! A new underpass will be coming to the railroad crossing at 4th Street. It will take about 5 years before work is completed.

that's a much needed change but it's going to be a rough 5 years for those who live and work around 4th.

I was surprised to see that Moore rejected a quiet zone.

I was surprised to see that Moore rejected a quiet zone.

I wasn't... most people don't live close enough to the tracks to care and those of us that do don't notice the trains anymore.... not to mention it was a lot of money to implement and we had 5 property tax raising questions on the ballot. Plus once the underpass is built the train will only sound at Main and 12th & 34th Streets.

I'm really still surprised the Prop 1 passed.... I think if it had just been the underpass without the other improvements it would have failed but adding the other street improvements pulled in votes from people that probably hardly ever use 4th Street.

The quiet zone seemed to be way overpriced compared to Norman. Norman did a quiet zone for $300,000 while Moore was asking for over $1,000,000. But, since the overpass won then I assume trains will be blowing their horns less anyways. They can sound at 34th Street, No need to blow at 19th or 4th Street once the overpass is completed. And then that leaves 2 more crossings north of 4th to sound the horn.

I'm happy to see Eastern/Toby Keith get a major facelift. That will be huge.

Are there any updates on the Underpass? The 34th St Bridge has been done quite a while. Thought they were marking lines at the crossing a while back...then nothing. Trains are getting longer & slower.

This was posted to their facebook page about 2 weeks ago. Basics are they are waiting for plans and have started making offers to property owners. They expect the project to take 1.5 to 2 years once it is started.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3556638861033651

It looks like the railroad isn’t eager to cooperate here:

https://oklahoman.com/article/5669105/moore-bnsf-railway-argue-law-conflicts-in-rail-crossing-rebuild-case

It looks like the railroad isn’t eager to cooperate here:

https://oklahoman.com/article/5669105/moore-bnsf-railway-argue-law-conflicts-in-rail-crossing-rebuild-case

Why would they ask the railroad to pay the project's entire cost? I do not blame them for not cooperating

Why would they ask the railroad to pay the project's entire cost? I do not blame them for not cooperatingI thought the city of Moore was paying for it.

I thought the city of Moore was paying for it.

They are but they asked the railroad to pay for the entire project in the article that you posted so I guess Moore do not want to pay for it?

I thought the city of Moore was paying for it.

They are but they asked the railroad to pay for the entire project in the article that you posted so I guess Moore do not want to pay for it?

I took from the article that the city of Moore took out a $28 million bond issue to pay for the project; approached the railroad about cost sharing; the railroad was talking and then backed out; the city found a section of state law that says the city cannot pay over 50% of a railroad project; the city went to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and asked them to make the railroad pay for all of it; the railroad says the city doesn't have the right to control the road because it is also a state highway.

Confused yet? I sure am.

I feel the railroad should pay for at least some of it. It is their trains that are blocking the road. I feel if they really wanted they could have possibly extended their double track down South to at least 34th Street or Indian Hills to allow for trains to stop at a different location that isn't as busy since 19th already has an underpass. But in that scenario they would have to pay all the costs.

I don't blame BNSF. If my neighbor told me he was going to pay for a new fence because he wants one, and then said I should pay half - I would be upset. And then I would be livid if he said sorry, don't pay half just pay for the full thing. Seems like Moore should have done some research and talked to BNSF before selling this to voters.

I don't blame BNSF. If my neighbor told me he was going to pay for a new fence because he wants one, and then said I should pay half - I would be upset. And then I would be livid if he said sorry, don't pay half just pay for the full thing. Seems like Moore should have done some research and talked to BNSF before selling this to voters.

But it's a different situation. This is a fence you installed originally and use everyday, sometimes causing your neighbor pain while you use it.

I definitely think the costs need to be shared, because the city could have approached the railroad a long time ago when these things were originally planned, maybe even correcting the issue before Moore grew to big and made a complete mess out of things.

That's the really sad part. BNSF offered to split 50/50 an underpass @ NE 12th St, 20+ years ago (when 12th was widened to 4 lanes. Moore declined. There was not much East of Eastern then. What do they say about Hindsight ?? also the crossing @ 12th is still single-track. That's why the trains have to stop & wait, blocking Main & 4th.

I hope they can solve it and move on with the project

It was supposed to start a few days ago. It has been Delayed to October according to this

https://spotlight-okdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/d015e0a688604bca9967be957c4fb982/explore
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It was supposed to start a few days ago. It has been Delayed to October according to this

https://spotlight-okdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/d015e0a688604bca9967be957c4fb982/explore
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The picture is too small to read and I could not find it on the website, what does it say?

