FWIW.

http://newsok.com/article/5551386?utm_source=NewsOK.com&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=NIC-Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_newsok



Streetcar stop names:

Myriad Gardens
Library
Transit Center
Federal Courthouse
Broadway Avenue
Automobile Alley
Campbell Art Park
North Hudson
Dewey Avenue
Midtown
NW 10th Street
Law School
Memorial Museum
Business District
Century Center
Bricktown
Mickey Mantle
East Bricktown
Ballpark
Santa Fe Hub
Arena
The final stop, as yet unnamed, will be along the Oklahoma City Boulevard near the MAPS 3 convention center complex and across the boulevard from the MAPS 3 downtown park.


This aren't complaints per se, but it seems a bit odd that they'd include the full street name (...Street, ...Ave) for some street locations (NW 10th, Broadway) and not for others (North Hudson, Mickey Mantle). The stops named after destinations seem fine though a bit vague for some ("Arena"? "Law School"? "Ballpark"?). Thoughts?

Maybe a limit to how many characters can be used to name each stop? For signage and such.

Little to zero Sunday service...

http://m.newsok.com/article/5551449

Little to zero Sunday service...

http://m.newsok.com/article/5551449

This is a total outrage. Setting this up to fail. Very disappointed.

Totally absurd to have no/little Sunday service, both days of the weekend should be absolutely essential to run on!

The contractor placing track is working on Saturdays. These are photographs from this morning. I've never seen any Project 180 work on Saturdays.
1389313894138951389613897

This is a total outrage. Setting this up to fail. Very disappointed.


Totally absurd to have no/little Sunday service, both days of the weekend should be absolutely essential to run on!

Yep. Ugh. Nice "big league city" decision... :rolleyes:

This is a total outrage. Setting this up to fail. Very disappointed.

I agree completely. I spoke rather vehemently to this issue at one of the committee meetings and got nowhere.

Who can citizens complain to to argue for Sunday service? It really is such a short-sighted decision. Surely if there is citizens outcry this can still be changed...

Your council person to begin with. I regularly email mine and will be doing so again about this...

It's unspoken, but I think there is concern that providing streetcar service on Sunday while bus service remains so limited on the same day would open the City up to another type of criticism. It's a bad look to fund what many people still think is a gimmick/toy - I do not feel this way, personally - while there is a dramatically underserved transit-dependent population elsewhere in the city. This is a case of the poor overall state of transit in our sprawling city producing a negative ripple effect.

That said, I believe it is an unsustainable position. The convention/tourism/visitor industry by itself will require Sunday service and create a very large amount of riders. I suspect that there is likely to be sponsorship or some other funding source brought to bear that will pay for it, outside of the transit budget. Just guessing here; no specific knowledge.

By the way, at the Mayor's Development Roundtable the mayor of Kansas City discussed the outrageously successful KC streetcar service. It runs on Sundays, and it's also free, every day. Lots of influential people took notice. Hopefully this can be overcome.

This is a total outrage. Setting this up to fail. Very disappointed.

It's a stunning and outrageous decision. All the evidence says it needs to operate on Sunday to succeed, but the city ignored that, ostensibly to save a few dollars.

Let's be clear: This is setting up the streetcar to fail and it's setting up all other forms of mass transit to fail. When the streetcar inevitably has very low ridership to due to cost, lack of service on Sunday, and poor routing decisions, the public at large will view it as an indictment against the ideas of those who are calling for additional mass transit (e.g., RTA).

Really disappointed in our decision makers here. Unfortunately, these poor decisions are becoming more commonplace.

I was downtown out and about yesterday (Sunday) and there were people everywhere. The lack of service on this day is a joke.

I also think the Friday and Saturday runs should stop @ 3am, not 2am. :Smiley051

I was downtown out and about yesterday (Sunday) and there were people everywhere. The lack of service on this day is a joke.

I also think the Friday and Saturday runs should stop @ 3am, not 2am. :Smiley051

agreed. Esp. during summer, there are loads of pedestrians out on Sunday.

agreed. Esp. during summer, there are loads of pedestrians out on Sunday.

