um first slide shows uh the city in its entirety kind of hard to see with the lights on I don't know if they can be adjusted or not dim half of it but you'll see the uh what what in my opinion is a little bit deceptive about this um slide is that the big hot spots to the eastern part of the city look like they're the worst because they have the biggest hot spots but they're really not the worst um those hotpots are larger because you have to capture a larger area in order to get enough concentration of collisions for it to be a hot spot so you'll see Highway 9 which which is a problem area for us but you'll see hot spots that are you know 2 and a half miles long in order to get 100 collisions in the course of the year does that make sense M so it's not as it's not as bad as far as numbers of collisions as say 24th in Maine where you have a large concentration of of collisions but a smaller dot on the map right yeah M uh this divides the city so that you're just looking at the urban area I'm yeah the urban area and so it shows you that that the worst Collision hotpots that we have are uh Main Street on the 24th Avenue West 12th Avenue East and the downtown areas if you look up to the north just a little bit on Robinson Street you'll see and and there's been a lot of construction there that's made it better but you'll see that from Crossroads over to in 24th Avenue West we had lots of collision anybody who's lived here very long knows that that's been a problem area for us but the uh the re-engineering they've done has made it quite a bit better but historically it's it's a spot to be concerned with and what factors would you say um for why Maine and 24th or why downtown has a lot of collisions or 12th in Alam I would say downtown is going to have lots of people pulling in backing out um there are lots of cross streets that are close together um just the high traffic volume people trying to pull into a turning SP a parking space in the Middle Lane instead of you know one of the outside Lanes there just a lot of things like that happen that uh result in lots of crashes anytime you have an intersection and there's lots of them down there we we have more crashes and C Grant so we're talking car crashes does this also maybe include like pedestrians or cyclists getting hit yes okay anything that involves a vehicle hitting something or somebody it doesn't have to be two cars could be a bicycle a pedestrian do we see a lot of pedestrian accidents in downtown versus other areas of the city or I don't have those stats with me but speaking from experience I don't know that it's worse there I would be more uh likely to say that it's going to be in those areas like campus Corner perhaps be worse than downtown and then bicyclists do you have a general idea of where like is it out in the side roads when they're trying to ride in the country have I'm sorry finish your question or the other thought was in town too but yeah the the more serious accidents are are in the bike paths out east okay um and again this is from experience I haven't pulled those stats um but the higher volume are going to be around campus and around downtown where you you have bicyclists going across crosswalks and things like that they'll get knocked off their bike but not usually U seriously injured yeah yeah oh thank you makes sense okay and the contrast between orange and red is more intensity and like key the Keith says in the corner the the dark red brownish color is is the highest and there there will be a slide with actual numbers in a couple minutes at one time uh maybe it still is but 24th in Maine was the busiest intersection traffic per day I don't know if it still is or I think you could argue if you have that on hand but Robinson 24th probably okay I know it's multiple Lanes wide and on all four corners there so I know so that is the busiest intersection in the city as far as number of cars per day and it looks like it's the highest accident prone as well so I don't know what improvements we might be able to think about that could be done there it's already divided to and at two of the legs so um okay that's I think it's real interesting I think it the part of Highway 9 that seems to be signalized and has more congestion on it seems to have a lower rate of collisions on it perhaps certainly serious collisions as well yeah okay the other area I didn't mention to the northern part of the city with all of the construction I think that's going on on Northwest 24th you'll see the flood and uh and tumsa area we have got a lot of crashes there this a hot spot map that talks about or shows you out east and it kind of gives you some of the numbers um and you see the total count up in the top left corner where 705 collisions um over from 2019 to 2024 um and like I said before in order to get 100 collisions in the The Hot Spot in the bottom left on Highway 9 UM you had to stretch that out it looks like almost four miles uh to get the the the volume of collisions it's the seriousness of collisions that are a real problem on Highway 9 yeah that's kind of want to want partly drill into was uh there may be fewer overall based on traffic volume but how much more severe result and Highway 9 and Alama I think are two the the big uh CU I feel like anytime I hear about a fatality Collision in Norman on the news it's always high dy I know they happen in other places in the city but that's seems to happen more often for sure another version of the same hot