FYI to Eric Wenger
OKC LEADERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT SIX-LANE THOROUGHFARE’S WIDTH IN INTERSTATE 40 PROJECT
Boulevard causing concern
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Edition: CITY, Section: BUSINESS, Page 1C
The state’s top highway official this week promised that a boulevard intended to replace Interstate 40 south of downtown can be narrowed from its current plan of six lanes if that is the wish of Oklahoma City leaders.
Gary Ridley, director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, also said the $85 million allocated in the agency’s latest eight-year plan should allow for complete construction of the highway and boulevard by 2014.
The boulevard’s proposed six-lane width — wider than a section of Northwest Expressway in far northwest Oklahoma City — have concerned city leaders who want to see the area developed as a new mixed-use downtown neighborhood.
“We’re not going to build something the city doesn’t want,” Ridley said in an interview Wednesday following a presentation at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
The boulevard has been a part of the $660 million I-40 relocation since the start — but only in the past couple of years have concerns arisen about the width. Consultant Jeff Speck, hired to suggest ways to make downtown more pedestrian friendly, called the planned boulevard “a highway with trees” in a report provided last year to the city council.
The boulevard has been a centerpiece of Mayor Mick Cornett’s dream of expanding the urban core into a mixed-use community dubbed Core to Shore — a currently blighted area between the current highway, the Oklahoma River and Bricktown.
“Six lanes of traffic won’t work from all my research and efforts to study great streets around the world,” said Cornett, who led the effort to bring Speck to Oklahoma City. “You hate to say there is absolutely one width I’m acceptable to, but this street is very special, and it needs to have the highest level of care. We need the best engineering firm we can find to meet everyone’s needs.”
Ridley said the boulevard’s estimated cost — $85 million — is included in the latest eight-year highway funding plan.
“At today’s prices, we think we’re pretty close with that,” Ridley said. “We haven’t designed it yet, so we don’t have all the prices in. But we bid jobs recently where prices came in 20 percent under what we budgeted.”
Ridley said the six-lane width was part of the original plans developed in conjunction with city officials, but he acknowledged plans and goals can and have changed over the past decade. He said any revised boulevard width would need to be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration for review — an action successfully pursued when a planned pedestrian bridge over the new I-40 was moved to a spot east of Union Station.
“When we build the boulevard, we will work with the city to build something they can use,” Ridley said. “And we will design something they will want — within reason. Obviously all the extra amenities (landscaped medians, lighting, sidewalks and signage) are a separate issue.”
Cornett noted city voters already approved bond funding for such improvements, key to making the boulevard a gateway to downtown. He added it was a relief when the boulevard funding was announced earlier this month — the last such opportunity under the administration of Gov. Brad Henry before he leaves office in January.
A new grand entryway is being added to the Ford Center facing the boulevard alignment, and the road also will skirt the north boundary of a large central park funded by MAPS 3.
“Postcards of the future will be the park and the boulevard,” Cornett said. “It needs to be a place and not just a street where we see how fast we can get cars around.”
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Comments
I apologize for the far too numerous typos in my initial post. Computer is missing keystrokes somehow……
This is going to take a very organized and systematic campaign to both the city’s elected officials and to ODOT in order for change to happen… and soon. Perhaps the Democrat campaign people can help.. they don’t have much to do over the next few months (in OK at least).
David’s “Market Circle” would be a great way to handle the awkward convergence of those streets, and it would create a palatable ‘speed-bump’ to modulate traffic. The heart of the circle also provides a place for needed landscaping and art. (The arch needs some work.)
I suspect Steve is revisiting this article because he called Wenger and got, “I’m sorry Steve, but ODOT won’t let us do a traffic circle, so there is nothing I can do on the matter. click”
We have finally found a way to get something done through the proper channels.
1. Write to the three Federal Employees who can positively influence this process and request that ODOT hold a formal public hearing.
Use these specific terms in your letter- “I request a public process and for ODOT to provide a range of Alternatives.”
Elizabeth Romero
Ivan Marrero
Federal Highway Administration
5801 N. Robinson Ave., Suite 300
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Elizabeth.romero@dot.gov
Ivan.marrero@dot.gov
Victor Mendez
Federal Highway Administration
1200 SE New Jersey Ave
Washington, DC 20590
If you are a merchant or property owner in Bricktown, you might reference that you are concerned that ODOT’s suggested Compress Street alignment is in conflict with the information provided to the public for the last decade and that such a difficult entrance into Bricktown “may adversely or potentially negatively impact your property/business in Brictown.”
Oklahoma Ave had always been the proposed street with direct access into Bricktown. The new proposal is for Compress instead. Compress will require three turns and undoubtedly will cause major traffic jams as people try to get to Reno going around the U-Haul building.
If your a property owner on the west side of downtown, you might object to “Boulevard in the Air” that will actually ensure that the west side remains entombed as an industrial wasteland.
2. Contact your City councillor and tell them what you think about the new Blvd.
Folks, we need to build the new Boulevard as soon as possible to allow better access to downtown. But since the plans won’t be done until December anyways, it is totally reasonable to demand that it be designed and constructed right for us.
Six lanes? Wow. I’d like to see the public health impact. Medics have a term for people who get run over by cars: “Auto Peds.” With six lanes of traffic, they’ll need a dedicated unit. I hope it can get worked out. I’m sure it will!! Every time I’ve envisioned this area of town after development, I’ve imagined frequent trips with my kids. With six lanes of traffic we’d all do well to stay away, which is completely counterintuitive to walkability/foot traffic ambitions.
This does not sound like the ODOT described by Mr Wenger during yesterday’s MAPS Streetcar/Transit subcommittee meeting.
A very enlightening discussion took place on this very topic with Mr Wenger saying OKC is going to get stuck with whatever OOT decides to build. A few memebrs of the subcommittee wisely desired to forward a recommedation to the City Council advising them to strongly urge DOT to take into considerati th MAPS projects that will be directly affected by the boulevard’s design.
Mr Wenger stated the city engineering/ utilities dept has frequent contact with ODOT about the boulevard design and followed that by saying the city’s desires will have minimal impact on the final design. When questioned, he modified his statement to say the city communicates with the contractor more than ODOT directly. This may explain the disconnect between Mr Ridley’s statements and Mr Wenger.
The city’s elected officials and citizens need to speak up to force OKC Staff and ODOT to build something other than anoter least common denominator project that have been the ODOT standard. I urge anyone with any interest in OKC continuing to grow into a more desirable place to live visit this site.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15393885/Final%20Presentation.pdf
This is what OKC could have a a western entrance to downtown rather than just another elevated highway ODOT is planning.