James Coburn
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND
September 17, 2009 12:26 am
—
The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners unanimously
voted Wednesday to support two City of Edmond transportation federal
stimulus applications for the Kelly at-grade railroad crossing project
and the Covell Road project.
The Recovery Act appropriated $1.5
billion of discretionary grant funds to be awarded by the Department of
Transportation for capital investments in surface transportation
infrastructure.
The first project is the Kelly Avenue and Burlington
Northern Santa Fe railway grade separation project. The second project
is the Covell Road Project from I-35 to Portland Avenue/State Highway
74.
“Edmond continues to grow and Oklahoma County fully supports
these projects to help our residents with traffic issues and the
creation of jobs,” said Ray Vaughn of Edmond, District 3 commissioner.
The
city has identified what it believes to be a traffic hazard caused by
the recent addition of a fly-loop exit for northbound Broadway
Extension to Memorial Road crossing at Kelly. A passing train
potentially could cause traffic to back up from the railroad tracks
onto the Broadway Extension.
The City of Edmond also would need to
get the rights-of-way from Oklahoma City for the Memorial Road crossing
at Kelly, City Manager Larry Stevens said last week. Discussions with
Oklahoma City began three years ago.
Congresswoman Mary Fallin has
made a $16 million federal funding request to complete the Kelly
at-grade crossing following a $20 million request from Mayor Patrice
Douglas earlier this summer. The state potentially would contribute the
additional $2 million needed for the $20 million project.
The City
of Edmond has made grant applications to help fund future construction
of Covell Road as a four-lane thoroughfare. TIGER applications were due
on Tuesday.
Two sections of the $45 million Covell project include
an extension from the Multipurpose Activity Center at Marilyn Williams
Drive to Thomas Drive. The other section would extend from Boulevard to
Interstate 35.
The city has a $10 million budget for the west
section of the project, City Engineer Steve Manek said in August.
Municipalities are competing for the TIGER stimulus funding, he said.
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Posted on
Thu, September 17, 2009
by Crystal Drwenski