A stop light, or two, and a four-lane road are in the future for NE 10th Street to help with traffic issues at Choctaw High School.
On Tuesday, council members approved the necessary items to proceed with widening the street from a two-lane road. One was a contract with Traffic Engineering Consultants for up to $37,000 and another with Allen Engineering Services, Inc. for $54,250.
City Manager Roger Nelson said the contract with TEC will look at the number of students, faculty, staff and busses coming and going throughout the day, particularly when school lets out and during the morning rush. They also will look at all other traffic – people on their way to work, he added.
"Their [TEC] work is tied to the traffic signal(s) that may or may not be required," Nelson said. "The city engineer is pretty sure there will need to be a signal at the exit from the parking lot, but without the study, we can’t be sure it would meet warrants."
Nelson explained that if the traffic light does not meet warrants and the city still puts it up, this creates potential liability problems.
TEC also will look at whether or not a second traffic light is needed and meet warrants at any of the other entrances/exits to the school.
"If two signals are needed, they will also develop a timing plan to link the signals so that traffic moves," Nelson said. "This contract could be as little as $19,000 or as much as $37,000, depending on the need for the second signal."
The second contract the city approved deals with the more technical side of the project, Nelson said. Allen Engineering Services will look at the right-of-way, drainage, etc. and then draw up the plans for the project the city will use to go out for bid on the project.
Much needed improvement
Five years ago, the Choctaw-Nicoma Park school district put in a turning lane on the south side of 10th Street to help traffic move along.
Superintendent Jim McCharen said the lane addition was for buses to use for line up and to get them off of 10th Street.
While helpful, the lane still does not remedy the overall traffic situation at Choctaw High School.
McCharen said the city’s pursuit of a traffic light and widening of 10th is "long overdue."
"We’ve been advocating for this a number of years," he said. "Traffic in front of CHS is a mess, so we are absolutely thrilled that the city is doing this."