spot map just different years they go back to 2016 instead of 2019 and you see that it holds true that these same spots have been the problem areas for us what this demonstrates here you have the hotpots with numbers for the city the urban part of Norman um you see the downtown area being the highest with 511 in that period from 2019 to 2024 um I talked about the uh the area that's been kind of fixed there on Robinson at the interstate those numbers I expect to see them go down in the next few years as far as um as far as being you know if you when we redo this in the future they won't be as high uh and so the downtown ones again are probably low speed or lower speed or not as many injury accidents lots of fender benders more of them but less less harmful I guess we still have people that will uh have an airbag give them airbag rash or cause a bloody nose or something but as far as serious broken bones and internal injuries you don't see nearly as many of those okay this just list the uh intersections um for those who are not familiar with the map and can't read the the the terms on the map are too small this shows you where they where they are in the city is that in order or um just a list of the top on it's just a list okay yeah it's not anywhere if it were the downtown streets would be on top yeah and I used to get a lot of complaints about am Brandon Boulevard and Highway or Highway 77 before the OD do did some improvements to control the Turning movements and I don't really hear those complaints anymore from that spot but it used to be pretty bad this I do believe is the last slide and it's just overall numbers from uh year to year of collisions by month um I think uh I think as I look at it what stands out to me is in the summer months when when there are not as many young people in Norman uh numbers go down a little bit uh I think it just stands to reason I know I have uh kids and when I had to pay for their insurance when they're young uh because they CRA they're more likely to crash it costs more money to insure young people uh they just drive a little bit more aggressively I guess so I think when uh when school's out our collegiance go down not to mention the fact there just not as many people in town and I know the data doesn't specifically list out fatalities but in your experience in 30 years as a police officer in Norman is Highway 9 where you would say most of them yes absolutely and I did bring I can give this to you if you would like it I would I requested uh the fatality count by year yeah I have it going back to 2016 if you'd like those numbers so in 2016 we had seven fatalities 17 we had eight 18 we had nine and 19 went down to four in 2020 we had 12 21 was 8 22 was 15 and 23 was 11 okay so far this year we have only one reported I'll give that out with a caveat um the way fatalities are recorded um if uh if you're involved in a collision and that Collision causes your death anytime in the next 12 months then it's a fatality Collision so those numbers could go up later okay if someone's seriously injured in a crash yesterday but it takes them six months to actually pass away that Collision will be a fatality Collision okay so those numbers can change a little bit interesting how it uh there was such a increase in 2020 and a lot of you would think that I guess with things being shut down there'd be less people out but maybe there were more people driving around the maybe I misspoke the 2020 was eight okay I'm sorry I'm sorry no you're correct 2020 was 12 2021 it went down to eight okay Nationwide research has shown that in in the co year 2020 people drove a lot faster because they thought there was a perception that there were Road it's interesting why we don't we don't like to use a lot of data from 2020 it's kind of SCH that way okay um so okay I appreciate the presentation and the info from that side um I don't know if Scott or if you if you or David want would like to from what I saw that are we needing to make some sort of recommendation to OD do about if we want to see changes on Highway nine or I don't know if I one thing that we had talked about before my coming here with the chief was the recommendation of a of a a cable barrier perhaps you know some of the some of those accidents where people go left of center are catastrophic accidents and our last one was a head I think the last two were that going across the center so um but I was unclear that ODOT needed us to make some sort of recomend recommendation but I I think I'm happy to or I think there's multiple options um I think that certainly we can make recommendations in the past we've made recommendations along Highway 9 and along Highway 77 uh we're currently working with our partners at OD do to put signal down at uh postak Road in 77 because we see a need there and they're Cooperative when we come to them with those suggestions uh they'll look at it sometimes they don't always agree we've got another location in town that they're saying I don't think that's really needed yet uh we have reached out to our partners at OD do and ask them to please do a safety audit on Highway 9 and they be part H which which will be a part of but we have requested a safety audit of Highway 9 that'll bring us a lot more information uh a lot more clarity along with some potential suggestions of what could be done uh through that Corridor okay um and I think I would like for us to maybe think about overall improvements we could make not just