Norris
Viaduct
Check out the Norris Viaduct FHWA Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
Check out the Norris Viaduct Environmental Assessment
Check out the Norris Viaduct Environmental Assessment Apendix
This project includes the reconstruction and relocation of Norris
Viaduct
from the Nationway/Logan intersection south over the Union Pacific
Railroad
Tracks to an intersection at 5th Street and the front gate of
the Frontier
Refinery. (The current southern terminal of the Viaduct is at
5th Street
and Duff Avenue.) The project then continues from the 5th Street
and
Frontier Refinery intersection southwest on 5th Street to the
Morrie
Avenue/5th Street intersection, turning southeast from there
and running on
Morrie Avenue from 5th Street to 1st Street. The new bridge would
be
architecturally pleasing and the street segments will be designed
with
landscaping and streetscaping and a Greenway in order to beautify
the
neighborhood along with buffering the neighborhood from the refinery.
View the accepted alignment
Alignment Option F
Project Background
In the area known as the “Original” City of Cheyenne
(Platted in 1868),
there are three locations where vehicular and pedestrian traffic
cross the
large Union Pacific Railroad yard. One of these crossings, located
east of
the downtown, is known as Norris Viaduct. Constructed in 1952,
Norris
Viaduct provides a vital link between the neighborhoods south
of the
railyard to the neighborhoods and major commercial centers located
north of
the railyard.
Additionally, the intersection of Duff Avenue and
5th Street and 5th Street
and Morrie Avenue are hazardous and confusing intersections that
need to be
redesigned and reconstructed. The project includes the approach
from the
east (Campstool Road) which will connect to the south approach
to the
realigned Norris Viaduct. The project would end at a newly reconstructed
intersection at First Street. These street improvement projects
will
assist in providing for the increasing traffic volumes in the
area, and
will discourage traffic from using the local streets within the
neighborhoods, dividing those neighborhoods.
The Norris Viaduct
reconstruction project has been and will continue to be
a high priority for the City of Cheyenne and the surrounding
neighborhoods.
The Norris Viaduct Reconstruction Conceptual Plan was adopted
in 1998 and
was prepared by BenchMark of Cheyenne, P.C.. From that conceptual
plan,
the projected cost for the total project was estimated to be
$12,683,909.
The structure section was estimated to cost $9,057,932 and the
street
section was estimated to cost $3,625,977. There were $3.5 million
dollars
allocated by the United States Congress in the reauthorization
of The
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) as
a “High
Priority
Projects Program”. At this point of in time, it is believed
that the City
Governing Body will request that this project be placed on the
November,
2003 ballot for the 1% Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax election
consideration. Other Federal and State funding options will be
explored
too. This includes a current request to the US Congress through
the help
of WYDOT for $7,000,000 in the 2003 authorization of the Federal
Transportation Legislation (TEA-3).
I’d
like to be informed about this study as it progresses
