Be sure to get an exact address. Not the one geotagged in the app; rather something you pull off of a building. If you don't they will use that as an excuse to close the ticket without action. Also, if an item is on private property (it of course appears NOT to be in this case) you will basically get a digital shoulder shrug and the ticket will be closed. Those are the only things so far that have irritated me about using the app.

OKC is trying to train Action Center staff to be at least ask for a specific address before closing it though... it's tough when the City's internal tracking system is only address based, not lat/long based.

This pic needs to be immediately sent to the city for action. Then send it to the Oklahoman for publicity.

They got sheared off today. I think Unfrskn or whatever tweeted them the photo and the city went out and took care of it.

There is one set that is still there, but there is a giant truck parked over it, so they probably could not access that one.

Shear off the giant truck!

Great to see the nails removed.
From Tuesday as well.
Stunning station, i noticed that it was underutilized however. After the Amtrak left in the morning the officials taking care of it just locked up and left (With me almost left inside) And there was another large empty room that would've made a great restaurant.
The stunning interior.
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Passengers onward towards Fort Worth
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A certain tower peaking out.
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The large empty room would make a great cafe or meeting place/exhibit on the history of the railroad. Maybe the Oklahoma Railroad museum could use the space as a museum downtown.

Thanks again for the photos.

If you look at the latest plans, that great empty space is targeted for a restaurant.

And of course with the new tunnel to Bricktown, there will be a lot more traffic through there.


Such a crazy cool building that almost no one ever sees. Can't wait to see them polish and fill this place up!

(just need to pull down the Cox Center, because that's all you can see when you look out from those beautiful interiors.)

I hope the tunnel is done right and isn't just a concrete walkway. (What are the time frames for the renovation?)
And great to see it getting alternative uses, after 8:30am this place was just dead.

Yeah, I've been by several times and never been able to even get inside.

They just filed the building permits so work should start soon.

I would guess it will take about a year to complete. It's mainly cleaning the exterior stone and reworking the outside areas.

To get in easier, look at the amtrak time routes. that should help get a good peek inside.

Here's a quick video that SW Aviator and I did of the Santa Fe Station ceiling.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FNHICNy5R30

(just need to pull down the Cox Center, because that's all you can see when you look out from those beautiful interiors.)

Something like this...

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http://i.imgur.com/8SvVOF9.jpg

Can't believe they had signs bolted to the sidewalk in the first place.

OKC City Council Reveals Renovation Plans For Santa Fe Station - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | (http://www.news9.com/story/28743691/okc-city-council-reveals-renovation-plans-for-santa-fe-station)

On-time arrival: City says Santa Fe station will be ready by end of 2015 | The Journal Record (http://journalrecord.com/2015/04/07/on-time-arrival-city-says-santa-fe-station-will-be-ready-by-end-of-2015-general-news/)

This was in the presentation to City Council today:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/10602d1428454546-santa-fe-station-transithubschedule.jpg

While I like how this looks overall and is much needed I don't think they have listened to any of the critism the council and streetcar committe for ways to make it better. Following It from the beginning I see the same overal design that they came out with months ago. There is no connection to the streetcar stops to the north and south. As well as a reassurance that that are not losing any future capabilities with HSR and commuter trains. I know they said they were working towards it but I just see in 10 years we find out they messed up and now we can't add a platform or etc.

According to Steve's last chat, the renovation is under way for this project. Does anyone have any pics of work being done?

Construction fences are up but I walked all around there and couldn't see much happening.

Also, note how they have completely blocked the sidewalk (as we all know, an all-to-common thing in OKC).

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/santafe092415a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/santafe092415b.jpg

That is ridiculous.

I know we harp on about the sidewalk thing but...

On the same day I saw this poor blind man walking in the street banging his cane against the curb because there was no sidewalk access; and...

A woman with a stroller and another small child walking in the street for the same reason.


This isn't a matter of hipster new urbanists wanting a place to ride their fixie bikes, we are talking about people who have no choice but to walk places and have to put themselves in danger due to the lack of sidewalks or the exiting ones being blocked.

Now that I think about it, I should have taken pictures of both the situations I described because I saw them about 10 minutes apart and it made me furious.