on Highway 9 but I don't know what we could do at 24th in Maine but we we have an ongoing project at 20 at uh well not at 24th in Maine but some of the other hotpots for example we're already looking at Tuma uh the flood in 24th that whole area uh we've got studies going on there uh obviously we're just moving a lot of people a lot of different turning movements in a lot of different in a very small area uh we're working through that area we're also looking at some of the other hot spots at you know is there a need for right turn Lanes additional left turn Lanes uh so we look at a lot of these intersections pretty regularly to see if there's things we can do we also do a lot of work looking at signal timing see if there's things we can do to increase safety with signal timing so you know we're we're always evaluating and looking forward and see what we can do to increase the safety in our corridors if there's also a way if we could if we can see like since improvements or widening of Highway 9 has occurred has that improved safety on Highway 9 are people driving faster on Highway 9 because it's wider is it harder for people to get across it when they're trying to turn onto it I don't know if ODOT has any of that type of data but it in some ways it seems like it would be safer but it also maybe it's not as safe because there's still unsignalized intersections out there where there's Hills right right where the intersection is and now it's four lanes wide and a Medi or at least a open median and so I don't know if there's any data about before and after and the two-lane compared to the four lane and I think all you could do is try to coate you know the time frame I don't know if they've done any specific studies of that information um and then you have to see if there were speed studies done before and after in close proximity to before and after so it'd be it may be hard to draw those exact conclusions uh to that kind of a Clarity but those are certainly things as we're uh trying to do the safety audit through that area that we'll be trying to concentrate on and see we did do a very uh in-depth study on lindsy street after we did the completed that project and we actually show showed a significant increase in traffic accidents uh through the corridor so we've done that on some of our own projects we've done here in Norman but we have not done the specific studies on Highway 9 decrease in accidents yes yeah large decrease yes Council Grant sure yeah I was going to say I really like the idea of a safety audit between the city and ODOT and then I was noticed Highway 9 and Jenkins and it reminded me of a project that we are working on I say jenin and Marshall on Highway 9 and there was uh some need to work with ODOT on a potential maybe it was coming into a development um so I could definitely see a safety audit of like what that would happen if it gets approved and gets installed how is it working with a known Collision spot that we have already um so that's all I wanted to add CER yeah I was going to add about the presentation that we had a couple of maybe a year ago I don't know exactly but the one on West Lindsay that really showcased the difference that the streetscape and all of that up upgrades on West Lindsay really brought down the amount of um collisions that are on the corridor so I'm really interested maybe as we think about um I guess the downtown area we have Grey Street two-way coming so like I think it be interesting to see how do those improvements change collisions through that and then potentially with you know a 2A main so like having some of that front end data so that we can compare um I think would be really good like we did with um Wes Lindsay because I I think that was really valuable information it also showed like yes there are challenges still maybe on Westland people like hate the you know the way that you have to do the little u-turns and all that kind of stuff but that it really has made the corridor safer and I think you know being able to showcase that to the public is really um important data so just yeah appreciate that work yeah I agree more there's more traffic and there's more at least when we did that more than 50% reduction in collisions so yeah I think people may not like the median on West Lindsay street but it was the highest Collision like per if it if it was on that map still it was the highest number of collisions in a mile section it had the highest crash rate in the metro area metro area yeah and so reducing those by over 50% by installing that median uh you know it shows that it has worked and I think the other thing to note too is that in the downtown area there's a lot of fender benders uh but because traffic is generally moving slower and there's obstacles and lanes are narrower and things like that that those aren't typically resulting in fatality collisions so keep that in mind when we you know bigger wider streets and wider Lanes and higher speeds aren't you know necessarily safer even though they're more convenient for drivers and um Can potentially help move traffic along you know I think as we see sometimes when we do that it just brings more traffic to an area over time and then you're back in the same situation but U but those are things worth noting about this um I think we have Council Nash yeah please have you observed any kind of like common theme uh amongst the fatalities along Highway 9 say distracted driving or speed being a factor turning left