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OUDAILY
For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma
ANDERSON OUT FOR SEASON • 3
NAVIGATING NORMAN Road construction won’t clear up anytime soon
NORMAN BUSINESSES FEELING AN IMPACT
Because so much of Norman is under construction, The Daily put together a guide to some of the roads that are closed and under construction. Here’s how to interpret our map: 1
Denotes a business, which will line up with a quote to the right Denotes a road closure — take a detour or alternate route Denotes an area under construction — you might hit traffic here
We asked Norman business owners and managers how citywide road construction has affected their businesses. Here’s what they said: 1. Ross Dress for Less Frankie Henthorn, store manager: “We’ve been impacted significantly. We’re hard to get to, so a lot of people just go to the Moore Ross instead. They reconstructed Ed Noble Parkway right in front of us last month, so pretty much the last 30 to 90 days have been terrible.” 2. Home Depot Jack Lacey, operations manager: “Very much so. (It started) probably right when the construction started. We have probably 10 calls a day asking, ‘what’s the best way to get there?’ It started when the overpass was closed.”
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3. Gaberino’s Homestyle Italian Laura Duprez, owner: “Business is down, honestly. It’s hard to know what to attribute that to— hard to know what the reason is. There are a lot of new restaurants in the University Town Center, which I think people are checking out, so I think that has hurt business a little bit. The construction — I’m glad we’re not on Lindsey Street, for sure.”
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4. Boot Barn Becky Allen, assistant manager: “Oh, it’s killed us. It’s affected our business a lot — it has dropped dramatically. (It started) whenever they closed down Lindsey — when they were working on Main Street, it was just a little bad. Customers have complained. They’re used to following the billboards, and now they can’t do that because the exits to get here are closed.” 5. Applebee’s Kevin Ford, manager: “It actually hasn’t. Chili’s closed about a month ago on this side of town. Our business stayed the same. We’re hoping to see more growth when construction ends, but for now, the construction on the outer road hasn’t even affected us.” For more responses from local businesses, go to oudaily.com. compiled by: Emma Keith, @shakeitha_97
“Norman is investing millions of dollars in infrastructure in the community to enhance the quality of life and improve infrastructure for many years to come. In terms of utility projects, this is a rather large one.” CLAUDIA DEAKINS, NORMAN‘S CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
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TANNER OSBORNE • @TANNEROSBEAR
ngoing construction projects across No r m a n h av e l e f t many city streets closed and congested, and the work will not be finished soon. Claudia Deakins, Norman’s chief communications officer, said some of the construction projects around the city are for road improvement, while others are utility projects. Many of these projects have caused portions of streets to close or have created heavier traffic than normal. Deakins said some of the street closures are due to routine street maintenance, and some are part of a Robinson Street waterline replacement project. Others, she added, are a result of a repair program financed with federal relief funds. The various projects are being handled by different organizations. The construction at the Lindsey Street bridge, which goes over Interstate 35, is being ma na g e d by t h e O k l a h o ma Department of Transportation. The waterline replacement project is a city project and has
resulted in a number of lane and median closings along Robinson Street, Deakins said. A road improvement project, managed by the city, has resulted in lane closures on Main Street between Flood Avenue and Pickard Avenue. According to a June press release from the city of Norman, that construction will last for several months. However, at least one lane in each direction will remain open for traffic. The Lindsey Street ramps off I-35 are closed and will remain closed until early 2017, said Cody Boyd, a spokesman for the ODOT. Highway 9 is also undergoing an improvement project, which is being handled by ODOT. A short span of Berry Road is also closed just south of Robinson Street. A construction endeavor of this magnitude does not come without cost. The waterline replacement project, responsible for the closures of several Robinson Street junctions, will cost $3.4 million, Deakins said. “Norman is investing millions of dollars in infrastructure in the community to enhance the
quality of life and improve infrastructure for many years to come,” Deakins said. “In terms of utility projects, this is a rather large one.” Deakins said the current waterline is deteriorating, especially between 24th Avenue Northwest and 36th Avenue Northwest, and due to the deteriorated state, the waterline could burst and cause unplanned road closures. Boyd said studies from past years show that about 155,000 vehicles use I-35 each day in Oklahoma, and between 80,000 and 90,000 vehicles go through the Lindsey Street ramp area of I-35 every day. He added that onsite engineers have seen more congestion on Highway 9 and Main Street due to the closing of the Lindsey Street on-ramp. “It’s a very complex project, trying to keep traffic moving throughout,” Boyd said. Despite the road closures around the city, some OU freshmen who moved in Aug. 18 were not bothered by it. Freshman Rachel Willmann said traffic was bad getting into the city. However, after
getting through the rough patches, Willmann said the simplicity of the move-in process made up for the heavy traffic. Inte r i o r d e sig n f re s h ma n Norma Gomez said the traffic was not bad getting in. “It was a pretty good flow,” Gomez said. “It wasn’t that kind of stuck-in-place traffic … It was flowing, but a bit slow.” Boyd said ODOT is communicating with OU about what streets and detours would be most effective for rerouting traffic during construction. There were no special plans put into place to accommodate move-in day traffic, he said. Boyd said ODOT will keep an eye out for football traffic in the coming weeks as OU’s season nears. “There will definitely be some growing pains this year,” Boyd said. Tanner Osborne
tannerosborne84@gmail.com