Yeah, this has become a real hot-button issue for me, and includes the generally lousy access between the canal and street level. In fact, that is where my own interest in this topic first began. I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't really noticed it before, but visitors have really opened my eyes to unfriendly and unwieldy some of our urban areas are to use.

I have been having LOTS of discussions about especially the latter (the canal) with some people who can influence change, and they have become very interested. I just fired off an e-mail to some of them using this as an example of how bad the construction barrier also issue is. Like you say, it's not only the permanently disabled who are inconvenienced here, like you say it also involves people who simply have less mobility at the moment for whatever reason. I read a great article a couple of days ago that made the case that we all visit the "disabled" world to some extent at various times in our lives - parents with strollers, people with injury, post-surgery, lost or broken glasses, even people dragging luggage - and that it can be an eye opener when you extrapolate your own inconvenience to apply to someone who is truly and permanently disabled.

When I see parents carrying strollers up and down stairs or older people struggling to find an elevator I actually am ashamed. Ashamed that they are having this experience in my city. Fortunately this opinion is really beginning to resonate with some folks, and I can say that there is some work going on behind the scenes right now to rectify some of these inadequacies. Unfortunately I know of no such work being done to rectify this construction barrier issue. I'm going to see what I can do.

^^^ Thank you for doing this, I rail against this crap (and similar) all the time, but I don't know anybody that has any power or influence at all, so I'm just p***ing in the wind, nice to see that something might be able to be done about it...

we all talked about construction barrier ideas from other cities before and I personally mentioned that OKC government should require access to be preserved OR a detour provided (just like it is with MOST road projects oriented for vehicles). I felt at the time that many on here agreed or had somewhat similar sentiments but I also felt that the concept went on deaf ears in OKC.

To me this is common sense, if you have a city with ANY type of pedestrian amenities then there should always be a protected access or throughfare provided OR a detour clearly marked and also fully provided. This means, either a fully protected, fully available and easy to access partition away from the construction OR clearly identifiable signage instructing a detour and the detour itself a complete sidewalk OR a fully protected, available, easy to access partition. As I mentioned before, this is NORMAL for cities I've been in (Vancouver, Seattle, Chi, NY, etc) so with OKC growing and having an urban population - this needs to be REQUIRED by the city going forward.

Yeah, this has become a real hot-button issue for me, and includes the generally lousy access between the canal and street level. In fact, that is where my own interest in this topic first began. I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't really noticed it before, but visitors have really opened my eyes to unfriendly and unwieldy some of our urban areas are to use.

I have been having LOTS of discussions about especially the latter (the canal) with some people who can influence change, and they have become very interested. I just fired off an e-mail to some of them using this as an example of how bad the construction barrier also issue is. Like you say, it's not only the permanently disabled who are inconvenienced here, like you say it also involves people who simply have less mobility at the moment for whatever reason. I read a great article a couple of days ago that made the case that we all visit the "disabled" world to some extent at various times in our lives - parents with strollers, people with injury, post-surgery, lost or broken glasses, even people dragging luggage - and that it can be an eye opener when you extrapolate your own inconvenience to apply to someone who is truly and permanently disabled.

When I see parents carrying strollers up and down stairs or older people struggling to find an elevator I actually am ashamed. Ashamed that they are having this experience in my city. Fortunately this opinion is really beginning to resonate with some folks, and I can say that there is some work going on behind the scenes right now to rectify some of these inadequacies. Unfortunately I know of no such work being done to rectify this construction barrier issue. I'm going to see what I can do.

Outside of some of the obvious places downtown and mile grid streets totally lacking any on either side, what made me notice it was how the bike trails seem like they did not even consider people might use them unless the drove to it, even in areas with neighborhoods it passes right by there is neither a sidewalk to it or a spur bike trail to help encourage it actually be used.

VERY rarely have I seen sidewalks totally closed in Downtown Denver unless the work includes the sidewalk itself.

