4th Street Railroad Underpass

UPDATE: 04/02/25 SE4th has closed for the duration of the project. It is anticipated to be completed the end of summer 2026. 

UPDATE: 03/10/25 The project is currently in the first phase which will take two to three weeks to complete the reconstruction of the westbound lanes of SE 4th/Highway 37 between Turner Ave and Tower Road.  Once Phase I is complete, it is expected that the closing of SE 4th St will begin in the first few days of April.  SE 4th St/Highway 37 will be shut down between the east side of Broadway and the west side of Turner Ave.  until the end of the project.  Expected completion is 18-20 months from the start. 
 

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 October 10, 2024 with board approval scheduled for November 4, 2024. Once the contract is awarded, construction typically begins after 90 days.

About the Project

$27.9 million in General Obligations bonds were approved in June of 2018 for the 4th Street Railroad Underpass project. There are multiple phases to this project and there is no deadline for the project completion. The 90% engineering plans have been submitted to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and BNSF Railroad for their review. Even though it is a City of Moore project, because it involves the railroad and State Highway 37, BNSF and ODOT have primary jurisdiction. The City is currently in the property acquisition phase which originally started in 2020 with appraising the properties impacted by the project. The overwhelming majority of the properties needed for construction of the project have been obtained. Utility relocation is nearing completion with only OG&E and Cox waiting on approval from BNSF to relocate their lines. ODOT is scheduled to let the contracts in June of 2024*. 
 

Leveraging Grant Funding

It’s important to remember that we are only issuing the bonds as they are needed. To date, $8.2 million of the total $27.9 million has been issued for engineering costs, property acquisition, and reconstruction of Turner Ave. The City has approved an agreement (Resolution No. 988(21)) with ODOT and BNSF where ODOT will provide up to $15M in funding for this project, a portion of which was awarded through a RAISE grant. This agreement makes it much less likely that we will issue the full amount of $27.9 million for this project. However, how much less we cannot say at this time. All unissued bonds would therefore not show up on the property tax rolls.

Turner Ave widening and reconstruction project began April 15th of 2022 with the improvements to the drainage system and the addition of a concrete box structure. Turner Ave road work will consist of a new concrete street section with bike lanes in each direction and sidewalks on each side of the street. This project also includes water and sewer improvements which have already been completed. This project must take place in order to provide adequate detour options once 4th Street closes for the underpass construction.