Can anyone get a picture of the new track over the new bridge?

Can anyone get a picture of the new track over the new bridge?

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Looks like only a couple of months away before the eastern connections are open.

That's a great shot. It makes me wonder if this area will stay at 4 tracks.

That's a great shot. It makes me wonder if this area will stay at 4 tracks.

It better. 2 sidings for the station and 2 mains for BNSF.

mispost... Sorry.

I don't know if there is any legal basis to this, but I always assumed that if you get in an accident while going faster than the suggested speed you could end up with an "operating a vehicle in a manner unreasonable and improper" ticket.

Or, "excessive speed for existing conditions"

Or, "excessive speed for existing conditions"

That's the one I was thinking about, thanks.

It better. 2 sidings for the station and 2 mains for BNSF.

The bridge is wide enough for 5. This came from the transit hub study. 2 for freight, 2 for commuter rail, 1 for Amtrac, I believe. The elevated viaduct will need widening for a long way to accommodate this.

That's the one I was thinking about, thanks.

That's a very difficult case to prove. As long as you are below the posted speed limit, I don't think an officer could write you a speeding ticket for exceeding a recommended speed.

The 2011 Intermodal Transportation Hub Master Plan from 2011 calls for 5 tracks at the station - one for Amtrak, two shared between commuter rail and high speed rail, and two in the middle for freight to bypass the station platforms. There is actually enough space at the station for 6 tracks, and indeed historical photographs show that, at one time, there were 6 tracks served by 2 platforms. When away from the station platforms, commuter, passenger, and freight rail can all share the same rails, so not all of those rails would need to continue south of the Boulevard; they would likely all merge into the two existing tracks by the time they get to the new I-40 Crosstown.

You guys are correct about the track spacing. We (transit advocates) had to fight during the bridge design process to ensure that the boulevard bridge is adequately wide enough to support the Santa Fe Station Master Plan. Under the current context, the two "shoo-fly" tracks are supposed to remain in place to serve the hub and allow BNSF flexibility. I haven't studied this in a while and thus cannot commit to the exact width at the Boulevard. There is some pretty generous spacing there at this point though based on historical metrics. ODOT responded well to ensuring a reasonable width between the new retaining walls. However, when one assumes that there will be plat forms, the old east wall of the alignment may be shifted further and the space further flared out to accommodate all of the future infrastructure. All of these plans also assume that BNSF is agreeable to fair and reasonable track separation metric.

According to the plans (which can be found at:)
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/contracts/a2015/plans1501/320_2201_OKCY-XTWN(006)HP_1742825/A%20FULL%20FILE%20W%20XS.pdf

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5579/30108077186_7c0714a294.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MSxLp5)

which clearly shows 4 tracks.

However......

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5051/29514558904_116273d35d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LY6Q6f)

Which shows 5 tracks. I believe the answer can be found here:

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5536/29514560114_44ecd5bf94.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LY6Qs7)

It appears that the eastern retaining wall is being moved out to accomodate a 5th track.

The bridge will only carry 4 tracks. The Bridge "BE" Typical Section sheet (page #144 in the PDF) shows the track arrangement in detail. It looks like there may be room for a fifth track in the middle, but it is not to be constructed as part of this project.

I didn't say a 5th track was being built, I said the wall was being moved to accommodate one. A 5th track is way outside the scope of the Blvd project.

My wife and I were in town this weekend up from DFW and were driving near downtown on I-40 when my wife says "Didn't they just tear down the old highway? Why are they building a new one in the same place?" in reference to the "Boulevard" near the canal. I had a good chuckle.

I wen't down there south of Harkins the other day and it looked like they even build service roads... What's up with that?

I wen't down there south of Harkins the other day and it looked like they even build service roads... What's up with that?

Those are extra wide sidewalks.

Those are extra wide sidewalks.

Is that sarcasm? if it is haha! If not, there appears to be a sidewalk on the north side but what I'm talking about is on the south side, not both sides (just looked at a video I made when I was there). Looks like a service road: it's sunk into the ground and separated from the blvd by a median. I just don't understand why a city street needs access roads haha..

I saw today, on northbound 35, the new exit signs for Oklahoma City Boulevard.

Is that sarcasm? if it is haha! If not, there appears to be a sidewalk on the north side but what I'm talking about is on the south side, not both sides (just looked at a video I made when I was there). Looks like a service road: it's sunk into the ground and separated from the blvd by a median. I just don't understand why a city street needs access roads haha..

I didn't notice that road there before. Seems to be just for that one awkward area where development won't happen for awhile.

Is that sarcasm? if it is haha! If not, there appears to be a sidewalk on the north side but what I'm talking about is on the south side, not both sides (just looked at a video I made when I was there). Looks like a service road: it's sunk into the ground and separated from the blvd by a median. I just don't understand why a city street needs access roads haha..

I have been down and looked at it and it is a divided street, east bound and west bound. Maybe you were thinking it would not be divided?

I have been down and looked at it and it is a divided street, east bound and west bound. Maybe you were thinking it would not be divided?