Here's the article I mentioned: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/city-planners-accessible-design-american-with-disabilities-act


...As I moved through the house and city with Marin, and again later as a personal helper to a young woman with cerebral palsy in Detroit, what was most revelatory to me was not just the idea that we will all eventually develop disabilities if we live long enough. It was that day to day, moment by moment, each of us moves in and out of disability. When we can’t see because we’ve lost our glasses; when our arms are incapacitated because they are full with groceries or a baby as we walk through the automatic doors at the supermarket; when we have a migraine headache and can’t bear the noise of traffic. In those times, we’ve tilted into disability. When I was on crutches with a broken foot one summer, I sure appreciated sloping sidewalks at intersections, and I cursed the curbs. In the Dyckman Street subway station in Manhattan, the elevator that was installed after a lawsuit by disability advocates turns out to be most often used by walking people with luggage, strollers and small children in tow.

This everyday disability should inform our choices in urban planning and universal design. To some extent, that is happening under the auspices of the “age-friendly city.” ...

It is a mess down there and Thunder is about to start up it is going to be a zoo come time for home games. I think the road construction on Gaylord is wrapping up until it is time to work on the Crosstown Blvd. I been trying to stop and take pictures of Gaylord you can see the road dips down and will be deeply tunneled under the train tracks. That whole intersection dips down wondering if it will be flood prone during heavy rains. It dips down pretty deep in that future intersection.

It is a mess down there and Thunder is about to start up it is going to be a zoo come time for home games. I think the road construction on Gaylord is wrapping up until it is time to work on the Crosstown Blvd. I been trying to stop and take pictures of Gaylord you can see the road dips down and will be deeply tunneled under the train tracks. That whole intersection dips down wondering if it will be flood prone during heavy rains. It dips down pretty deep in that future intersection.

Of course it will be flood prone, there are a ton of completely flat streets in OKC that flood with way less rain than you'd think it would take...

Depends on the drainage more than the grade. Quite a bit of drainage work was done prior to construction, and there are massive storm sewers in the very near vicinity of the project. I suspect that there will be little or no issue with flooding.

Of course it will be flood prone, there are a ton of completely flat streets in OKC that flood with way less rain than you'd think it would take...

Few if any of the streets are technically flat, they may not have had enough drainage in the past or what is there needs maintenance but state highways will have good drainage (which is pretty much they are building it to), project 180 probably will help in much of the rest of the downtown core.

Have they started work on the tunnel yet?

Doesn't appear so. There is a single construction dumpster on site and it seems to be going through very light use.

The tunnel is in "Phase 2". Interior removal of all junk left behind by previous tenants was underway when I was on site last week. They were basically doing a bunch of cleaning and prep work to work uninhibited in the space.

In theory, Santa Fe has such great bones, the interior work should go fairly efficiently. The roof work will probably be the most invasive work to the structure itself with the exception of extending the tunnels. Parking lot removal, hardscapes, and utility replacement will be the major visible shifts as construction commences.

I hope they get this rolling and we can see at least substantial bi-weekly updates.
The added traffic opportunity and convenience connecting BT to the CBD is much needed. And what a wonderful facility to achieve this.

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but since the streetcar is not currently planned to go in front of Santa Fe Station on EK Gaylord, how will this facility connect in with the streetcar once both projects are completed?

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but since the streetcar is not currently planned to go in front of Santa Fe Station on EK Gaylord, how will this facility connect in with the streetcar once both projects are completed?

I would assume you'd simply walk from SFS to a stop at Reno and EK Gaylord, or walk from a stop at Sheridan and EK Gaylord to SFS. I personally have no problem with the street car not running right by the front door. In an ideal world it would, but things don't have to be perfect, and this is not an issue that creates any real problems. Walking 150 feet form a stop to your destination is not at all unreasonable.

No, I agree - it's not unreasonable - though a stop right in front of SFS would have been much more desirable. Where will the stops be? There's not a whole lot of room between EK Gaylord and the western wall of the BNSF viaduct - are these stops going to end up being on the eastern side of the viaduct, out of view from the station or something?

No, I agree - it's not unreasonable - though a stop right in front of SFS would have been much more desirable. Where will the stops be? There's not a whole lot of room between EK Gaylord and the western wall of the BNSF viaduct - are these stops going to end up being on the eastern side of the viaduct, out of view from the station or something?

