The Great Wall of Tulsa

Last year, the state Transportation Department bought and demolished dozens of houses along I-44 between Yale and Sheridan in Tulsa. The reason for demolishing all these very nice homes at taxpayer's expense was supposedly to widen I-44. In the neighborhood today I see that rather than widen the highway they built a wall where the houses used to be, landscaped the area, planted trees and built a walkway to nowhere. The area that used to have beautiful homes and many families in it is now occupied by homeless people and, judging by the graffiti on the wall, gangs. The highway can't be widened unless they tear out the wall and trees they planted. The question is, why are we paying for this kind of idiotic expenditure? I see no beneficial aspects of this expensive boondoogle at all. Was this a case of a contractor needing some business at state expense?