I know that the blvd is divided. I remember there being an additional divide and road south of the east bound lanes. Maybe it's 3rd st? If you were to drive south on Oklahoma straight through the intersection, you have to turn right or left on this road.

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Here is what I'm talking about. These photos are screen grabs from my cell phone video so pardon the poor quality and bad angles. These were taken at the Oklahoma intersection looking eastish. You can see the east bound section of the boulevard as well as the service road; the west bound portion is not visible.

I think that is the road that goes to Rocktown...

I think that is the road that goes to Rocktown...

Maybe in the future this could be used to go to the climbing gym but as it is now you have to use gravel roads in the producers coop. This road brand new and part of boulevard construction. I really have no Idea what it's for.

You can see the side road as described in post 302

Looks somewhat similar to the side road south of the Northwest Expressway between HW 74 and May.

I'm guessing it will help with local traffic in the future development of the area south of the road, and keep the local traffic off the boulevard?

I've been told that ODOT is going to open the East end of the Boulevard Friday.

wow

Maybe in the future this could be used to go to the climbing gym but as it is now you have to use gravel roads in the producers coop. This road brand new and part of boulevard construction. I really have no Idea what it's for.


You can see the side road as described in post 302


Looks somewhat similar to the side road south of the Northwest Expressway between HW 74 and May.

I'm guessing it will help with local traffic in the future development of the area south of the road, and keep the local traffic off the boulevard?

It is the rebuilt 3rd street that they tore up building the blvd. it connects to compress to get the the 4th st underpass. And connects to walnut to get to the climbing gym. Not really a side road at all.

Here's an aerial of the road.

http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13193&d=1477413970

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5827/30268287290_3d441e165b_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/N7GThf)
OKC Crosstown Boulevard (https://flic.kr/p/N7GThf) by lazio85 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/77483833@N04/), on Flickr

If ODOT opens the eastern end of the Boulevard to traffic on Friday, I have to assume they are only opening the road from the highway to Oklahoma Ave, right? Last I saw, the underpass for the Blvd under the BNSF viaduct still has a ways to go.

Is the Oklahoma Avenue connection even ready for that yet? I would have said it was still the U-Haul parking lot.

They haven't even acquired the right of way for Oklahoma avenue last I heard. Shields blvd is closed at Reno now so I don't see how opening this section would be all that useful right now.

They haven't even acquired the right of way for Oklahoma avenue last I heard. Shields blvd is closed at Reno now so I don't see how opening this section would be all that useful right now.

It might satisfy some important "this piece of paper says this section is open so we met our deadline" metric.

I noticed on the way to work this morning that the concrete barriers are gone along the exit from southbound I235 and it's just barrels now.

It might satisfy some important "this piece of paper says this section is open so we met our deadline" metric.

^This....they probably have to meet a "substantial completion" metric of some sort to meet a deadline or for early completion bonuses.

No surprise this lines up with the first home NBA game. (the lowkey reason for the BLVD design being the way it is?)

It looks like the OK Ave/Compress St will remain closed, and this does indeed mean the connection under the viaduct to Shields/EKG will be open.

Construction update from ODOT for the BLVD.


https://youtu.be/JwQcreHO9CE

Construction update from ODOT for the BLVD.


https://youtu.be/JwQcreHO9CE

The presentation on the boulevard starts just after the 1:50:00 mark.

Eric Wenger while showing the portion of the boulevard that crosses over Western/Classen, "this is not a highway, this is a city street, lined with trees just like proj. 180 downtown, and offers plenty of N/S on/off access".....

I also learned in this presentation that several of the less traveled N/S streets will most likely come to a dead end at the boulevard which I really don't like. However, Harvey, Shartel and Lee will have a full intersection and N/S access which is an improvement over previous designs.

I have all the plans / slides I will post soon.

I believe only classen (it merges with western north of new blvd now) Fred jones and Dewey will no longer go through

Here are the plans:



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616c.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616d.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616e.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616f.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616g.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616h.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616i.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616j.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102616k.jpg

The "East Connection" section is now open, and the stoplights are operational at Oklahoma Ave and Shields/EKG. Oklahoma Ave is not accessible from the Boulevard, however - both the northbound and southbound lanes are blocked, and the curb hasn't even been cut on the north end to allow traffic to flow from that parking lot between Harkins and U-Haul. The superstructure of the BNSF rail bridge appears to be complete; crews appear to still be working on the deck surface as well as the railings. There are a few spots of concrete that I'm pretty darn sure were poured either last night or this morning; that said, none of those spots are actually in lanes of traffic so the roadway is safe. Drivers are completely ignoring the speed limit so far, but given the design of the roadway this is not unexpected. The speed limit is signed as 35mph as soon as you exit the highway onto the Boulevard, and then it slows even further to 25mph in front of Harkins (roughly where Walnut would be if the street grid were intact here).

They still have some work to do before it's 100% complete, such as painting the concrete barrier walls in some areas, and finishing the painting on the columns and retaining walls under the rail bridge, but it's definitely complete enough for traffic to flow safely.

