events Park should reconnect. Going west toward the Mingo Trail will still mean stopping short of the turnpike bridge. The city doesn't officially label any segment as open, so posted signs at each access point are the most reliable guide on any given day.
Until then, a different route for each need
None of the open options below is a straight swap for a long, flat out-and-back along the turnpike. Each one fits a different kind of outing.
For a trail run with hills: Ray Harral Nature Park
Ray Harral Nature Park at 7101 S. 3rd St. sits off Tucson Street, also called 121st, west of Lynn Lane. It has about 3 miles of trails with varying grades. Bikes are allowed on marked trails and leashed pets are welcome. It's the closest substitute for anyone who misses a few miles on foot without crossing traffic, and the grades make it a harder workout than the turnpike stretch.
For the Liberty Trail itself: the Valley Ridge Trailhead
The Valley Ridge Trailhead at 5852 S. Date Ave. is one of the few points along the trail with both access and parking. It's on the Aspen side of the closure, heading west toward Olive Avenue, so it stays usable during the wall work. The city's trail page also lists water at Valley Ridge Park.
For the dog: Rose West Dog Park
Rose West Dog Park at 4751 W. New Orleans St. doubles as a Liberty Trail access point with parking. It's open dawn to dusk and closed Wednesdays for maintenance. Dogs can be off leash inside the designated area and outside it must be leashed or under the owner's immediate control. The rules also keep out dogs younger than six months, require current rabies vaccination and spay or neuter status, and limit each person to three dogs. This trailhead sits near the western end of the trail, so check the posted signs for how far the open path goes before the turnpike bridge closure.
For a stroller and a picnic: Haikey Creek Park
Tulsa County's Haikey Creek Park at 11327 S. Garnett Ave. has a 2.3-mile walking trail, five picnic pavilions, and playgrounds. It's open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. The county page doesn't list the trail surface or dog rules, so check those before planning around them.
For new pavement: Events Park
Events Park at 21101 E. 101st St. reopened April 1, 2026, after almost two years of construction tied to the Sunset Amphitheater Broken Arrow project. The 125-acre park got new walking paths, a pedestrian bridge, better parking, new landscaping, and lighting. When the park reopened, the amphitheater itself was expected to open in fall 2026. Events Park is also the eastern access point and parking area for the Liberty Trail, so it will connect back toward Aspen once the wall is finished.
One more piece of trail work to follow
The September city update also covered a new pedestrian bridge going in as part of the 1st Place Waterline and Trail Project. The waterlines are finished, crews were pouring the ramp up to the bridge, most of the sod was down, and retaining wall work on the bridge's south side was coming next. Between that bridge and the Aspen-to-Elm wall, Broken Arrow has two trail projects underway at once, and the September Broken Arrow in Motion episode covered both.
If you live near Aspen Avenue and want to talk through how projects like this trail repair fit into your own plans for your home, Mai Vang keeps track of these local updates and is glad to share what she's learning. Let's Connect.
