Water Main Break Causes Concrete to Bubble in Lawton, Oklahoma

UPDATE, 9 a.m. 4/8/2025: The City of Lawton issued an update regarding the water main break on NW Ferris Ave. The line was excavated overnight and the pipe has been removed. A contractor is installing the new pipe, and once complete, the line will be recharged and the backfill rock will be added. After the backfill is complete, the street repair will be issued the a contractor.

One of the main concerns of residents in Lawton, Oklahoma, is the quality of the roads. Residential and main streets across town are often riddled with cracks and potholes. To the delight of citizens, the City of Lawton recently began a series road repairs, but one new road is now experiencing issues due to a water main break.

In the early afternoon of Monday, April 7, a water main break was reported near the Fields and Dunning neighborhood, off of NW Ferris Ave. City of Lawton crews began closing off NW Ferris Ave at NW 13th Street around 1:40 p.m. due to the water main break. Water could be seen flowing across NW Ferris Ave, based on a video from KSWO.

Reporters indicated that water was blocking both lanes of traffic along NW Ferris Ave, and it was looking like the road was beginning to "buckle."

By 2 p.m. Monday, the water main break began to make the concrete bubble along NW Ferris Ave near NW 13th Street.

As of 2:50 p.m. Monday, the City of Lawton has not released an official update regarding the water main break at NW Ferris Ave and NW 13th St, and has not provided an update regarding the state of NW Ferris Ave.

Construction on NW Ferris Ave was recently completed in early 2025.

The City of Lawton began construction on NW Ferris Ave in August of 2024. The city issued an update on the project in October of 2024 and stated that the project was to be a "full rehabilitation of the road" and indicated that the crews were conducting "deep patching, milling down old asphalt, and adding a new layer on top." Crews also replaced a few concrete panels "to make sure the roads last longer."

Construction was expected to be completed in November of 2024 but it didn't officially end until early 2025.

Lawton's Worst Roads As Voted By You

Roads have always been a hot topic in Lawton. The local government always promises to fix them when elections are at stake, but the improvements never come. It's more of the same crumbling roads and bandaid patches due to what the city describes as "too little funding," even though we continually vote for bonds to satisfy these issues.

Here are the worst commonly used roads in Lawton as voted by you.

Gallery Credit: Kelso