Half a block South and half a block North of the SFS.

I thought there were plans in a Phase II expansion to runnthe streetcar on EK Gaylord and if not, aren't they extending the station towards the north with some kind of glass coverings as I thought I had seen in a rendering or was that just a concept?

I asked the same question of David Todd at the Bricktown Brunch at West last Friday. I was told that there is a section of track that runs down Gaylord as part of the first phase (which was pretty public and connected to current work at Santa Fe.

I pointed out that going down that track would effectively cut Bricktown out of the loop and was told that was essentially intended. He said it would allow the streetcar to avoid Bricktown when/if there was a traffic issue, and also that the streetcar would not always run the full route but that there might be one car running a Bricktown loop or other section and yet other equipment running the rest. They said there is also an intention to do a similar cutoff track near Midtown.

In another thread Urbanized pointed out that in order to receive the Fed money for the Santa Fe station, a line of track had to run directly in front of the station, so we know that there will be track there, but the main route is obviously the more important issue.

The stops to Santa Fe Station are on the interior of the same block. How much closer does it have to be?

One thing they need to do is find a way to clean up the stonework on the outside of the building. The place looks like crap.

The exterior stone is slated to be cleaned.

The two Santa Fe Station stops on the "main line" are to be located at the children's fountain on Sheridan in Bricktown and at the flag plaza on Reno. Both stops are interior to the Santa Fe Station block. Presumably, some pedestrians will use the new tunnel to gain direct access to these stops.

There is a stop that will be built directly across the street on EK Gaylord. This two block segment of track can be activated via a track switch located at EK Gaylord and Sheridan. This rail section and stop is part of the Santa Fe Station Federal Grant via matching funds through MAPS 3.

Operationally, when this switch will be activated is undetermined. Further discussions about minor route adjustments have commenced as the final Convention Center location has been determined.

Excellent, thanks for the information, UP. Would I be correct in assuming that the rail section going down EK Gaylord connects all the way from Sheridan to Reno, and is not just a short stub?

^^^^^^
That is correct. As mentioned above, it is a cut-off.

So I was out here before the game and was doing some photography and recording. I asked several people as they approached what their opinions were on the city allowing contractors to fence off a public sidewalk without providing a safe alternative.

Every single response was that it wasn't a good thing, and they felt unsafe walking in the street or being forced to jaywalk across EKG due to the fence around this station.

I was out there for probably a good hour (mostly documenting the motorbike police issuing right-turn red light tickets). I counted probably over a hundred people who decided to jaywalk EKG across to the CCC (which also has horrible pedestrian integration). The remaining groups simply walked in the oncoming northbound traffic lane along the fence.


I will upload some photos I took of this, tonight.

http://i.imgur.com/0C9ueBL.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/bbBK3gV.jpg

Absurd. This is the kind of thing that makes me hate this city sometimes.

Has this issue ever been brought up at a city council meeting?

How about calling Cooley directly? That's ridiculous.

It's been like that for months, even when there was virtually no construction happening.


Here's something worse... Often times, contractors just completely close off streets.

Last weekend, I was trying to make my way from the CBD to Deep Deuce and the contractor at Maywood II had both 4th and Oklahoma closed.

Then, I got down to the Steelyard area and Sheridan was completely closed between Joe Carter and Lincoln AND Charlie Chastain was closed just south of Sheridan.

Absolutely none of that had anything to do with street construction, just contractors taking over several blocks even though in all cases they are also taking several big lots for equipment and material storage on top of the construction sites themselves. And of course, in all cases the sidewalks were completely cut off on both sides of the street.

I'm currently discussing this general issue with several people, including someone inside the City Manager's office, and will be meeting with a couple of city council members about this also. There are multiple locations around downtown with this type of nonsensical sidewalk closure, and there will only be more in the future as downtown continues to develop. The standard response is to characterize the problem as a "temporary inconvenience", but if the place next door is under renovation next year and the place down the block the year after that, how is it temporary?

Any photos like those posted above would be very helpful. Somehow other (even much smaller) cities get this right; we should too. It's shameful.

Go Urbanized!

I really need to take photos when I see this sort of thing because it happens all the time.