or you head on going left to Center left to Center is is a common problem following too closely is a common problem um when we investigate something there's kind of a catchall um ordinance I guess called um failure to devote full time and attention basically you're not paying attention whether it's you're on your phone or or or whatever messing with your radio or your kids are acting out in the backseat whatever things of like you know of that nature are the common common causes I would say speed following too close and failure to devote full-time attention Okay how things result in people going left of center and and uh failing to yield at stop signs and intersections and things like that MH how effective is uh like setting up a speed trap to long term to calm the traffic through the area uh speed strap's a naughty word [Laughter] um as far as enforcement goes usually there is a uh in my experience it works for a while and when you stop spending time there the the your effort kind of dwindles the the the lasting effect of the of that effort dwindles so um we try to be out there periodically enforcing traffic I know I said drive five under going through through Hall Park yeah but yeah right yeah we do you know I can tell you if you're interested the uh we currently encourage our officers to to make traffic stops um we don't have a quota uh we we ask officers to have uh 1.5 on my shift I'll speak for my division 1.5 traffic contacts per day but those contacts can be either warnings or or citations and the determining factor is the severity of the violation if it's a serious violation hazardous violation it should get a citation if it's not you should issue a warning and so our officers work 4 day weeks so that's typically six or so traffic contacts a week we have some that uh that go out and do more projects than others and they would get significantly more than six that thus the buckle down Awards I told you about when we first got here um that's that's what we currently do as far as enforcement actions go specifically to traffic how realistic would it be to to get the highway patrol to hang out on Highway 9 for a while honestly I'd have to I I don't know I we work with the highway Trail we work well with them I don't know how much time they would spend I I hate to commit for them exactly how much time they would spend on Highway night for us but I can certainly check with them and follow up if you'd like me too uh yeah great I'll do that thank you CC mcant um I was curious how effective are they White Speed wagons is that what that's called the ones with the blinking lights that are like go 30 um how effective are those I know some of them are permanent um but where they're deployed do we see like uh a general reduction I'm might ask David to respond to that at the beginning of deployment they're more effective than the end of the point people get used to seeing it there and just backround for them okay but also a tool in the Box okay okay um I know we don't normally take any public comment in this meeting but we did have a few people who have been impacted by Highway 9 recently that came and uh I offered them an opportunity to speak about it um and give us further um you know know influence to whatever recommendation we need to send forward to make improvements so if you'd like to say a few words a good place right here yeah would you introduce yourself for the record my name is Rhonda Mitchell and I'm the mother of Tiffany Millo who um was killed on Highway 9 in August August 4th and my daughter here with me and I have her dad here with me as well and really good friend um I just want to say that my little girl girl was driving she was 20 she was 26 was 26 and she was driving home from the dentist with her little girl in the back seat buckled in everybody was buckled in just having a nice day and she was going home she had just rescued a little Chihuahua and uh was nursing it with a bottle so she had to get home before she went to go have dinner or lunch with someone and as she was driving down Highway 9 um a man coming from the other direction had a medical event you know and where they were driving was um it goes from like a multiple Lanes to one lane they're and they're both going downhill about 60 65 miles hour and my daughter was doing nothing wrong but the man cut into her hit her knocked her turn the completely other way um over to the side is like a a drop off like if they would have been just a little bit further my little granddaughter that was in the back seat would have been down in a ravine where there was water and she could have died as well so I just wanted to share that with you as far as getting the highway patrol involved that wouldn't have solved my I mean I know that maybe doesn't happen very often where people are killed like that but I can see we're not having something in the middle not having somewhere to go as someone's coming straight head on towards you that's not going to be solved by any police officer you know I'm a teacher if I stand in the hallway the kids are going to act you know just like they're supposed to but the second I walk in things are going to change and I'd like to read what I wrote now if you don't mind my family and I would like to thank you for allowing us some time to be before you today we're humbled by your kindness my daughter Tiffany was a beautiful funny honory 26-year-old woman she loves singing her two children and spending time with our family