OKC Biking/Pedestrian Master Plan

[jonny d]

I am honestly not sure where to put this at all, so feel free to move to a more applicable thread or forum! This sounds pretty neat!

http://www.news9.com/story/38263456/...an-master-plan

[shawnw]

https://www.okc.gov/departments/plan.../bike-walk-okc

[Ross MacLochness]

AFAIK this plan also includes a bike loop downtown that would be Gaylord, Sheridan, 4th, and Walker. Protected Bike lanes are to be added as a pilot program on at least gaylord and 4th. Perhaps plans have changed, but they were included last time I saw them! A bike ramp is also being constructed at the corner of Sheridan and Gaylord that would allow cyclists to jaunt up on to the curb in order to maneuver at a perpendicular angle over the streetcar rails

[benjico]

Is this the same plan revealed in early March and News 9 is just two months late on reporting it? Or has it changed?

[shawnw]

Yes

[no1cub17]

None of this will matter unless we install crosswalk signals that 1) actually work and 2) turn to walk by themselves. It's still damn near a life threatening experience to use your own two feet to go anywhere in this city.

[AP]

None of this will matter unless we install crosswalk signals that 1) actually work and 2) turn to walk by themselves. It's still damn near a life threatening experience to use your own two feet to go anywhere in this city.

+1

[HangryHippo]

None of this will matter unless we install crosswalk signals that 1) actually work and 2) turn to walk by themselves. It's still damn near a life threatening experience to use your own two feet to go anywhere in this city.

I do not understand why in the hell OKC can't get crosswalk signals that automatically turn to walk! That should be a basic thing. Instead, we get these poles cluttered around the intersections but still have to go touch a button that might not work just to cross the street. It's asinine.

[Ross MacLochness]

As streetcar construction finishes up along 4th street, it looks like the city is using this opportunity to stripe the double lines for protected bike lanes. This will be part of the city's Bike Walk Masterplan that includes protected bike lanes along 4th st, ek gaylord, sheridan (partially), and walker (don't know if the lanes will stay the same here or be reconfigured to be protected). At robinson, this protected lane will run smack dab into a platform. I wonder how they will re route bikes around it?

[Anonymous.]

Seriously? Would it kill the workers to even try and get the line's end points symmetrical?

[HangryHippo]

Seriously? Would it kill the workers to even try and get the line's end points symmetrical?

Must be the P180/90/45 crew.

[Ross MacLochness]

Seriously? Would it kill the workers to even try and get the line's end points symmetrical?

cut em some slack, they aren't gonna end there... there are several more blocks to go..

[Ross MacLochness]

and really guys??? The city is finally implementing protected bike lanes and the only thing you can do is b*tch?? lol

[dankrutka]

Is green paint going in also?

[Ross MacLochness]

no idea, but I'm fairly certain these lanes will be separated with vertical delinieators. Not 100& sure though.

[HangryHippo]

and really guys??? The city is finally implementing protected bike lanes and the only thing you can do is b*tch?? lol

My post was a little sarcasm. It's okay!

[CloudDeckMedia]

There are significant failures of bike lane identification & surface transition on the SE/C of NW 16th & I-44. The green lane & stripes lead into a curb, but the ramp is a few feet away.

[Ross MacLochness]

There are significant failures of bike lane identification & surface transition on the SE/C of NW 16th & I-44. The green lane & stripes lead into a curb, but the ramp is a few feet away.

just looked at google maps and the bike lanes make sense and are clearly marked. Perhaps the markings have faded since that sat photo was taken. I've ridden that whole trail system and there are two areas, the transition between overholser to the lake hefner trail, and the may/reno crossing that could use help. I think that to say there are "significant failures" is hyperbole. Those trails are a fantastic asset and will only keep getting better as we continue to build and connect our bike trails.

[CloudDeckMedia]

just looked at google maps and the bike lanes make sense and are clearly marked. Perhaps the markings have faded since that sat photo was taken. I've ridden that whole trail system and there are two areas, the transition between overholser to the lake hefner trail, and the may/reno crossing that could use help. I think that to say there are "significant failures" is hyperbole. Those trails are a fantastic asset and will only keep getting better as we continue to build and connect our bike trails.

