ODOT Gearing Up for Next Phase of I-35 Widening in Norman

Road construction, road widening, no exit signs and traffic congestion is becoming a fact of life in Norman.

Thursday, September 17th 2009, 4:53 pm

By: News 9


By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Road construction, road widening, no exit signs and traffic congestion is becoming a fact of life in Norman.

A year ago this month the Oklahoma Department of Transportation met with Norman citizens at the Embassy Suites Hotel about plans for redoing the exits at Main and Lindsey streets.

ODOT promised, in response to concerns, that the Lindsey Street exit would not be closed. ODOT said it will keep that promise when it unveils its revised plans at another meeting Thursday night.

For a year now traffic has been a main topic in town. A widening project along Interstate 35 from Indian Hills Road to Main Street causes all kinds of congestion at rush hour and on game days.

"If I notice there's going to be a delay, I just go ahead and take a detour," said Norman resident Shaida Khanleo. "It's sometimes a long way."

"It's very packed to packed, then going northbound this morning we was in it about two and a half hours, bumper to bumper," said Norman resident Randall Tipton.

This project will end next summer. But ahead there are the ticklish projects for the bridges at Main and Lindsey streets. ODOT says its designs are simple and will cause little, if any, disruption to property.

Business owners in the area, like Doug Kennon, owner of Sooner Legends, got a look at the plans Thursday afternoon.

"For our side of the highway there would be no displacement and actually there would be a lot of land gained for greenbelts and you know entrances, you know, threes and things like that," Kennon said.

The final price tag for all the I-35 road projects through Norman will exceed $150 million.

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