losing her has been very painful two days before her death Tiffany and I got into an argument on the phone like most moms and daughters do she said something I did not like so I hung up on her she tried to call me back the next day probably to apologize but what she said was pretty bad so I decided to let her stew on it one more day I didn't I didn't take her call and the next day I got a call telling me that my daughter was killed in the most tragic gruesome awful way imaginable not taking that calls been on my mind quite a bit I think about it almost every every day my heart's desire is that even though my baby's gone I pray she knew that her mama loved her one of the gifts God gave me whenever after she died was given when I received her cell phone from the police officer when I saw how I was listed in her phone it was mommy with a heart my girl knew I loved her and I know that I I know that she did I don't know why it's those little gifts that have been helping us through this but they are too many mamas and daddies brothers best friends are being senselessly lost on this highway the number two most deadly Highway in the nation of America is here with us I'm hoping you're the group of people who are going to make things right we're not anybody famous you know I'm a teacher been a teacher in education in the state of Oklahoma for 21 years my daughter is a teacher my husband my ex-husband's a plumber we we're no one we're just people maybe it's going to take someone famous dying a busload of people I don't know you know what happened in Baltimore is that going to happen on your watch I hope not listen I'm in education we just got told our our budget's getting cut again I know what it's like to work within a budget but we're smart people and we stick together and we can make this change if we really put our heads together we don't know the answers but you do you're the Smart Ones and we're counting on you to do what needs to be done and my daughter would like to share something please I just want to start off first by thanking you for this opportunity today to step in and share with you a little bit I apologize like I'm cutting you off um just kind of pigging back piggybacking on what she said um we're certainly not the experts um we're the experts in grief now we are not Highway Engineers we don't know what the answer is but that's where we rely on you to step in in our place um and make those decisions and I'm just going to read what I wrote today just from my heart my name is Britney my little sister Tiffany was killed on Highway 9 on August 4th and ah head on collision she was hit on 108th Avenue Southeast she was two blocks from home the elderly gentleman who hit her had a medical episode behind the wheel it it is believed that he was deceased before he smashed into her uh going 70 m per hour his car was still on cruise control when the accident was all said and done my niece was also in the car that day um and she barely escaped with her life the doctors referred to her as a miracle baby when we got to the hospital the nurse said I've been doing this a long time and I genuinely do not know how she made it her car seat straps were snapped completely off of her body uh when she was taken in I'd like to refer to Highway 9 as Norman's best kept secret however we know that it is no secret since your own reports state that there have been over 700 collisions and Counting since 2019 an article written by the daily daily Oklahoma in 1999 States the Highway 9 was designed in 1967 with a projected volume of about 11,300 cars according to OD do traffic on the highway had climbed to 25,800 commuters in just 12 short years so we went up 14,000 plus commuters on that Highway every day following the trajectory of those numbers uh that means that by this year 2024 we've reached approximately 54,8 people driving that Highway every day this greatly exceeds the number of cars that the road was originally designed to carry these alarming numbers should command the attention of every elected official and transportation department member Highway 9 is severely outdated and it's dangerous my sister was 26 years old when she died on this highway she was a college aged young woman Highway 9 is a very popular route for many of U's students and their staff OU is a very highly esteemed uh College where you can get an IV League educ education and still have that small Hometown field but a lot of these parents do not know that their child may not even ever make it to this seemingly perfect school because they'll fall victim to Highway 9 first as parents which I am one I have four children we're quick to warn our children pick the right friends stay away from drugs make smart choices buckle up when you get behind the wheel of the car but we do not think to warn our children of a dangerous Highway that is claiming lives every few weeks and sometimes days we put our faith in the highway engineering experts in you the city of Norman and we send our children out on these roads unaware of the Fatal and sometimes permanent consequences that we will pay my family has started a petition that has a mass 1,615 signatures in a little under 2 weeks and it has been shared on social media 649 times and the number just continues to rise every day these numbers are increasing rapidly the outpouring of stories from people locally and nationally has been overwhelming I have to turn my phone off I have to silence it and put it down sometimes there