By Andrew Knittle
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — Residents using the section of Robinson Street affected by the $25 million underpass project soon will be forced to use a “shoo-fly” detour to navigate the area, a city official said Tuesday.
Public Works Director Shawn O’Leary said that construction crews have already laid down the roadway and installed street lamps. He said the question of when the new road will be used is out of the city’s control.
“We are kind of at the mercy of BNSF right now,” O’Leary said of the railroad giant, who owns the tracks that knife through the heart of Norman. “Until they do what they need to do, we can’t really do anything. That’s the tricky part of all of this.”
What BNSF needs to do is move the railroad tracks, somewhere between 50 and 100 feet to the east, O’Leary said.
“Once they do that, the ball really starts rolling on this project,” he said.
O’Leary said the section of Robinson Street that’ll be affected by the work is one of the busiest in Norman, with nearly 30,000 vehicles traveling on the roadway every day. He also said 38 trains cross the intersection on a daily basis.
As of right now, O’Leary is expecting the shoo-fly detour on Robinson Street to be open by “mid-October,” and anticipates that it’ll be used by local drivers for “about a year, maybe more.” He said maintaining traffic through the area is of vital importance to the underpass project.
“Early on, it was decided we had to maintain traffic on the railroad and on Robinson Street, and it is a huge part of the project,” he said. “And I think once it’s in use (the new road), it’ll feel just like Robinson did before...people should really not even notice a difference.”
And in case you’ve driven by the construction area and noticed a mammoth hole just south of Robinson Street, you can rest assured that crews aren’t tunneling to Hades.
O’Leary said crews are digging a 40-foot hole to install a massive storm sewer water pump station, a unique facility in Norman.
He said the station is required because Robinson Street will be lowered 20 feet once the project is complete, and flooding could become an issue.
Andrew Knittle 366-3540 aknittle@normantranscript.com
