The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
On Wednesday, Aug. 18, at 9 a.m., Mayor G.T. Bynum will announce the honorary designation of the Gilcrease Expressway between North Lewis Avenue and the L.L. Tisdale Parkway as “Don Ross Expressway” in honor of former State Rep. Don Ross.
The honorary naming and sign unveiling will take place at the intersection of the L.L. Tisdale Parkway and the Gilcrease Expressway. Another “Don Ross Expressway” sign will be posted on the Gilcrease Expressway between U.S. Highway 75 and North Lewis Avenue.
Recommended parking for this event will be on the northeast corner of the intersection. A map is attached with this advisory showing the area highlighted.
Also to speak at the event will be Don Ross and his sons Kavin Ross, chairman of the 1921 Graves Public Oversight Committee; and Edward Ross, a member of the board of directors of the Greenwood Cultural Center.
Tulsa native Don Ross served as a state legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for 20 years, from 1983 to 2003. He and a state senator from Tulsa, the late Maxine Horner, cosponsored a state resolution in 1997 to establish the Tulsa Race Riot Commission. That commission conducted an in-depth investigation into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and presented its report in February 2001.
In the early 2000s, Rep. Don Ross helped to secure $32 million in state capital improvement program funds for building the Gilcrease Expressway between U.S. Highway 75 and the L.L. Tisdale Parkway. In December 2008, the Gilcrease Expressway from U.S. 75 to the Tisdale Parkway was opened to traffic.