are many people that we do not know and some have asked that we do not share their names due or their stories due to their positions the effects of Highway 9 are felt everywhere only you have the power to rectify this monster of a highway so that it stops claiming the lives of our loved ones what will you do if you get the call that it's your daughter or your sister or your mother I'll never forget calling her that day hearing her scream is a sound that torments me every day and it will for the rest of my life we're not the experts we don't know what the answer is but we're calling on you who are the experts to do your jobs we understand that there's a price to pay for fixing this road uh but please listen to us when we say that we have lost something Priceless our mission is to see this road fixed I stand before you today in honor of my sister and the many other lives that have been lost and I am boldly yet humbly asking for you to see how we feel that you're failing us please consider my words today thank you thank you okay um is there something you'd like to say as well I don't know I have not all I can say is where they're talking about could you introduce yourself oh I'm sorry I'm toana rder and I live in Noble um about 168 and um CER road we uh we travel Highway 9 quite a bit from 120th on and and it's 65 it's two lane that is the number one thing I think we need to attach if you go 156 to Highway 9 and you go east which is four lanes it's 55 if you go west it's 65 and it's two lane and I think that's the number one thing that needs to be addressed besides the middle things there but we travel it almost three or four times a week and we know this accident and we know other accidents and I have a friend that lost a son there at 16 so I I just I think it's just a lot a lot there right there yeah we let we get on 120th and I'm going to tell you that it's from that door to about here to get in that right lane and and stop to turn and if you don't slow down you're over there you're right there and it's it's it's horrible it's a horrible thing and at night I don't know if lights would help what would help you know but at night you can't see nothing out there and I know there's people that live there and they probably don't want lights but you know what you shouldn't move there it's dangerous to me it's very danger I appreciate that comment for sure anything please my name is David M I'm my daughter was Tiffany U first of all I'd like to say how proud I am proud I am of the care that was given to my daughter by the First Responders um the police officer that assisted us with everything uh so I'm very proud of that I'm very grateful everybody was so kind and very gracious so uh uh just from what I observed anybody that lives in the local area knows about high we're done my opinion know that that you all that it's being neglected for some reason why it's a problem that's been around for a long long time everybody knows about it so I know you all know about it so I'm I'm praying that this is the time now it gets something gets done because it's too obvious that it's being neglected in my opinion and so I would encourage you to be the hero and not the personal pass um but again I appreciate everything the way everything went um I I I couldn't have asked for uh better people to to work with and to help us along with this situation the Norman Police Department and the First Responders and everybody and so if any of you here have any connections to them please send them our our gratitude and we appreciate you very much thank you I'd like to speak if I may my name is Catherine Thompson my sister de Fuller was the uh person who died March 1st on Highway 9 uh she was a nurse at Norman Regional some of you may have uh been nursed by her she's been here a long time she grew up in Norman just as I did graduated from Norman High back when there was one high school so probably dating myself uh my sister was on her way to our father's house he has cancer and he's dying um he had called a family meeting uh we're not sure what happened to cause my sister to cross left of center at 7:04 on Friday night but she did as my father says the outcome is the same it doesn't matter if she had a heart attack um doesn't matter if she had a stroke um my sister's dead she hit a 27-year-old headon uh that girl almost lost her life she's lucky to be alive and as I understand her son broke both of his legs um Highway nine I grew up in Norman we all know Highway 9 is deadly we didn't know how deadly after my sister died I found out and I could not believe she was traveling that road um as she was we would have certainly told her not to go on that road so you all have the privilege of being able to rectify a situation that we all know is a problem we have the second deadliest highway in the United States um I've got that research on my phone if anybody wants to see that article that isn't something that any of you all want I don't think to be council members that are not doing anything about a highway that's so deadly I know that you all want to help us I know you do because you're human beings and your families travel that Highway and your friends travel that Highway and if you look at those numbers that you presented which I did those were uh that was super informative um if you extrapolate that over the next 10 or 20 years honestly it's not a matter of if one of you all will get the phone call that they got and that her daughter got and