The volume of people in and near the Myriad Gardens on Sundays is astounding. It was jammed pack the past three weekends. I imagine many of them would use the streetcar given Sunday service.

The volume of people in and near the Myriad Gardens on Sundays is astounding. It was jammed pack the past three weekends. I imagine many of them would use the streetcar given Sunday service.

Absolutely correct.

There is so much going on down there I can't even keep up but I'm down there almost every weekend and there are people everywhere and usually some sort of festival, run, or music even with food trucks and all types of things.

It's amazing how well that park is program and utilized, especially with 3 sides of it being nearly undeveloped and quite dead.

I messaged OKC Streetcar on Twitter about the corner pieces since everything being done now is the straight sections and I got this reply on June 2nd:

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The corner sections of track (Factory Bent) will be installed soon. The corner at Sheridan/Joe Carter will be installed around the end of June. The corner at Joe Carter/Reno will be install shortly in July. The Joe Carter/Reno corner is a little more involved due to the signal light being relocated.

The corner pieces at Joe Carter were being installed last week. I will post pictures of them to the Facebook page. Regarding Sunday Service, I wrote a lengthy letter to the council on this matter. The earlier posts are correct. This has nothing to do with lack of monies to pay for Sunday streetcar service. It entirely has to do with lack of funding for Sunday bus service and the negative contrast that funding one but not the other would create. It is time to fund both. They just don't know how to do it without cutting some unrelated city department budget.

And let's be clear, after working on this for a decade or more, meaningful seven-day-per-week public transit funding, is not a priority of our city management/manager. If it were, this issue would have been long been resolved. It's time to fix the problem City of OKC.

^^^^^^^^^
The bent sections at Sheridan/Joe Carter were delivered a couple of weeks ago and are sitting in the track bed at this location, partially installed.

Oops, UP beat me to it.

Ironically, I was viewing Pete's aerial pic of the Steelyard project yesterday and noticed that the bent section on Sheridan & Joe Carter was indeed in place. Ahead of schedule...? And if so, good!

I noticed today the west side of the Myriad Gardens, on the east side of the street is being dug out with a huge backhoe. I would think this would be for more tracks. ?

^Yes that is for track.

http://i.imgur.com/xZpFwpr.jpg








http://i.imgur.com/TwQJc72.jpg

Robinson south of 10th street is also being dug up for tracks.

Is it the tracks or just the utility relocation ahead of tracks or the hole-punches for the overhead wire supports? Those are three separate activities at times.

Having become very familiar with the sequence over the past few months in Bricktown, I can tell you that what is happening south of 10th on Robinson is 100% track bed.

sweet! for some reason I was thinking it would logically progress out from bricktown

This page is an excellent source for up-to-date construction info (though it doesn't say that the section we are discussing is track bed yet...but it is...): https://www.okc.gov/government/maps-3/projects/modern-streetcar-transit/modern-streetcar-construction-news

Also on that page you can click a link and subscribe to e-mail construction updates, or just click here to do so: https://www.okc.gov/government/maps-3/projects/modern-streetcar-transit/modern-streetcar-construction-news

I get the construction updates, just haven't read the last couple, everything is moving so fast!

Does look like utility work, though?


Robinson Avenue: June 26 - July 11

The utility crew will move over to Robinson Avenue between NW 10th Street and NW 9th Street.
Traffic will be northbound only for the duration of this work.
The closure on NW 9th Street is for the Cox utility work.

It is difficult to tell in my nighttime photos, but there was at least a dozen workers out there ~ 10pm. They are working full nights for temperature-friendly concrete pours.

Does look like utility work, though?
Yes, according to the update. Just saying that they have gone ahead and cut out track bed while they're at it. In a lot of places they have only gone in and done spot utility relocation work, then patched it back up. In Bricktown when they have done a long saw cut like what is on Robinson right now, it was eventually also the track bed. Never got covered back up. I would guess this is both utility relocation and eventually track. Not suggesting there will be rebar or track anytime soon; only saying if this hole is filled back up before there is track in it, they will be doing things differently than anywhere else they have worked to this point.

Ah, makes sense, appreciate the insight. I have noticed in a couple places they filled it back in with asphalt so maybe due to the traffic they'll do that here until track time.

