NORMAN — The Robinson Street Underpass Project currently under way from Flood Avenue to Stubbeman Avenue is one project approved by Norman voters in the 2005 Bond Election. By securing funding with the bond, city staff was able to qualify for federal funding on each of the projects in that bond package.
Now, city leaders are considering another transportation bond proposal to address some of Norman’s most pressing traffic and flooding issues. Bonds help cities qualify for more federal money by providing matching funds.
A Norman Community Transportation Survey — instituted by the city and conducted by ETC Institute — indicates that 48 percent of respondents throughout Norman are “extremely likely” to support a bond issue to address transportation projects. An additional 32 percent said they are “somewhat likely” to support such a bond, and 9 percent are neutral.
That 80 percent support is a strong statement, Norman Public Works Director Shawn O’Leary said.
The Norman City Council is considering a package of eight transportation projects. Staff expects federal dollars to pay for more than half the cost.
“The bond interest rates are at historic lows, the project costs are bidding in at historic lows and these are projects that we need to do in order to address the congestion problem that most people in Norman complain about,” Council member Tom Kovach said. “It’s not going to get any cheaper, and planning ahead like this will allow us to have $38 million in funding from the federal government before those dollars dry up.”
The package the council is looking at would ask voters to approve $33 million in bonds. Federal dollars would make up more than half of the $71.6 million in total cost.
One of the most expensive and badly needed projects — according to council members, city staff and Norman survey respondants — is a combination drainage and street widening on Lindsey Street between 24th Avenue Southwest to Berry Road. That project total is the largest in the proposed bond package, coming in at $21.5 million.
“By combining the drainage and street improvements together, we are able to access more federal funds,” O’Leary said, “and we are only disrupting the corridor one time.”
The Lindsey Street project would be done in one year, he said.
Norman residents have become discouraged over the years with efforts to deal with local drainage and flooding along this corridor, but Kovach and O’Leary said this new approach will work.
“We will discharge the runoff directly into the Canadian River,” O’Leary said. “That concept has never been talked about before.”
The plan to discharge into the Canadian will dovetail with improvements the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will make to Interstate 35.
“We’re not going to add another drop of water to Imhoff, which is already overburdened,” Kovach said. “This is going to be a big relief for a lot of people who have been burdened for the last 30 or 40 years.”
“It’s not just drainage, it’s not just nuisance water, it’s flooding, and it is certainly a safety concern,” O’Leary said.
Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said that the drainage issues associated with the Lindsey Street project reach beyond McGee Drive and Lindsey.
“There’s no other way that we could do this without interrupting lots more business,” Council member Carol Dillingham said.
If the city council approves the bond package, it will come before voters on June 26.
Joy Hampton 366-3539 jhampton@ normantranscript.com