that I got it's just a matter of when one of you get that phone call so we're not asking for a lot I've done a little bit of research a cable barriers about $150,000 per mile that might be outdated um and someone mentioned the cost of that and I know there's not an unlimited budget but what I'd like to remind you is that we paid the ultimate cost for no barrier on that Highway um I'd like for none of you to get the phone call that we got so thank you I also want to say that I speak for myself but I'm pretty sure I speak for this family as well we're not going anywhere we're going to stay and see this out through the Long Haul so you might as well get used to our faces so thank you thank you okay well um I appreciate all of your comments and your willingness to come here and speak to us about this um as we know Highway is a state highway um and we do have a working relationship with OD do and I think the most sensible recommended Solutions we could give would be for there to be a cable barrier in the median of Highway 9 through the city limits of Norman and um I think some real thought about lowering the speed limit on Highway 9 I know that may be an inconvenience to some that uh are trying to speed through and get from one place to another but you know uh the highe speed is an issue and um going from 65 down to 50 and um I think there's some evidence that widening it has shown some improvements but um but there's still that issue of the median so I don't know whatever we need to do as a council to whatever recommendation we need to give or to help staff uh communicate that to OD do I think we'd be happy to sign sign off whatever we needed to I think maybe have something from Council just expressing your willingness to try to work towards this that we could take to OD do would help but right now they're being very Cooperative with us they were really receptive to the idea of the safety audit I had uh breakfast last week with the uh area engineer for our district and he agreed he in fact he was starting off at 180th and worked his way back he lives down in down in Ada but he came back he acknowledges the issues ODOT is working on extending the four-way all the way out to tumpa they're doing it in pieces that's why there's that short section there at the bridge it goes across the Little River below the dam that was done in preparation that widening being done at that time um I think ODOT wants to be partners here there's also another study being done through the through the urbanized area if you will from I35 to 24th looking at Alternatives in that area too because what we have there does not function the way that we need it to function or the way that Odon needs it to function really so Highway 9 gets a lot of attention from the Department of Transportation uh we do speak with them regularly about it but I think that if Council wanted to I I I don't know maybe a resolution or something that we could could forward on and we could take that to OD do to express Norman's interest and what we can do to be good partners to make that situation better is that something Cindy that we could request from Brenda's office okay would there be any objection from any of you to sending forward some recommendation from us about changes we'd like to see Council M Grant uh I'm supportive but also uh when we were writing about resolution River can we put some of the suggestions that we heard as we back in that like where I mean certainly can do what whatever you want but I think it I think until we see the safety audit where they can take information they know from from across the United States when they've tried some of these items um you know they may come up with something that in the end is even better than what we can come up with because they see this across the state this is what they do so I I really don't know but if you wanted to put suggestions in there that certainly would be be an acceptable alternative counciler um yeah I definitely supportive of sending something forward to them because um in the time that I've been on Council so board two represents um I35 through um well I guess now just to to bury um rode on Highway 9 and I've heard so so many comments about all of those intersections not to mention just what's happening out out east um and I've asked i' I've worked with some residents on some of their various things around the noise control and what's happening at the imhof um intersection and I I know how I know you say that OD do is being cooperative but um they don't always take recommendations based on the people that are living with the challenges and the inefficiencies um and I think it's really interesting especially on like the south side of Highway 9 by 35 um the north side has a noise barrier the south side doesn't but there's more people that live on the Southside and it is very loud and ODOT wants not no part of they're like it's fine right and so like to to the points that were made here um I think that ODOT doesn't always listen and if it's the number two you know worst Highway in America that they have been deru in their duties to really address a lot of the issues um so I'd like to be a little bit stronger with them in our language when we approach them um because I I don't know that they're really hearing us and I you know so I appreciate yes they they will work with us but in lots of ways I don't think they really know what we're dealing with because they don't live here they're not traveling