I agree that the overall trail system is fantastic. I was mentioning one problems at a specific location - the SE/C of NW 16th & I-44. It isn’t shown on Google Maps because the image is too old. You’ll have to drive or ride by to see, as my group did on a Saturday morning earlier this month. I know that cycling community leaders work with the City on this, so I don’t know why these mistakes - such as a protected lane running into a streetcar platform - are being made.

[CloudDeckMedia]

This is the 16th Street overpass crossing I-44. There is a green bike lane, a bike path and corner ramps, but they aren’t connected.

The top photo shows the SE/C of 16th & I-44, with the green lane ending before it reaches the path at far left. The path connects to a ramp that puts cyclists on an elevated sidewalk. The west end of the sidewalk is in the bottom photo.

In the bottom photo on the SW/C of 16th & I-44 you’ll see the west end of the sidewalk diverging, with one extension coming to the corner and stopping, and the other extension going to a ramp and crosswalk.

Cyclists know how to get around - this isn’t a problem. I’m just showing an example of a how the convergence of a bike path, a bike lane and a corner sidewalk might have been better designed.

[Ross MacLochness]

Gotcha, I see what you mean. It actually made way more sense before the green paint. Here is the google maps image I was referring to It clearly marks where the cyclist is supposed to go.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Gotcha, I see what you mean. It actually made way more sense before the green paint. Here is the google maps image I was referring to It clearly marks where the cyclist is supposed to go.

That was the first thing I looked for - would've saved me a trip! It's a little confusing trying to describe the transition problem, and others will do a FAR better job than me!

[Ross MacLochness]

Oh and I was confused as well. Your photos are of the east side. I posted a pic from the west side. I definitely see what you mean about that being confusing.

[shawnw]

City is seeking input on an update to BikeWalkOKC, please take the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BWOKCPublicFeedback

[riflesforwatie]

Thanks for the reminder, Shawnw. The survey got me thinking about a kind of taxonomy of our most problematic corridors. I called out Shields/EKG through downtown. I view that as the low hanging fruit - the P180 work between Reno and Sheridan has already demonstrated that it doesn't need to be six lanes. With the right-of-way available by deleting a lane in each direction there would be plenty of room for a protected bike lane (plus sidewalks, which, astoundingly, don't even exist on the east side of part of the stretch through downtown!).

I think NW 10 between Western and Penn is similar, with an important difference. About 20 years ago there was this trend toward beautification and nods at safety without sufficient followthrough. So they cleared out the old houses on the north side of the road and widened the right of way to build in that awful median and the dangerous faux brick crosswalks (see also: NW 23 through Uptown or Classen through the Asian District for both elements, or Broadway in Automobile Alley for the crosswalks). Can you imagine trying to cross Classen on foot at, say, NW 26?

Anyway, that stretch of NW 10 gets *half* the average traffic of NW 23 through Uptown, though both roads are very similarly specc'ed out. An easy, though expensive, solution for NW 10, would be removal of the median, installation of protected bike lanes, and going to two thru traffic lanes and a center turn lane. As a comparison, NW 13 between Broadway and Classen gets a similar amount of traffic and it's also 4 lanes but without the median and with far more traffic lights (Robinson, Harvey, Hudson, Walker, Dewey, and Shartel vs just Indiana), and it is far far easier to cross by bike or foot than NW 10. I don't think NW 13 has had any significant work in decades, beyond just resurfacing. It's interesting how a good-natured desire to beautify and make some of these roads more safe to non-automobile uses arguably had the opposite effect. It's also probably a little more painful as a Councilperson or a Public Works official to try to address corridors where "beautification" was undertaken relatively recently but would be best abandoned and completely rethought at this point.

One positive note is that we have so many overbuilt roads in underpopulated areas of the urban core. We just need to money and initiative to turn them into bike and pedestrian corridors. I'm thinking here of Western Ave as a good alternative to Classen all the way from Reno up to NW 50 (although see the complaints in the Western Ave district when the City tried to calm traffic with chicanes that lasted only a few years). Or Shartel as an alternative to Classen from the OKC Boulevard up to NW 36 (or maybe even NW 50). Another example is Virginia vs Penn south of NW 10. Or Main instead of Reno west of Downtown. The question with all of these is which of the alternatives we choose - do the "districts" get the cyclist and pedestrian treatment, or is the Western Avenue district the more relevant example, where both it and Classen end up being auto-first when the dust settles?