Owasso holds public hearing to add East 86th Street widening to Capital Improvements eligibility

JJ Dawson, reading the Capital Improvements Committee recommendation, told the council the committee voted unanimously to recommend including the East 86th Street North widening project on the list of projects eligible for Capital Improvement Fund dollars and opened the hearing for citizen input.

Roger Stevens gave an overview of the likely scope: widening from four lanes with a center turn lane toward six lanes with additional turn lanes, traffic signal improvements, a multi-use trail and sidewalk work, and stormwater conveyance upgrades. Stevens said the corridor carries about 25,000 vehicles per day and presented planning and inflation assumptions that produced a construction estimate of $12,525,000 and noted the city has received a $4,000,000 grant that will help offset costs.

Stevens described the next steps if the council approves the amendment: budget funding for the engineering phase (about 12 months to design), right-of-way acquisition and utility relocations, then a multi-year construction phase that could take around four years to complete. No members of the public spoke during the hearing and the mayor closed the public comment portion after the presentation.

What happens next: The council has the matter on the agenda to consider funding and the engineering phase at a subsequent meeting; staff indicated the project would proceed through standard engineering, right-of-way and utility coordination steps if the council designates it eligible for CIP funding.