Tulsa - The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is warning fossil diggers and the public that they are creating a serious safety issue unless they stay clear of a construction site near Highway 75 and 71st Street South.
DOT officials say they had a few trespassers since the start of construction earlier this year, but that since a report about fossils being discovered in the area, the trespassing has increased dramatically.
"Trespassing and stolen property issues aside, we cannot have people walking around a construction site," says ODOT Project Engineer Matt Moshiri. "With all of the heavy equipment, dirt movement and materials out there, we can't guarantee anyone's safety. It's a dangerous place for the public to be."
Moshiri says the discovery and removal of the fossils was done without the knowledge or approval of ODOT officials or Sherwood Construction, which is the project contractor. (Well, duh. I was quite well aware that I was trespassing.)
Construction of the widening and interchange project at 71st Street is expected to be complete by this time next year.
I wonder if that means they'll put security on the site during off hours and weekends. As far as I know, no one has been hurt or harassed while collecting fossils on the Hwy. 75, other than a flare up of my tendonitis one weekend. I don't believe the contractor or the Hwy. Dept. understand what a lagerstatten (motherlode) of Carboniferous plant fossils they've uncovered with their precious bulldozers. Perhaps they ought to consult a State Geologist, or the National Geological Survey.
