Participating Member
Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I've been thinking that instead of tearing down the old I-40, the city should utilize the space. Maybe turn it into a pedestrian walk way, or contract out some local artists to do something with the old pillars. I stumbled on this online. What an awesome concept.
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat...-now-open.html
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
There was a thread about this a long time ago, anyway it is far to late now. At this point we are required to have a road continue from the freeway ramps which the feds consider appropriate to disperse traffic to/from downtown. Plus the deconstruction contracts have been awarded. At this point we only have control of the design of the road going there.
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Yes, we've commented on the NYC highline. It was old train route. It is a couple blocks from my apartment and a great facility. I use it a lot.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
This is actually a REALLY good idea.. but more for an Elevated train track and not a 6 lane highway..
The downtown Boulevard is MUCH more needed.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
i think we tear it down and use it as the first corridor for an OKC light rail system... this would allow you to get it all the way from the Fair grounds to downtown... now just need to find the correct route to get it to the airport and we have the start of the MORT (Metro of Oklahoma Rapid Transit)
Banned
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I prefer GOCART - Greater Oklahoma City Area Rapid (or Rail) Transit.
Advertisement: Get to work fast - Take a GOCART.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
that is awesome! i love it!Originally Posted by Just the facts
i'm still trying to figure out if a downtown boulevard is really needed... i mean i guess if it is built it will be used, i just think that if we are really ever going to start a rapid transit light rail system, this would be an ideal location to get it started.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
This is amazing. So many branding and marketing opportunities with this acronym.
Banned
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Ditch the minivan- get a GOCART
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Dallas is the Dallas Area Rapid Transit - DART....
If Ft Worth ever got rail would it be called ? FART ?
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
not to ruin the joke or anything, but i'm pretty sure it will still just be called the DART as the whole area is the Dallas/Fort Worth Area
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Only if it ran on natural gas.
Banned
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I am not a real fan of the boulevard either. I would be happy if they just put the original grid back in. Reno is a block north and is already 4 lanes. If a new 6 lane road follows the I-40 path they are going to have to close all of the intersections between Walker and Western and there will be so many unbuildable pie pieces it will look ugly and be functionally useless for anything other than moving a bunch of cars at high speeds along an at-grade road. Not exactly pedestrian friendly.
Guest
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
And why do you think the speeds will be high, Kerry? This will be a city street, not a freeway and speeds should be appropriate for that. I have no inside information but I suspect that the speed limits will gradually decrease as you exit the freeway onto the boulevard and probably be no higher than 30 through the central business district.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
^^^
This
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I see a 6 lane downtown Boulevard turning into nothing other than a 6 lane NW Expressway. I'll pass.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
All the city's statements for at least a year state it will have 4 lanes for driving. It has also been stated that it will promote pedestrian use which is inline with what they have been trying to move to with streets downtown in recent years. I just do not see it being another NW Expressway.
Banned
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
The width isn't up to the City and it is still planned for 6 lanes. People tend to drive at speeds that feel safe for conditions and it is not uncommon for people to do 50 mph in a 35 mph zone if the street is wide enough and buildings are set back from the road. If you look at the path of I-40 west of Walker it will require the closure of most of those side roads, otherwise there will be an intersection every 60 feet. This will essentially cut the area in half and will be worse than having the elevated I-40.
I did see a plan I like that would create a boulevard from Robinson east to I-40 and then everything west of Robinson would just return to the street grid.
Guest
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Kerry, as usual when it comes to roads, your information is not totally accurate.
Wenger said decisions on the width of the boulevard and what exactly it will look like are “still very much in the design process.”
“The latest discussions have recommended that it be two lanes in each direction, with a parking lane on both the north and south sides,” he said. “There'll be some green space in between those lanes ... there's a lot more right of way for this project than what's probably going to be utilized.”
http://newsok.com/grand-boulevard-is...rticle/3650268
Platinum Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Per everyone involved it will be 4 driving lanes
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
With one lane for angle parking on each side? IIRC the parking lanes plus driving lanes make it a six "lane" road.
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I think this is good enough of an idea to warrant more than just this duplicate thread. It has an equally strong chance of happening today as it ever did, given how open to public input this process was from the beginning.
Guest
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
Spartan, I don't care how much public input is given, that kind of project will never be loved by the public or the city officials to replace the old I40. It may have a place in NYC but it would be totally inappropriate and virtually unused here.
Participating Member
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I hope not, that'd be awful IMO. I wish they'd model this off of Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Our forefathers master planned this and our other original cities for a reason. Hope OKC gets this right but have serious doubts they will.
How so? This will never happen with the current I-40. They've already started demo on it. ODOT is too stubborn anyway.
THIS!
Re: Let's do THIS with the old I-40
I actually think this is a pretty compelling counter-argument here. I suppose a good compromise is that the beams are going to be reused in other failing Oklahoma bridges, which is probably the most adaptive reuse we can hope for.
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