Two Norman railroad crossings will be shut down for about a week each as BNSF Railway crews perform track maintenance.

The Lexington Street crossing closed at 7 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16, and is expected to stay closed through Friday, Oct. 23, according to a City of Norman announcement. Boyd Street was scheduled to close at 7 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, and is expected to remain closed through Sunday, Oct. 25.

BNSF Railway notified the city of the closures, the announcement said. Both are tied to track maintenance that is expected to take about one week at each location.

Drivers who use either crossing should plan alternate routes and follow posted detour signs.

Norman has several at-grade railroad crossings along the BNSF Red Rock Subdivision, an active corridor carrying both freight and passenger trains. The city says Robinson Street provides the only underpass along this BNSF corridor in Norman, where drivers can bypass the tracks when a crossing is blocked.

The city has been working to address the limited number of crossings. In an Aug. 26 announcement, Norman said it had received a $1.44 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program. The money will fund planning and project development for a grade separation at Tecumseh Road, where US 77 crosses the same BNSF line between Wellsite Drive and Macdonnell Drive.

A grade separation there would allow road and rail traffic to move independently, eliminating conflicts at the existing at-grade crossing, Public Works officials said.

Transportation Engineer David Riesland said in the Aug. 26 announcement that "there are multiple roadways in Norman that meet a rail crossing for this BNSF subdivision but only one underpass at this time … making way for another motorist outlet benefits the community as well as first responders."

The federal grant covers planning and project development. The city said it will share additional information as the process moves forward.

For questions about the Lexington and Boyd street closures, residents can call BNSF Railway at 888-428-2673.