Barriers are now out on the side of the road. It is about to get started

YAY!!!!! Now, if we can just get 12th street next!

I don't think they have enough room to do one at Main do they? The city building is pretty darn close there. But if they could also get that one, we could basically become a quiet zone without needing to designate it a quiet zone since all of the crossings would be overpasses. How glorious that would be. And safer.


Not sure there's enough street traffic on 34th yet to justify it down there. But give it another 10 years and we may be saying something different. No matter how much you think Moore has filled-in, there's still a lot of farm land that's being sold off (and just outside Moore in the OKC limits) to keep that population increase going for another 50 years at least. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a 4th high school in another 30 years.

I wonder if Norman will ever build underpasses for Tecumseh and Lindsey. IMO those are probably the two streets that need it the most, in that order.

I wonder if Norman will ever build underpasses for Tecumseh and Lindsey. IMO those are probably the two streets that need it the most, in that order.

they should make a plan to do both soon before future development makes it not feasible

I wonder if Norman will ever build underpasses for Tecumseh and Lindsey. IMO those are probably the two streets that need it the most, in that order.

There was a plan for one at Lindsey years ago, but I think it was cancelled due to cost. Tecumseh definitely needs one.

Tecumseh Needs one 100%. especially since it contains US77 at that section.

Moore will likely fill up all its land within 10 years unless there is a land annex. my guess is they will straighten up the southern border with Norman, so they can take advantage of the turnpike.

Moore will likely fill up all its land within 10 years unless there is a land annex. my guess is they will straighten up the southern border with Norman, so they can take advantage of the turnpike.

why would norman want to do this?

Moore will likely fill up all its land within 10 years unless there is a land annex. my guess is they will straighten up the southern border with Norman, so they can take advantage of the turnpike.

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Could you expand on "straighten up the southern boarder" and "take advantage of the turnpike?

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Could you expand on "straighten up the southern boarder" and "take advantage of the turnpike?

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This is what I mean with "straighten up the southern border and taking advantage of the turnpike"

Looks like it is delayed again. this time it has a April 2024 construction let date

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https://spotlight-okdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/d015e0a688604bca9967be957c4fb982/explore

Looks like it is delayed again. this time it has a April 2024 construction let date

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https://spotlight-okdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/d015e0a688604bca9967be957c4fb982/explore

ODOT hasn't updated the ArcGIS pages since June. The latest docs have it going out for bid in October (page8):
https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/odot/web-files/cabol_202308-aug.pdf

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This is what I mean with "straighten up the southern border and taking advantage of the turnpike"

I wonder if there's any appetite to square up the whole city so there's less back and forth business going on with the border. I'm thinking the OKC folks may not want to though.

In Moore, we can't seem to pass the whole recycle thing, so they'd lose that. And it's not as though the surrounding OKC area is struggling in terms of services being provided. I think it would be a hard sell to convince the residents to make the move in those areas, honestly.

Does this project still have a June start date?

I saw some Is dirt work going on West of the tracks and between fourth and main?

Does this project still have a June start date?

ODOT has pushed the contract let date (month) to August. Stated they may push it to September but that’s as far as they can push it. Not sure the reason for the push,

ODOT has pushed the contract let date (month) to August. Stated they may push it to September but that’s as far as they can push it. Not sure the reason for the push,

Railroad related delays. Something to do with the railroad needing permission from Amtrack to cross the temp track at a certain speed. Now its September.


UPDATE:
*Originally scheduled for an April '24 letting, BNSF is waiting on approval from Amtrak to lower the speed on the shoofly that will be needed during construction. This, coupled with the utility relocation still ongoing, required an extension to the letting date of September 2024. Once the contract is awarded, construction typically begins after 90 days.

Railroad related delays. Something to do with the railroad needing permission from Amtrack to cross the temp track at a certain speed. Now its September.
Now it’s October, per the city’s website. Haven’t spoken to the city manager lately to see if there’s been an update to the “it cannot be pushed any further” comment from a couple months ago. Looks like it’ll be at least into 2025 before construction begins.

I really thought they would have the buildings bought out and dozed by now that they need cleared. It doesn't look like anyone has done anything.

As of 6/26, it was still on the Tentative September bid opening list

I really thought they would have the buildings bought out and dozed by now that they need cleared. It doesn't look like anyone has done anything.