Ah, makes sense, appreciate the insight. I have noticed in a couple places they filled it back in with asphalt so maybe due to the traffic they'll do that here until track time.

Yeah, it has been an experience over here. That said, the communication has been amazing and the intersection closures have been strategic, well communicated, well planned. That said, once this much is ripped out I've not seen it filled back in, and we are talking about streets with higher traffic counts than that stretch of Robinson (Sheridan, Reno). I'd expect the trench now open to be open for the duration. Just breathe deep and remember that it will (eventually) be over, and we will have a streetcar.

... Just breathe deep and remember that it will (eventually) be over, and we will have a streetcar.

I keep telling myself and others this everytime there is complaining about all the construction downtown. It TOTALLY sucks right now, Bricktown is complete chaos. But we will be so much better off a year from now.

I keep telling myself and others this everytime there is complaining about all the construction downtown. It TOTALLY sucks right now, Bricktown is complete chaos. But we will be so much better off a year from now.

It's funny; other than the present situation on Sheridan where there is no eastbound traffic allowed between Oklahoma and Mickey Mantle - and the detour takes you like four blocks out of the way because of having to go under Walnut - I have found the Bricktown construction surprisingly unobtrusive. They have tried to limit intersection closures to weekdays, and have MOSTLY succeeded with a few exceptions, and communication has be incredible, as I mentioned. Weekend closures are bad for us over here, and they obviously listened in pre-meetings. I'd expect other parts of downtown to have other priorities, and I would expect those would be catered to as much as possible.

I have honestly found the P180 construction on E.K. Gaylord for the past who-knows-how-long to be WAAAAY more of a PITA.

I heard today that Cornett wants the streetcar to be fully autonomous.

I have honestly found the P180 construction on E.K. Gaylord for the past who-knows-how-long to be WAAAAY more of a PITA.
How they've handled that particular portion is criminal!

OK, after looking more closely at the Robinson saw cut, I stand corrected. That may indeed be JUST utilities at this point. I was only seeing what was at the intersection, which is full track width. But only a few feet south the cut gets much more narrow. I hadn't before seen a cut like this in any of the other work they've done. Everything that they've done til now of a linear nature in track ROW became track bed.

I can only guess that there is some infrastructure that runs right down that street, which they are now dealing with. In the past the utility relocations were more concentrated spots rather than so linear in nature. I'm sure we'll see all types of variations before this is over.

1. Cornett does want to see if we can do a fully automated streetcar system. He serves on the Federal Autonomous Vehicles Committee as an appointee by the Federal Transportation Secretary (Secretary Fox). We are studying if this is a possibility and what the costs of such an endeavor might be.

2. EK Gaylord required a major replacement of one of the main sewer lines through City 20' below the surface, thus the extraordinary time compared to other P180 streets.

3. The trench in the southbound lane south of 10th on Robinson is to relocate and upgrade the water main in preparation for the track bed.

4. The work on 9th street is O&G's upgrade of gas lines in the overall area. That project was underway throughout downtown before the streetcar project as part of their conversion from antiquated metal lines to poly. It benefits the streetcar project but also contributes to the perception that we are working on every street in Midtown. Beneficial coincidence

What kind of timeline are we speaking here for autonomous?

Brookville is already building our cars.

Will there be a possibility this will be double tracked? Found out the other day this will be one way service. Not sure how I just found that out, but I am extremely disappointed in that. Not that it can't be fixed, it just seems to me it is a half assed system only have one track. Needs to be two ways.

The system is so short two ways isn't necessary and would nearly double the cost. This way we can get all the way up into midtown for the amount of money allotted.

To me that speaks of shortsightedness by the city. Setting this thing up to fail before it even begins. I hope I'm wrong.

the two directions are only a block apart, you'd want to completely redesign the route if you double tracked. too late for that.

There is really no need to go both direction on a fairly short route like this, the circle route works okay I think. What's the total time to complete one loop?

Any expansions out should go both directions, and I would expect them to be more of an "in and out" setup rather than a big loop. Like an extension up to Penn Square and then up NW Expressway, or something like that.

