The city of Norman received full funding from multiple sources for nine public works projects, including $12,383,480 for transportation improvements.
Of this funding, $821,961 is allocated for transit vehicle replacement, $7,500,000 for improvements at the West Tecumseh Road, North Flood Avenue and 24th Avenue Northwest intersection, and $4,061,519 for East Constitution Street improvements.
According to the city website, the public works department uses six divisions to evaluate and identify present and future community needs. The department received an American Public Works Association accreditation in 2010, as well as reaccreditation in 2014, 2019 and 2023, making the city of Norman the first agency in Oklahoma to earn the award.
Norman Public Works Director Scott Sturtz said construction for the Tecumseh, Flood and 24th Avenue intersection and the East Constitution Street improvements are set to begin in 2029.
“That’s the year that the funding is available for us. They go a few years out in advance to allow you the time to get designs done and environmental studies, and then be ready to expend the funds in that year, so they’d both be out in that time frame,” Sturtz said.
According to Sturtz, the city is ahead of schedule on designs for both projects. The next step is meeting the grant guidelines.
“Because this is federal funding, through (the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program), we have to go through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation guidelines … so there are certain steps that we have to meet. …We’ll be working with them on that time frame and when to move forward with those,” Sturtz said.
According to Sturtz, the department is set to provide the Oklahoma Department of Transportation with 30% of plans within the next five months.
East Constitution Street improvements, which residents voted to approve in the 2019 Bond Project, runs through the university’s Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
“We’ve been working a lot with our partners at the University of Oklahoma to make sure that the plans that we are coming up with are acceptable to them and not going to interfere with their operations,” Strutz said. “We’ll be doing some improvements. We’ll also be adding a stoplight at (the intersection of Constitution and Oak Tree Avenue), which will make it safer for people who are using bikes or walking to try to get to campus from the student housing south of there and south of Highway 9.”
Student housing that could be impacted includes The 2900, Hampton Woods Apartments, The Ave and Alight 12th Ave.
Sturtz said that a Rock Creek Entertainment tax increment financing district study identified the Tecumseh, Flood and 24th Avenue intersection as a “trouble spot.” According to the 2024 Traffic Impact Analysis, future improvements at the intersection are necessary to accommodate further development.
“Their traffic study said that there needed to be improvements at those intersections, …” Sturtz said. “We see lots of problems in that area, lots of congestion, especially around our rush hour times.”
Both the construction and the TIF district would be located in Ward 8, for which Scott Dixon serves as the city council member. According to Dixon, a significant portion of the $230 million TIF district would go towards the construction project.
“That $230 million TIF,… $40 million of that is for road and infrastructure upgrades, both on Tecumseh and Rock Creek and 24th, …” Dixon said.
Dixon also said construction will help lessen traffic jams at the intersection.
“I fully believe that the vast majority of Ward 8 residents and a lot of Ward 6 will be fine with the construction because that, in my opinion, is probably the absolute worst intersection in Norman. So I think everybody will just be excited that something’s happening to help,” Dixon said.
According to Sturtz, the city is considering ways to alleviate any temporary congestion caused by construction.
“Construction has always had a negative impact on travel because you have to close lanes, or you know, be putting people into other lanes and moving around differently, …” Sturtz said. “They’ll both be able to handle the capacity and the type of traffic they have much better in the future once they’re completed.”
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Audrey McClour. Ryan Little and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