They already have the ROW they need. There is a heat and air company that is losing their front entrance, looks like they already built a new parking lot to the side of their building. Sharkey's Scuba and a barber shop are going to be the most affected. I don't see how they can survive without an entrance off of 4th street. Across the street is the Moore Public Schools supply warehouse which has plenty of entrances off of 4th street.

They already have the ROW they need. There is a heat and air company that is losing their front entrance, looks like they already built a new parking lot to the side of their building. Sharkey's Scuba and a barber shop are going to be the most affected. I don't see how they can survive without an entrance off of 4th street. Across the street is the Moore Public Schools supply warehouse which has plenty of entrances off of 4th street.

I would bet the scuba shop has a lot of intentional business ... meaning they will come find it .. and little random stop by business ..

i could see a big negative effect for the barber shop

Official contract let date was a week ago Thursday on 10 October 2024. Could see construction start in 90 days.

We’ll see,

Just hope 12th is next.

Just hope 12th is next.
I’m not going to say “it’ll never happen” but it’ll never happen. Far too much would be affected by an underpass there to justify it.

All things considered, after 4th is complete Moore will have three RR underpasses.

It took a long time just for the 4th street overpass to happen. The 4th street overpass was badly needed because trains would stop on the road while they waited for permission to move forward again. I don't think they stop on the road at 12th street.

It took a long time just for the 4th street overpass to happen. The 4th street overpass was badly needed because trains would stop on the road while they waited for permission to move forward again. I don't think they stop on the road at 12th street.
They definitely block 12th just not as often as 4th and Main.

With the addition of the underpass at 4th and the additional track being added in Norman (around Robinson) hopefully the amount of times 12th gets blocked will come down. No luck for Main Street travelers though. Thankfully that’s not a high traffic crossing.

I would argue that 12th does get blocked quite a bit. I cannot tell you the number of times ive ended up going up Pole Rd because the train is just sitting there blocking 12th. It amazes me that they are still doing that when there is so stinking much rail line around for them to sit on without doing that. The fact that you can go up pole, over 27th, and back down eastern, and still beat the train, is very telling.

Now does that happen multiple times a day? No. But getting that underpass done would also mean that everything but Main would be free-flowing without a blockage. And that would be VERY lovely.

As you said, Main is so lightly traveled anyway, it doesn't matter. And 4th is close enough that it really doesn't matter if Main is ever done.

I don’t cross at 12th near as often as I used to but enough to notice that it seems like Main gets blocked the most, then 4th, then 12th.

Back before the city announced the proposal for the underpass at 4th they had a study done to determine which road (4th or 12th) would be better for the underpass. For numerous reasons the study indicated 4th over 12th but one of the reasons against 12th was the number of businesses it would affect. As I refer to the underpass at 4th and overlay it at 12th I just don’t see how an underpass can be justified there.

Yes, it would cost more for 12th because they would have to buy out more of the businesses near that intersection. HiTech would have to go, at least half of that development where Doggie Styles is would have to go. And depending how they do it, part of the land for Del Rea would too. And they have a dock right against the tracks there.

honestly, its more about the entrances and exist for the plots than the plots themselves. I think Del Rea is actually fine. And that Doggie Styles lot actually has an entrance off of Pole (i think that's what it is on that side...or just a parking lot??) that's far enough away that it would work. The big one is HiTech and that blasting service next door. Not only them, but the entire string of storage facilities up the side of the tracks. There really isn't another way to route that. And it might be a bit of a stretch to get the new entrance on the basting companies' lot without pissing off every house next to it too. Or even without having to buy up some of those houses. That's probably the one that was the deal killer, if I had to guess.

This is finally happening. The City of Moore posted on social media that construction will begin in early 2025. The completion in Summer of 26.

The increased traffic on 12th and 19th street because of this will be a nightmare for 2 years, not looking forward to this.

I wonder if they're going to put a temporary railroad crossing there like they did Robinson and Norman when they were constructing the overpass there?

I wonder if they're going to put a temporary railroad crossing there like they did Robinson and Norman when they were constructing the overpass there?

There will be a temporary shoofly for the railroad tracks, but 4th street will be fully closed and detoured throughout construction.

I wonder if they're going to put a temporary railroad crossing there like they did Robinson and Norman when they were constructing the overpass there?
Initially that was the plan but at some point that idea was abandoned.

In the past week, Allen Contracting has built a fenced-in staging area next to Randal's heat and air. The 4th Street underpass project should start here in the next couple of weeks.

It has begun