Will there be a possibility this will be double tracked? Found out the other day this will be one way service. Not sure how I just found that out, but I am extremely disappointed in that. Not that it can't be fixed, it just seems to me it is a half assed system only have one track. Needs to be two ways.

You gotta remember that while there is only 1 track, there is a downtown/Bricktown "circular" and then the main-line circular. Plus, this is OKC...which doesn't have LA or Dallas monies so you have to quit looking at our progress from a Tier 1 City perspective. Everything will be just fine, Plupan.

You gotta remember that while there is only 1 track, there is a downtown/Bricktown "circular" and then the main-line circular. Plus, this is OKC...which doesn't have LA or Dallas monies so you have to quit looking at our progress from a Tier 1 City perspective. Everything will be just fine, Plupan.

and to add, we don't really have a linear corridor that makes sense for an out and back like in KC. All of our districts are spread out on all sides around the core.

You gotta remember that while there is only 1 track, there is a downtown/Bricktown "circular" and then the main-line circular. Plus, this is OKC...which doesn't have LA or Dallas monies so you have to quit looking at our progress from a Tier 1 City perspective. Everything will be just fine, Plupan.
I hope you're right...

and to add, we don't really have a linear corridor that makes sense for an out and back like in KC. All of our districts are spread out on all sides around the core.

This is correct. KC is not the right comparison for many items related to our streetcar system. Our downtown is exceptionally unique and how to cover it was extensively and scientifically evaluated. The spread one block apart system expands reach and pedestrian access.

What kind of timeline are we speaking here for autonomous?

Brookville is already building our cars.

Supposedly, the Brookeville streetcars are built with the ability to convert them to autonomous later as technology progresses. For the foreseeable future, they shall be piloted by actual human engineers. This is a broader study to determine how it would be done and does not have a specific date/goal in mind. It is also being done by academia. The theory is that a streetcar is much more easily automated as it is a two dimensional challenge rather than a three dimensional challenge as compared to a car. A fixed route means simply accelerating and braking. Fewer variables to consider.

Track has been laid on Hudson from the future blvd to Sheridan. I am curious about the position of the track on the undeveloped block between reno and the future blvd. Here, the streetcar track will be directly against the curb thus preserving five lanes of traffic and blocking any chance of on street parking here. Anyone know why? The track shifts one lane to the west as it passes by the myriad gardens in order to accommodate street parking. I just don't understand why they would take away the opportunity for street parking on this lot that will surely someday be developed.

I presume it has to do with where stops are?

I presume it has to do with where stops are?

I don't think that has to do with it. There are some stops that take up a parking space but allow for parking around them and there are also stops that are right up against the sidewalk. What seems strange to me here is that the track doesnt make room for street parking here despite the fact that the road is five lanes wide and probable future development.

Wasn't the shape of the boulevard or one of those blocks going to change slightly? Thought I remember something about that. If so maybe the track is accounting for the end state?

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20046769_936148146528097_3606931248300783190_n.jpg ?oh=6dd3647b142b65b8e27a9a95aeddf19a&oe=5A012E75

https://www.facebook.com/okcstreetcarcommittee/photos/a.203752873100965.51616.203749819767937/936148146528097/?type=3&permPage=1

Wasn't the shape of the boulevard or one of those blocks going to change slightly? Thought I remember something about that. If so maybe the track is accounting for the end state?

That is correct. That section design is driven by ODOT and their vehicle ingress/egress desires. It is a miracle that we are even allowed in there right now. We have an extremely narrow window of time permitted to do some major track junctures there this month.

I see, thank you for clarifying, thought I remembered something about that...

https://www.facebook.com/okcstreetcarcommittee/videos/938535869622658/

https://media.giphy.com/media/rl0FOxdz7CcxO/giphy.gif

Streetcar Stop 1 (IHOP):

http://i.imgur.com/8CLdPos.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/Otj4voN.jpg





Streetcar Stop 2 (Ballpark):

http://i.imgur.com/2OdbUXs.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/b51mfBb.jpg









Streetcar tracks on future Boulevard:


http://i.imgur.com/SZyrWrj.jpg