Here's something worse... Often times, contractors just completely close off streets.

Last weekend, I was trying to make my way from the CBD to Deep Deuce and the contractor at Maywood II had both 4th and Oklahoma closed.

They've done that everyday that I can remember since they started construction.

I'm currently discussing this general issue with several people, including someone inside the City Manager's office, and will be meeting with a couple of city council members about this also. There are multiple locations around downtown with this type of nonsensical sidewalk closure, and there will only be more in the future as downtown continues to develop. The standard response is to characterize the problem as a "temporary inconvenience", but if the place next door is under renovation next year and the place down the block the year after that, how is it temporary?

Any photos like those posted above would be very helpful. Somehow other (even much smaller) cities get this right; we should too. It's shameful.

This. The last time I remember downtown as anything other than a total construction zone... 10 years ago. It's about time we realize the construction is here to stay. We need to learn to live with it, which we can't do if we don't balance needs.

In general, we need to take a step back and look at downtown with fresh eyes. Far too many perspectives seem based on ten years ago and ten years from now, but not right now. A closed sidewalk is actually a huge inconvenience for downtown in 2015. Most of our sidewalks have been closed in this last 10 years. My family (nearly all of whom are/were downtown workers) is terrified to go downtown, and south siders don't need many reasons to avoid downtown.

Part of the negotiated compromise to invest most resources into the city center must be to make it accessible to all. The south side has also been disproportionately cut off from downtown by construction. Shields for one is always closed. Robinson hasn't been much better. Then the I-40 project always has and continues to cut off the south side.

Access is a nightmare. If downtown is going to be successful in the long term, it must be accessible and accommodating to everyone. Otherwise downtown continues to be the folly of the rich, while everyone else spends their money on Memorial Road or 19th Street in Moore. The Warren Theater there has astonished me for maintaining its overwhelming pull over the whole south side, even in spite of a few tornadoes. Access is key.

By the way, just want to clarify that I'm not against sidewalk closures in principle. Sometimes they have to happen, and this might be one of those cases.

But pretty much every other city in the U.S. (at least that I have looked at) requires what is known as parallel pedestrian access anytime a sidewalk is closed. It's in fact a requirement of ADA, which leaves the city open to litigation if not properly enforced. In those cities the onus is on the developer/contractor to include it, as a part of the permitting process.

This can include barricades between the actual construction barricade and the street, it can include ramps to make the street/sidewalk transition over a curb, and can include lane closures if necessary. If you pull a permit to close a sidewalk, you must submit a plan for all of the applicable remedies, and you must execute according to the plan. It's not something that is done as a courtesy; it's the law.

This particular sidewalk closure is the PERFECT place for such remedy; a lane closure would still allow two lanes of northbound traffic, and the curb transitions would be easy.

Beyond that it is the poster child for this issue, with many thousands of non-downtowners walking down this superblock between Bricktown/Deep Deuce to Thunder games; people who don't realize there is a closure until they've walked halfway down the superblock, and who are forced to choose jaywalking vs walking in a busy traffic lane vs backtracking a block to cross legally.

And the unfortunate reality is that if they choose anything other than the backtrack (which requires an extra two blocks of walking), the law would find THEM responsible if they were hit by a car. Again, this whole contractor loophole is shameful and needs to be closed.

^Agree 100%

While I was out here before the game, people who jaywalked across EKG, actually ended up crossing @ the exact point the contractor's fence sat. Therefore, they crossed directly into the CCC garage entry which also does not have sidewalks until you are up against the building. With traffic in and out of the garage being heavy, it was forcing drivers to stop and let people safely jaywalk.

I sent the company an email this morning and they responded saying that they were instructed to do so by the city.

Seems quite perposterous considering the city is working at adding sidewalks specifically for pedestrian use. Why at all would they block this one knowing that fans are using it to go to Thunder games?

Stupid...

Downtown OKC Inc seems like the logical entity to take this issue on and advocate to the Public Work Department (which oversees this project), that the fence be moved. Where do they stand in this?

If the fence is still on the sidewalk, I will bring it up at our next MAPS transit meeting since we have $10 million in the project.