A lot of confusion, controversy and opinions are going around about the closure of 5th and 8th Street's railroad crossings in order for the railroad to come in and repair all the other (6) crossings.
In the June 3rd council meeting, a representative from WATCO Railway gave a presentation to the council and it was discussed that only 5th Street would be closed permanently. With the closure of it, three other crossings would be repaired. This would be 6th and 10th Streets and Industrial Road, which would get repairs. The total cost would be $2.4 million.The repairs on Industrial Road alone will be around $1.3 million. There is a federal grant that allows for the upgrade of three railroad crossings, provided one crossing is permenantly closed. In the presentation it was stated that if the council approved the closure of one more crossing,two total, then the railroad would repair six crossings.
These crossings would not only get repairs but a new signal system as well. The repairs would come in phases; first the asphalt would come out, the track would be cut out and crosswalks would be installed. About a month after the repairs, the signals would be put in. The board discussed the closure of 2nd, 9th, 7th and 8th. Seventh and 8th Street run directly to the hospital. Sixth Street is the fire station and 9th is the ambulance location so those two streets are not on the list for closure. The board tabled this item until the July 1 meeting.
In the July 1st meeting, the board decided that the second closure was best for the city as it would allow all crossings to be upgraded and have signal arms, which allows the train to go through town without blowing its horn. All council members, except one, approved the closure of 8th Street.
There are several businesses on 8th Street that will be impacted by this decision. The businesses include H&R Block, Bumper to Bumper, Sooner Pecan and Ag, Leisure Bay Salon and State Farm. These businesses definitely oppose the closure of 8th Street, siting their businesses have operated at these locations for years and this would harm their business and decrease the amount of traffic traveling the road. Also some of the businesses have deliveries that are brought in by a semi truck. For example, Williams Grocery states that it has deliveries that come in on 8th Street as the delivery dock is on the west end of the store. Bumper to Bumper and Pecan & Ag have semi deliveries. How are they to get turned around? Carla Holzrichter, State Farm, said, “With the economy in the state it is in, operating a small business is hard enough without obstacles like dead end streets.” The property owners also state that it will
See Meeting, Page Two decrease their property value.The business owners feel that the councilperson for their ward or the Mayor should have come to them and informed each business their intention to close 8th Street or even sent a letter with the information, to get the business owners input about how the closure would affect them, before the council decided.
Several businesses have written letters to the council stating their opposition to the closure of this particular street. Due to the opposing letters sent to the council, the city council decided to revisit the issue. Sept. 16, 2024, a public meeting was held discussing the issue and the mayor, being present, listened to the concerns from the businesses and those in attendance who do not have a business on 8th but share the opposition of closing 8th Street.Mayor Wyatt took full reponsibiity for the fact that the due deligence on the impact of the closure was not considered when the vote was made. The decision would be made at the city council meeting held that evening after the Public Meeting.
After the public hearing, the city council continued on with its regular schedule meeting. The council discussed the agenda item, the closing of 8th Street. Mayor Wyatt said there were four things that could happen tonight, 1). table the item, saying we don't want to talk about it right now, 2). vote to carry on with the planned for the closure, 3). tell the railroad that Bristow does not want to participate or 4).choose a different closure.The motion was made by Johns to table the item until the next meeting which will be held on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
If you would like to stay informed as to what is going on in the community, you are encouraged to attend these city council meetings. They are held on the first and third Monday of each month at 7 p.m.The meetings are also live-streamed on the Bristow City Hall Facebook page.