OK, So I Worked Just a Little Bit During Vacation
Forgive me, but how could I miss a chance to catch up in person last week with Blair Humphreys? And yes, we discussed how city traffic engineers nixed a proposal by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber to create a more urban, pedestrian friendly intersection at E.K. Gaylord, Robert S. Kerr Ave. and Broadway.
What Blair missed out on (he had to leave before 5 p.m.) but I didn’t was a chance to observe traffic at this intersection that supposedly carries way too much traffic to be altered.
Heavy traffic at E.K. Gaylord and NW 4 at rush hour? Not from what I saw. What if the chamber was right?
Well, what I saw at 5 p.m. was not a traffic jam. Instead, the above picture was taken at 5:05 p.m. and represents what I saw for the next 20 minutes at what is supposedly the height of rush hour.
I’m also intrigued by the idea that Automobile Alley – Broadway stretching from NW 4 to NW 13 – is destined to become downtown’s retail corridor. I’m not suggesting at all I think that’s a bad idea. The strip already has a good start with two bike shops, a florist, a t-shirt screening shop, a CD Warehouse, a liquor store, an office furniture store, an art gallery and more.
But if the city is to put its resources into making Broadway a retail corridor, would it really want to have a visual barrier between it and the surrounding downtown districts? What if the city had a visual barrier, for example, between Bricktown and the convention center and Ford Center? Would this make any sense?
And yet we have this:
Broadway at Robert S. Kerr - a street grid brought to us by I.M. Pei circa 1971.
With this barrier in place – the same barrier the chamber suggested should be removed as part of a restructuring of the intersection – aren’t we discouraging the rest of downtown, including several hotels, from walking on to Automobile Alley?
It’s time to take a good look at what Blair has been advocating – and what the chamber inquired about – and what I think might be coming out in a final report by consultant Jeff Speck based on a glimpse I caught of his power point.
I want to know: was the chamber’s proposal to rework this intersection really given serious consideration? As we continue with this week long discussion, I’ve sent emails to Planning Director Russell Claus and City Engineer Dennis Clowers asking the following questions:
More to come ….
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Comments
I SERIOUSLY hope the City and Chamber gives second thought on this project before moving forward as planned. I agree Automobile Alley is our best chance at Downtown Retail, and it’s going to be screwed up if the building and street get built as planned. We really need to realign Broadway, have a better design for the Chamber building, one that interacts more with the street. Why can’t the Chamber build an extra floor and rent out the ground floor street level to retail? Let’s get it right this time!
Steven, these posts are about the street grid, not about the building. The building is a private project that has already gone through urban design review.
True, but doesn’t mean the City, Urban Design board, and the Chamber shouldn’t reconsider while they have the chance. As far as I’m concerned, it ain’t over until dirt is moving. I willing to bet Blair hasn’t given up the fight either. I also agree the street grid needs to be realigned.
I completely agree, Steve. And a significant portion of the northbound EK Gaylord traffic seems to come from people pulling out of the Santa Fe Garage and making a u-turn. It would be just as easy to turn right on Main, then right on Broadway to head north.
The reworking of that intersection was the best aspect of the new Chamber headquarters.