The City of Norman announced Thursday that construction to convert Gray Street into a two-way street will begin on Aug. 5.
According to a press release, the construction will begin on the north side of Gray Street at Porter Avenue on Monday. The project will continue from Porter Avenue to University Boulevard and is expected to be completed in August 2025.
Map of Gray Street construction.
Map of Gray Street construction.
The project has been in the works for about two years, Green Feather Books proprietor Heather Hall said, but no further updates were given to business owners.
Green Feather Books opened in August 2022, around the same time construction was first announced, but Hall said the estimated date changed over time.
“We thought it was gonna happen originally in the summer of 2022, and then they pushed for another year,” Hall said. “At some point, you just stop anticipating when it’s going to happen because they’ve been talking about this change for many years. I just assumed that it had fallen off the to-do list.”
Hall said she found out on Friday when construction will start. She said that she had called several city council members to find out what was going to happen but got no response.
“(I know) they’re busy, so can they call one business owner back? Probably not. But it would have been nice to have an update on when they were doing that,” Hall said.
Sergio Garcia, owner of Sergio’s Italian Bistro, said the project has been postponed for a while, but it wasn’t until Thursday morning that he found out the construction was going to take place.
“Someone opened the door (and said) ‘We have a sign saying the project will start on August 5,’” Garcia said.
Garcia said he’s happy about the improvements because it’ll make his business more accessible for customers, and as long as the construction doesn’t block the street, he doesn’t think it will impact business negatively.
According to the release, construction will include new roadway striping, reconfiguration of angled parking along the street and new signalization equipment at intersections and railroad crossings. The project will also incorporate streetscape elements similar to those being implemented along Porter Avenue and Main Street.
Lindsey Street saw a two-year construction project from 2016 to 2018 that significantly affected small-business owners in that area. Hall believes the city learned a lot from that project, and since the Gray Street construction is smaller, she said she thinks it won’t affect businesses.
“The Lindsey Street project was absolutely devastating,” Hall said. “I’m not sure that there was a way for them to plan that differently though, since they were redoing and rebuilding an entire bridge. We don’t have that over in our little area, so hopefully it’s very seamless.”
The project will cost $5.3 million and be funded through the city’s 2019 Transportation Bond Program, which was approved with 66.3% of residents’ votes.
According to the release, access to businesses and adjacent properties are a priority during the construction.
Hall said she can’t help being worried about plans that could affect the way people access the business, but in the long run, there’s a chance the project will help develop the street for the better and positively impact the store.
“Our street has been growing in terms of business development, but we still have a fair amount of empty retail spaces or empty business spaces,” Hall said. “I think this change will actually be really helpful.”
Matthew Moore and Avery Avery copy edited this story.
Ana Barboza profiles businesses, organizations and individual community members that are influential to OU and the Norman community. Her goal is to tell the stories of the hidden gems Norman and OU have to offer. Ana can be contacted at Acbarbozab@gmail.com.