"You Lose it at Safe …"
Those words from Jeff Speck, hired to advise the city on making downtown more walkable, keep echoing in mind. Will city leaders follow up on Jeff Speck’s recommendations? Or will critics prevail in their thinking that Speck is prone to exaggeration and his ideas should be taken with a grain of salt?
I don’t know.
But I do know this. I do know that the following photo was not staged when it was taken by one of The Oklahoman’s best, Jim Beckel:
A woman in a wheelchair and kids race across Hudson Avenue downtown - a street Jeff Speck singles out as one of the worst in terms of walkability.
This stretch of Hudson crosses through an area populated with venues that draw young and old on a daily basis. We’re talking about the downtown library, the Myriad Gardens, Stage Center, the Oklahoma County Courthouse, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and City Hall.
Consider Jeff Speck’s warning – no real change will take place without a strong, clear mandate from the city council that downtown streets and sidewalks can no longer be the chief consideration for city traffic planners. And then watch this controversial video from the U.K. (Beware – it’s disturbing and not pleasant):
Is this a horrible scare tactic on my behalf? Maybe. The video was provided to me by someone who thinks Jeff Speck shouldn’t be quickly dismissed. I’ll leave it for you to judge whether it relates to this conversation.
Let’s close this post with one of several stories I could pull from The Oklahoman’s archives:
Longtime city attorney struck, killed in accident
By Ty Mcmahan
Staff Writer
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Thursday, June 29, 2006
Edition: CITY, Section: NEWS, Page 15A
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A longtime Oklahoma City attorney was struck by a car and died Wednesday outside the Oklahoma County Courthouse.
David Shumake, 80, was walking across the street at about 8:45 a.m. at Harvey and Robert S. Kerr when a car hit him and threw him into the air. He landed on his head and was pronounced dead three hours later, according to his law partner.
Shumake had practiced law in Oklahoma City for more than 50 years, said Doug Hilbert, his partner.
“He was a good attorney — just a very special guy,” he said.
Hilbert said Shumake was walking to the courthouse to visit a judge. A police officer returned a file to Hilbert that Shumake had been carrying.
“He said it was all over the street,” Hilbert said.
Police also told Hilbert the driver was not cited, he said.
Shumake received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1950. He became a lawyer later that year. Hilbert said his partner specialized in real estate matters.
Shumake’s passion was boating, his partner said. He was involved with the United States Power Squadron, a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to making boating safer and more enjoyable by teaching classes in seamanship, navigation and related subjects.
“He just enjoyed getting on blue water,” Hilbert said. “He would go near South America and go boating. He would go down there for a couple of weeks. He loved it.”
Hilbert said Shumake is survived by two sons.
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Comments
The changes to improve walkability also will improve driveability, especially for those who go downtown infrequently. I caught myself going the wrong way on Hudson. I pulled out from the courthouse area, noticed signs for the Memorial, Civic Ctr, etc. facing me, so I went northbound. I then realized these were for pedestrians. Good thing it was a slow time of day.
Dennis, over the years I’ve seen a lot of what can be called “confuse and delay.” Not saying it’s going to happen here. I’m not saying it should or should not happen here. I’m not saying Speck’s plan should or should not be implemented.
But if you want to see it happen, ask to directly speak to your council member. Ask if they are going to follow Speck’s recommendation to implement on a new mandate on city staff. If they say it needs to be studied, ask for how long and what the deadline will be for a vote on the matter.
For the record, by my estimate (I’m going on memory here) the city council still has a proposed renaming of Military Avenue to Saigon Avenue in the Asian District on “indefinite delay.” That delay was set about a decade ago.
I’m all for doing away with one way streets downtown and even slowing down the speed limit to make walking safer but I would hope that we could make the downtown area more walkable without sacrificing it being drivable.
I would be against the idea that the way to compel people to walk more is to make driving inconvenient.
I think that many of Jeff Speck’s recommendations are good, and need to be seriously considered by our City.
Several days ago I sent e-mails to the Ward 6 & 7 Councilmen (copied to the Mayor) asking how an interested citizen could be more effective at influencing the Counsil’s viewpoint regarding positive action on the Speck recommendations. I received one staffer’s reply, and a note from the Mayor expressing thanks for my interest… but no answers to my question.
So I’ll ask the question here: What things can an interested citizen DO to influence the City Council’s position on the Speck recommendations?