The City of Norman held a public meeting Thursday night to discuss the possible expansion of Lindsey Street.
Widening a section of Lindsey has been in the works since 2005 and will be completed by December of 2011, said Shawn O’Leary, director of public works for the City of Norman.
“[The] reason is to address existing traffic issues, storm drainage and to make it more aesthetically pleasing,” he said.
The expansion would take place from east of Jenkins Avenue and extend to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks west of Classen Boulevard.
Lonnie Ferguson, director for the project, said the project would make Lindsey Street safer, but there will be an impact during construction.
“We’re not going to close Lindsey for a long period of time,” he said. “Maybe one or two days.”
The project is in early stages and the meeting was held to hear comments from the public and fulfill environmental requirements for the federal government.
The project was on a ballot three years ago and the voters decided for the $6 million project.
“They gave us the green light so there is very little to keep us from finishing [this project],” O’Leary said.
The plans will include a raised, landscaped center median and two biking/hiking lanes, which will extend 10 feet on either side of the street.
OU will partner with the City of Norman to plant the landscaping.
“[The plans] fit nicely into the priorities of campus,” O’Leary said.
Football traffic was also a concern for the public works department.
O’Leary said the department understands the importance of Lindsey Street as a way to and from football games and tried to schedule the project according to the OU football season.
“We don’t want to impose on the football season in any negative way,” he said.
O’Leary said construction conducted during football season will not impede traffic.
Outside of football season, traffic could become more congested, Ferguson said.
Brandt Park, located on the north side of Lindsey Street, will lose some of its area due to the widening, which has caused alarm among some citizens.
The project will take some land from the park, but O’Leary said the park and the Duck Pond should not be highly affected.
“The duck pond is a sensitive area of campus, but I think our plan fits nicely,” he said.
Norman resident Madge Amspacher said she doesn’t think the project would be an improvement.
“I don’t like the idea of having to drive three blocks [to a stoplight on George Avenue] to wind up almost where I started,” she said.
Amspacher’s neighbor, Mary McCracken, said she attended the meeting because she wasn’t positive on her feelings toward the project. Both Amspacher and McCracken live on McKinley Avenue, across from Brandt Park and the Duck Pond.
“It’ll look nice,” McCracken said. “The light on George will be an improvement.”
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
soonerd 3 years, 7 months ago
I think we should tunnel lindsey street under its current location through campus. Getting from the dorms to class across lindsey is a hassle and getting across town on lindsey takes forever, with the biggest snag being campus. A little extreme? Perhaps, but it would be a big leauge move for a growing city.