so I've been lurking on this site for abt a week now, reading various threads & learning a lot :P

My question is in regard to ne 23rd st Westbound from at least Air Depot to Bryant (I wouldn't know abt past the highway because that's usually as far as I go) there are Manhole Covers & I've wondered abt them for years seeing as how they're the only place (that I've seen anyway) that has them & just that particular stretch...what's under them (Ninja Turtles :donatello ? lol) / what purpose do they serve & why only in THAT area?

Trisha, man hole covers provide access to storm drainage, sewer lines, as well as other underground utilities such as electrical, phone and cable. It just depends on whats running under them. You see a lot of them in streets because streets are an easy easement to follow, but you can find them just about anywhere.

well in theory I guess I DO know WHAT they do, but WHY only in that area? , I've lived in MWC all my life & the only place that I know of where I see them (on the street that is) is that particular stretch of NE 23rd... what makes that stretch of 23rd so different? lol

They're not only on 23rd. You can take drive down just about any major thoroughfare in the city area and find manhole covers in the street.

well in theory I guess I DO know WHAT they do, but WHY only in that area? , I've lived in MWC all my life & the only place that I know of where I see them (on the street that is) is that particular stretch of NE 23rd... what makes that stretch of 23rd so different? lol

My best guess would be that at one time 23rd Street was 2 lanes instead of 4 there. Rather than relocate miles of utilities. They lowered/raised the junction boxes to street grade when they widened to 4 lanes. Another reason for them not relocating along this stretch of 23rd could possibly be that they did not, and could not, acquire enough right of way to relocate the utilities.

I normally don't notice manhole covers on any street besides the stretch Trisha mentioned. That's because every 100 feet or so there is a manhole cover and it feels like hitting a pothole. That stretch needs to be re-graded to make the street level with the manhole covers.

I normally don't notice manhole covers on any street besides the stretch Trisha mentioned. That's because every 100 feet or so there is a manhole cover and it feels like hitting a pothole. That stretch needs to be re-graded to make the street level with the manhole covers.

THANK You LoveOKC lol that's it exactly, & the ones west of sooner before bryant are the worst! that whole stretch from abt bryant to sooner for sure needs to be resurfaced (both directions) , I do my best to drive in the inside lane even if I know i'll be getting over past bryant to get on the highway & head north

Once you get beyond Sooner Road, you're out of city limits.

There has been a constant problem with the tops of manholes not being correctly aligned with the pavement on NW 36 east of Western. Same goes for NW 23rd east of Western:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7741/29271335360_3fff627398.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LABfcS)

https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8605/28935912834_edec130f3a.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L5Y7LS)

https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8057/29271333570_a71f98f25b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LABeF1)

Once you get beyond Sooner Road, you're out of city limits.

Correct, but we are talking about West of Sooner Rd. on NE 23rd. Hitting those manhole covers is like hitting a pothole

Correct, but we are talking about West of Sooner Rd. on NE 23rd. Hitting those manhole covers is like hitting a pothole
sooo true! and the worst ones are actly West of Coltrane Rd. & there are a LOT of them
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using Google maps & snip it, I did these west from Coltrane to Bryant on NE 23rd st the one at 3996 NE 23rd you can really see how low it is

Oh! Those are all telephone vaults! No idea if they're still active or not, but the manhole covers are all marked "Bell System", which is the predecessor to Southwestern Bell and then AT&T. I'm not sure if the City alone has the authority to fix this... I think they'd need, at minimum, cooperation with AT&T.

but surely the city could do some grading arnd them to make them less bone jarring.... and I still wonder WHY so many in such a small area? lol

I submitted a ticket with okc.gov and emailed John Pettis, hopefully something can get done.

It's not an odot or city thing to add risers to the old bell system, nor is it AT&T. It's a grey area as I was told. There's no grinding or grading. When the road rises up. The manholes have to be raised. The municipal stuff gets attention but the ancient private sector stuff does not always. When you see a street like classen or 23rd east of western where the curb is nearly gone because it's been scraped and replaced so many times over the original concrete. It can be a massive different. Some manholes were fixed on 23rd a couple years back. There was one eastbound in the vicinity of the CSL plasma campus so bad that it could take entire suspension systems out from under unsuspecting victims.

Try hitting one with a motorcycle.

Try hitting one with a motorcycle.
I can't begin to imagine how much worse it'd be!!