that road every single day like we are um so i' I'd still like to see some of the recommendations cuz I you know our Traffic Engineers like you are professionals like you you can have recommendations I understand you know you want to get the data and safety but like this is a lot of data too um so I appreciate the audit but I'd like to be a little bit stronger in our language to this to the state totally support whatever Council wants to send forward thanks yeah and it really should be part of that audit whatever we s for yeah yeah so I mean I don't know if we have to spill out cable Barry or if there's some other method that they've come up with that's better than that but um uh but I would agree with the comment that you maybe it's not 150,000 a mile anymore with how prices change and stuff but it's worth it and we've we you know a project I support the multimodal path costs a lot more than that per mile and we've supported that and so um and the state does have a pretty large budget surplus so I would hope that they could figure out a way to make this highway safer um and but one way that doesn't cost any money really is is the speed limit deal I mean I think that could have a huge impact right there um and you know just changing the signs really I know that it's their responsibility it's OD do right like they have to find the funding to do the upgrades and the work on Highway 9 um but I would also go as far as to say like we want to be a good partner and if we can do something to put some skin in the game with some of that or like our portion of what can really happen like I would be willing to you know think about um what money is in our budget we could leverage yeah to get some of that um better improvements and things like that so like I know it's not our monetary responsibility to to upgrade those things but it is is our responsibility to keep our residents safe and if ODOT is not willing to you know move things faster then in some ways we might have to take some of I they don't let us they can't let us do right like they're responsible and they have to give approval for those things um so we can't just go out there and like put a cable barrier up without their okay right but I I would like to see like how we can negotiate um getting some more movement on that with them if that takes us you know putting money in our budget to to do those things or to do a match or something um be really willing willing to pursue those options I think other things like that were mentioned about the deceleration Lanes or when people are trying to get on Highway 9 how much space do they actually have to accelerate and get up and get out of somebody's way potentially um other things to consider I'm sure ODOT is I know that you do but whatever we need to point out in whatever formal resolution to say these are things that we've heard from the public and feedback and uh some of them may be small improvements that could be made with just some restriping and or lowering the speed limit in some some of those sections that could make a big difference and then the issue of crossovers being some sort of barrier in between and I think I'd like to see it go through the entire city limits of it be divided like that so um so yeah um I don't know when we could expect a resolution Cindy if that we need to go to maybe this a study session or go through sure Brenda and Katherine first but whatever it might include stuff but um I would definitely like to push that forward get that going councelor Nash uh how much whe there like dangerous highway signs cost like where I've seen those uh but I think the ones that I've seen mostly are on the highways and I guess we can't put sign on the highway but some way to inform people that this highway should be uh you don't normally pay attention you should probably pay attention now because it's I don't know that I've seen the D I've seen the safety corridor type of signs and OD do my understanding is doesn't do because we we we didn't we ask about that at one point and they don't do that program anymore as far as the safety corridor section they they they stop doing that uh we could certainly ask ODOT about that I I meet monthly with the with our area engineer I could request something like that as as was mentioned tonight I it comes as a surprise to a lot of people that this stretch of highway is as dangerous as as it is if more people are informed and kind of understand that Danger then maybe uh it'll pay a little bit more attention and maybe we can reduce it from a death a month yeah we include our state representatives in that too if we need I'm sure they would be on board with doing whatever they can um and is tww Shannon our repes he's for the whole District or what is his he's not probably not the engineer that you're meeting with but I don't know I think he's the district he stepped down last year two years AG whoever the state appointed person was for this District well I do with Ron Brown out of the Ada uh district office okay Ron Brown okay um well any other further comments questions from you guys okay well we'll look forward to seeing a resolution come forward for the full Council to consider and see what we can send forward to OD do as far as recommendations from the city of Norman uh about improvements to Highway 9 and then also looking forward to other improvements we can make to different streets in Norman that we saw are also problem areas um so stop at intersections and the