Rush hour traffic in OKC

[mburlison]

I think the planners are more than happy w/ the ROI on the Kilpatrick, it gets used plenty. There is no question that Kilpatrick moves a lot of traffic. As the other poster said, it just 'handles' it well enough not to be on the traffic reports. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I drove the Kilpatrick every day, even though it was slightly off course to work, because the time it saved was worth the mile or so out of the way. You need to check it out during the morning rush some time, between Wilshire and on around to the Broadway Extension. The users are paying the tolls, no problem. Some roads may be non-toll, but they sure are not free, I'd rather pay a toll for when I use the road and not pay taxes on it even if I don't use it.

[Jethrol]

A new freeway would be driven by no one right after it gets built--just look at the Kilpatrick. There's a stretch of road you never hear on the traffic reports.

You have GOT to be joking. I take Kilpatrick almost everyday and many weeks, it's everyday, twice a day. It's packed during rush hour. Literally bumper to bumper from Rockwell to Broadway Extn. Now W of Rockwell it thins out significantly because not as many people live out there YET.....they will and it will get even busier.

The reason you don't hear about it is because it's rare to see a wreck but just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it's quiet or that no one is driving on it.

I think there are fewer wrecks because we pay to drive on it which keeps the crappy slow drivers off....and the speed limit is 70 MPH so people are regularly doing 80. It's friggin awesome!!! I absolutely love that highway even when it's jammed up with cars which happens daily. This is why I'll gladly pay ~$200/year to drive on it.

[bluedogok]

OKC has no rush hour traffic problem compared to most large cities, living in Dallas from 91-93 I thought it was bad then but it is even worse now. Austin can be bad but I still think DFW and Houston are worse after the commuting that I have had to do there in this decade.

One of the issues with long commutes is you can't really "locate where the jobs are" because they are spread out all over the city instead of located in a downtown area, this is true for most every city, even the urban meccas. That makes it difficult to locate unless you plan on never changing jobs or not get laid off or your company moves. My uncle lives in North Dallas, when he moved back from Tokyo his office was in the Galleria area so he bought his house in the area of near Preston & Frankford and it was a nice commute. Five years later they move their offices out to north of DFW airport, so his commute became much longer and worse through no fault of his own, he is able to telecommute a couple of days a week and he is only a few years from retirement so he is just sticking it out. When I changed jobs here in Austin I went from a five mile (one way) commute across South Austin that took 15 minutes no matter what time of day to an 18 mile commute across downtown on Mopac that can take anywhere from 25 minutes in the morning to 1.5 hours if there is a wreck in the afternoon. I made the decision knowing that I was giving up a short commute because of opportunities but the architecture firm that I used to work for is no longer in business, so my commute would have changed anyway. I do wish our office was downtown though instead of in a shopping mall, that would cut my commute greatly.

[mburlison]

I'm lucky so far, bluedog, my job is off Stonebridge & Custer (Mckinney) and I live at Custer & 121 --- but it does get busy quick for those going south. The completion of 121 and the going to all electronic tolls on the North Dallas Tollway have made a big difference, though, and I expect the new interchange at 121/75 to help too. Another thing they're doing is reworking it to where the NDT / 121 traffic junction will have a 'true' interchange to keep 'flow' going. (A la Kilpatrick east bound needs a 'true' ramp to southbound Hefner Parkway these days). They really need to throw a lot of people on the I-44/I-235 junction and get 'er done. Seems like its always a 'small' group doing the work instead of a massive effort with enough personnel and equipment to get on with it. That was the woe of the the I-35 construction between DFW and OKC lately, took so long the first part up by Purcell needed resurfacing by the time the other was finally done. Get some big contractors after it and go! Another thing I've noticed is the kind of ramps used (exit/entry) - the gradual change away from short-tight direction changes to longer more gradual shifts, allow the 'flow' to keep moving faster than it would. Still, things still bog down, there is no doubt, but for less time. Example is for southbound NDT @ George Bush, 'both' East/West bound G. Bush exit to the right and then the split towards East or West, with virtual no slowdown under normal traffic. Traffic is always a challenge, but the key seems to be 'less constrictions in the hose'.

[bluedogok]

When I lived in Dallas 121 was a two lane road in the middle of fields and George Bush was still Vice President.....
Back then I did the NationsBank (now BoA) branch at Legacy & Independence and it was out in the middle of nowhere. McKinney was "way out in the country" and nothing much existed past Crest Cadillac on 75. In 2004 I worked in Dallas for four months, I stayed at my uncles house and commuted to the office across from Valley View Mall. It only took me a couple of weeks to realize that I had absolutely no desire to move back to Dallas, the city and my old firm had changed so much in the ten years back in OKC that it just didn't appeal to me anymore. Nice place to visit but I don't want to live there.

The reason why "free roads" take so long is the funding model doles it out in small portions so they can only build to what is budgeted yearly, funds can and have been cut on projects in the past so they cannot "build ahead" and expect to be paid. The toll road funding model means a project is (typically) fully funded at the start of the project so they can throw a bunch of manpower on a project. When my father was project manager on the Lake Hefner Parkway project and the Parkway/Kilpatrick interchange the go ahead on the toll road changed the schedule for the Parkway. Once the funding for the toll road was in place they cost of the interchange was moved to the toll road project and therefore that money could be used to accelerate the Parkway project to meet the toll road schedule. The toll road ended just past the interchange so that is why only the "east side" of the interchange was built originally.

[mburlison]

Thanks for the insight, I wasn't doggin' the decisions, just saying it'd be nice. As for living here, I do enjoy it, but I do NOT go into Dallas . I never venture south of McDermott very much ! LOL I figure if i can't find what I need along Preston somewhere, then I don't need it much !

[PennyQuilts]

Interesting that more people walk than take public transit.

Given how (un)walkable most of the city is, our public transit clearly does not suit anybody's needs.

My kids live in NYC and if they can avoid the subway, they will. So do all their friends. That means that they generally walk under 15 - 20 blocks (which is good for their health) and take a cab for longer than that. They'll take the subway on the weekend if they want to go further than walking will allow. One of my kids rides his bike, instead of walking, when he can, because of a bum knee.

[bluedogok]

The only time that I take a cab when in NYC is to/from the airport, the rest of the time the subway suits me just fine. I don't understand the aversion to it for general travel by some, if you are bringing a large item home from a store I can understand. I guess its just something with some people, my cousin is a bit of the same way. In the same range I walk as well, I got used to it in my first "big city" experience in Tokyo where walking and riding the subway/train was the norm.