The "East Connection" section is now open, and the stoplights are operational at Oklahoma Ave and Shields/EKG. Oklahoma Ave is not accessible from the Boulevard, however - both the northbound and southbound lanes are blocked, and the curb hasn't even been cut on the north end to allow traffic to flow from that parking lot between Harkins and U-Haul. The superstructure of the BNSF rail bridge appears to be complete; crews appear to still be working on the deck surface as well as the railings. There are a few spots of concrete that I'm pretty darn sure were poured either last night or this morning; that said, none of those spots are actually in lanes of traffic so the roadway is safe. Drivers are completely ignoring the speed limit so far, but given the design of the roadway this is not unexpected. The speed limit is signed as 35mph as soon as you exit the highway onto the Boulevard, and then it slows even further to 25mph in front of Harkins (roughly where Walnut would be if the street grid were intact here).

They still have some work to do before it's 100% complete, such as painting the concrete barrier walls in some areas, and finishing the painting on the columns and retaining walls under the rail bridge, but it's definitely complete enough for traffic to flow safely.

What's the point of having the the Oklahoma stoplights on if you can't go north or south?

Yes, opened at 2PM today:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/blvd102916.jpg

opened at 2pm? damn i was one of the first people on then, didn't even realize it

I think I need to take a special trip from the south to experience the new exit, I still can't quite picture how they threaded the needle of that off-ramp around all the other bridges and roads in the area.

Only one thing that concerns me, that loop that leads off the boulevard to east-bound I-40. At the moment, I switch into that lane to take I-35 southbound, but that's the same lane that has the loop joining in. During rush hour, many cars switch into that lane that becomes an exit-only for SB I-35. Now, I'm no traffic engineer obviously but wouldn't that be a bit problematic when people coming off the loop have to merge, then change a lane to get onto I-40 EB? And at the same time, people going on EB I-40 who want to go on SB I-35 have to pay attention (now that it's open) to those cars joining in?

Just depends on how much distance there is from the entry from the loop and to the actual exit for 35

^Yeah, it's probably good enough but knowing people's driving habits in this town... a great example lies just to the west - the entrance ramp from Shields onto EB I-40 is uber long, and I mean possibly the longest merge ramp available anywhere in this city that I've seen. For a good long distance, the ramp has dual lanes, and even after the right-most lane ends, the inside merge lane continues. You can see exactly how long on Google Maps. Still, drivers will try to force their way into traffic as soon as they get interstate access. Which leads me to believe that at least some drivers do not do their research or they would know they have plenty of merge lane left ahead of them to safely merge and do it with road to spare.

Anyway, going back to the topic, I got a pretty neat recent aerial shot of the entire interchange now with the new links to the Oklahoma City Boulevard when returning from Houston Hobby this past June. Looks pretty much like a spaghetti junction, even more so now than it did before.

^Yeah, it's probably good enough but knowing people's driving habits in this town... a great example lies just to the west - the entrance ramp from Shields onto EB I-40 is uber long, and I mean possibly the longest merge ramp available anywhere in this city that I've seen. For a good long distance, the ramp has dual lanes, and even after the right-most lane ends, the inside merge lane continues. You can see exactly how long on Google Maps. Still, drivers will try to force their way into traffic as soon as they get interstate access. Which leads me to believe that at least some drivers do not do their research or they would know they have plenty of merge lane left ahead of them to safely merge and do it with road to spare.

Anyway, going back to the topic, I got a pretty neat recent aerial shot of the entire interchange now with the new links to the Oklahoma City Boulevard when returning from Houston Hobby this past June. Looks pretty much like a spaghetti junction, even more so now than it did before.

Can you post it? I would love to see it. Thanks.

^Sorry for not replying earlier, was pretty busy. Anyway, here it is. I understand the quality could be better but I am still using my trusty 2007 Panasonic camera, so compared to the smart phone images of today it's probably not as good, but will give you a good idea regardless. I had to re-size the image a bit to get the file size down. I decided not to label all of the pertinent roadways as it would get pretty cluttered but I'm guessing most everyone would be able to make out where the off-ramp to the boulevard begins from I-35 NB, and the off ramp from WB I-40 joins in, the loop from the EB boulevard to EB I-40 etc.

One heck of a pic from the air.

Thanks !

Got an opportunity to glide on the Crosstown Boulevard traveling south on I-235 from the OUHSC area last night. The exit to Oklahoma City Boulevard is just north of the I-40 West exit on I-235.

Saw an impressive view of Bricktown, downtown and the back of the U-Haul storage facility :sheep:.
OKC looks more urban than ever--living up to that BIG LEAGUE CITY moniker.

GOTTA LOVE IT!

They really planned ahead well with the new Lincoln bridge, plenty of room under it for both the new I-40 and the exits from both westbound I-40 and northbound I-35.

Love the new access to downtown, but the speed limits are just ridiculous. It should be 45 until it reaches ground level, then go to 35. I'm assuming the 25 is temporary until the construction is done, and once development occurs and there is actual pedestrian traffic over there, it might make sense, but 25 on the part of of the road built like a limited access highway is nuts.