By John Dobberstein, Editor
An $8 million project to widen Albany Street between Lynn Lane to County Line roads is expected to begin next fall and could take as long as a year, but likely less.
About 25 city residents showed Thursday at the Nienhouse Park Community Center to hear city engineers and consultants provide an overview of the project, which is being paid for with $3.75 million of federal funds and $4.3 million in 2014 GO Bond money.
The project design is 90% complete but needs review to ensure it meeds federal and state requirements. Utility relocation is also nearly completed. The tenative start date for construction is October 2022, as the city wants to avoid overlapping with a current construction project on Albany Street from 23rd to 37th streets.
No major objections to the project were raised by residents, although some are apprehensive about being able to enter and exit their neighborhoods as needed. The city said there are no plans to shut down any neighborhood entrances, although there be be some minor inconveniences or detours on occasion.
One resident predicted more traffic will shift to N. 12th Street because it may be difficulit for Fairway Park residents to turn left from N. 16th Street onto a five-lane road. The city will be adding a traffic light at 12th and Albany and adding a dedicated right-hand turn lane on 12th Street as well to accommodate the need.
The city’s transportation services manager, Travis Small, says improvements will also be done on County Line Road and 21st Street going north.
Among the improvements are:
• Relacing the street light at County Line and Albany Street to accommodate the wider intersection;
• Curb and gutter with an enclosed storm sewer system
• Sidewalks on the north side of Albany Street
• A new waterline
• A brand new traffic signal and crosswalks at 12th Street in front of the Early Childhood Center
A bevy of environmental studies were required for the project that included cultural resources, tribal coordination, jurisdictional waters and wetlands, flooplains, threatened and endangered species, hazardous materials and noise.
The city did find one unnamed tributary of Adams Creek so a permt from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be required for the project.
No business or residences were relocated and one lane of traffic will be kept open in each direction during the project with business access maintained.
The construction projects will certainly affect the ingress and egress of vehicles during school days and before and after Tiger football games. But Small says the city has been in frequently contact with the Broken Arrow Public Schools and that dialogue will continue. Crews are pushing to get the current Albany Street construction done before the first day of school, he noted.
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