New Bus Route Planned for West Norman

Two Cleveland Area Rapid Transit buses turn at the intersection of Lindsey Street and Asp Avenue Thursday afternoon. Currently, all CART bus routes make stops on campus. The planned West Norman Link will not. Photo by Hailey Branson

Public buses will serve west and north Norman by the third week of October as a result of the Norman City Council's unanimous approval last week of a new Cleveland Area Rapid Transit route.

The route will be the first for CART, Norman's public transportation system, that does not have a beginning or end point on the University of Oklahoma's South Oval. The route -- which will be called the West Norman Link and will be served by buses numbered N20 -- will serve Brookhaven Village, Embassy Suites, the University Park business section (which includes Super Target and Cheddars), the new Norman Regional HealthPlex on Interstate 35 and Tecumseh Road and other areas.

"We are really excited about this route at CART," said Kris Glenn, CART spokesman, in an interview. "It will really signal a shift to more frequency and more efficiency. I think it will be very successful."

The route will connect in six places to the existing Main Street route, which does stop at the OU campus. Existing buses will be used initially but may be replaced by some of the five buses CART will be purchasing in 2010 with federal stimulus money.