LAWTON – Lawton’s plan to extend Goodyear Boulevard from the West Industrial Park northwest to connect with U.S. Highway 62, with ramp connections to provide grade-separated access to U.S. 62 and Quanah Parker Trailway, is moving to the front burner.
Lawton City Council recently approved a conceptual design for the Goodyear Boulevard project and directed city staff to negotiate a contract to develop construction documents with the engineering firm EST Inc.
Goodyear Boulevard, which is the main north-south road through the middle of the West Industrial Park, generates a lot of heavy-truck traffic, Deputy City Manager Richard Rogalski said in an Oct. 13 interview. Trucks that are traveling on U.S. 62 have only two options for reaching the industrial zone: Exiting onto Deyo Mission and taking smaller surface streets to their destination, or taking 82nd Street down to Cache Road.
“Currently, Goodyear Boulevard extends to Cache Road and not any further,” Rogalski said. “So, this project takes it from Cache Road to U.S. 62.”
He said some trucks take other routes to the industrial zone instead of 82nd Street, which creates additional wear and tear on city streets. The Goodyear Boulevard project, which would connect to the U.S. 62/Rogers Lane overpass and create a direct industrial route, would reduce stress on other streets.
Designing the extension
Coming up with a suitable design for the project wasn’t easy because it wasn’t simply a matter of linking Goodyear to U.S. 62, Rogalski said. A straight-up extension would put the interchange too close to the transition of the S-curve on U.S. 62 to allow proper weaving, defined as the crossing of multiple vehicle streams traveling in the same direction without the help of traffic control devices.
Instead of going straight up to Goodyear Boulevard, EST’s concept calls for building a segment on U.S. 62 that would jog over about 350 feet to the west. EST also recommended creating an additional lane for Rogers Lane before the interchange.
With the addition of a third lane, drivers who need to switch lanes on U.S. 62 before turning onto Goodyear could either exit onto Goodyear or stay on the highway and follow it around to the S-curve.
Officials considered various options for addressing the weaving problem, but EST’s concept was the best solution, Rogalski said.
“We feel like this weave works,” he said. “If traffic ever did increase, then we would actually have to make some additional modifications. But that would be well down the road.”
Estimated cost
EST has estimated that the Goodyear Boulevard extension would cost about $18.3 million, which could change as the project moves forward. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation, which has included the project in its construction work plan for 2022-2029, will kick in $16 million in Fiscal Year 2025.
ODOT’s contribution would cover about 75% of the project’s cost. The city would be responsible for the remaining 25%, or about $4.6 million, which would come from the 2019 Capital Improvements Program.
Rogalski said the city met with businesses in the industrial zone to discuss the project, and he was pleased to learn that those companies were excited about the Goodyear Boulevard extension.
“In fact, we made some modifications to the design based on input that we got from our industrial partners,” he said. “And so, it was really a good collaborative, regional process.”