I240 Revitalization Efforts

[Spartan]

I think Broadway in Edmond is another good example of making curb cuts sparingly.

[Just the facts]

If it was me I would eliminate the frontage roads and plant trees there instead. I would then focus the retail on the adjacent neighborhoods instead of on freeway traffic. I would then reconnect the street grid and get rid of the large parking lots. I would also make overpasses across I-240 that didn't have on/off ramps to relieve traffic on main arterials while making it safer for people to walk and bike.

[ljbab728]

In other words, you would just like to bulldoze the entire area and start over. LOL

Most of the businesses there are not in that area to just service the adjacent neighborhoods so that would require a total change in the make up of the types of businesses also. Nice thought, Kerry, but it's not going to happen. We'll just have to make the best choices based on what can realistically occur.

[Dubya61]

There's some dirt work on the north side of 240 inbetween Walker and Santa Fe (specifically, inbetween The Rib Crib and Jordans Crossing (nursing home?). Does anybody know what's going in there?

[Rover]

In other words, you would just like to bulldoze the entire area and start over. LOL

Most of the businesses there are not in that area to just service the adjacent neighborhoods so that would require a total change in the make up of the types of businesses also. Nice thought, Kerry, but it's not going to happen. We'll just have to make the best choices based on what can realistically occur.

Face it, some people are just isolationists and aren't about to change. They have no concept of free market economics and free trade, let alone free will. It's all about forcing things to be according to a philosophical notion.

[Spartan]

If it was me I would eliminate the frontage roads and plant trees there instead. I would then focus the retail on the adjacent neighborhoods instead of on freeway traffic. I would then reconnect the street grid and get rid of the large parking lots. I would also make overpasses across I-240 that didn't have on/off ramps to relieve traffic on main arterials while making it safer for people to walk and bike.

Sorry you gotta harness the traffic that 240 brings through the area. Have you ever seen/been to 240? Because idk what street grid you talkin bout, Willis... Those aren't even the nicest neighborhoods. You're just not gonna have a little newurbanist neighborhood village shopping utopia in the hood behind 240/May.

Your dedication to new urbanism is nice but sometimes your ideas are so doggedly insane and completely lacks contextual appropriateness.

[rcjunkie]

There's some dirt work on the north side of 240 inbetween Walker and Santa Fe (specifically, inbetween The Rib Crib and Jordans Crossing (nursing home?). Does anybody know what's going in there?

It's a new car dealership, Kia If I remember correctly

[MWCGuy]

It will be a part of the David Stanley dealerships. They have been buying up land in that area under the name David Stanley Imports.

[bombermwc]

Sorry you gotta harness the traffic that 240 brings through the area. Have you ever seen/been to 240? Because idk what street grid you talkin bout, Willis... Those aren't even the nicest neighborhoods. You're just not gonna have a little newurbanist neighborhood village shopping utopia in the hood behind 240/May.

Your dedication to new urbanism is nice but sometimes your ideas are so doggedly insane and completely lacks contextual appropriateness.

Write it down folks, i agree with Spartan! SHOCK!

240 is one of the bright spots to the area. You absolutely can't ignore it because it's where most of the sales tax come from in the area. Why do you think the South Chamber is so concerned with bringing some life back to the area?

[MWCGuy]

You could really clean that area up you closed some of the driveways and re-tooled the exits/entrances on 240. We really have to get away from having on/off ramps at every major street in this city. You can have overpasses/underpasses at each street and have a service road that accesses two or three streets. The new I-40 section is proof that traffic flows so much better and accidents are fewer and far between.

[Snowman]

You could really clean that area up you closed some of the driveways and re-tooled the exits/entrances on 240. We really have to get away from having on/off ramps at every major street in this city. You can have overpasses/underpasses at each street and have a service road that accesses two or three streets. The new I-40 section is proof that traffic flows so much better and accidents are fewer and far between.

There still is an entry/exit ramp roughly every mile on the new i40 so I am not sure how that is proof, though I think the one diamond interchange per mile is a better arrangement than the shared entry exit lane that merges traffic into a service road right before a stoplight.

[Spartan]

240 has them every half mile entering the left side of the access road, and then a curb cut every 100 feet on the right side of the same access road. It's an utter mess, and MWCGuy is right that it is a huge traffic safety problem.

Limited access is needed. Smarter access.

[Snowman]

240 has them every half mile entering the left side of the access road, and then a curb cut every 100 feet on the right side of the same access road. It's an utter mess, and MWCGuy is right that it is a huge traffic safety problem.

Limited access is needed. Smarter access.

When he was talking about every 2 or 3 major streets I was thinking the mile line roads, I did not realized they did the half mile ones in that area too. The only other part I remember about the area is the some of the ramps and merge zones felt pretty short.

[Spartan]

Well the merging zones are limited because of the number of exits when the next signed exit is 1/4 mile away. Penn and May are full-length but between Western and Eastern there's exits for Western, Walker, Santa Fe, Shields, I-35, Crossroads, then Eastern. The I-35 exit handles a lot of traffic and gets backed up to Walker between 2-6.

[Jeepnokc]

You could really clean that area up you closed some of the driveways and re-tooled the exits/entrances on 240. We really have to get away from having on/off ramps at every major street in this city. You can have overpasses/underpasses at each street and have a service road that accesses two or three streets. The new I-40 section is proof that traffic flows so much better and accidents are fewer and far between.

It may get better when the BLVD is opened up but ingress and egress to downtown is much worse with the new 140 crosstown. The highway may flow smoother but the Western ramps start backing up around 300 pm and by five, Western is backed up from the onramp all the way back to Reno and sometimes as far back as Sheridan. Taking the off ramp coming from the west in the morning and it is backed up sometimes onto the actual interstate...don't think that is safe. The afternoon problem could be greatly help if they would build a dedicated right turn only lane. I understand that the designers wanted Shields to be the main exit but the public will do what it wants regardless of the designers ideas. Most people are not going to drive past downtown and then thread their way back in to the city if they work at Devon, the City, the courthouse, etc. They should have left a ramp at Hudson or Walker

[Snowman]

It may get better when the BLVD is opened up but ingress and egress to downtown is much worse with the new 140 crosstown. The highway may flow smoother but the Western ramps start backing up around 300 pm and by five, Western is backed up from the onramp all the way back to Reno and sometimes as far back as Sheridan. Taking the off ramp coming from the west in the morning and it is backed up sometimes onto the actual interstate...don't think that is safe. The afternoon problem could be greatly help if they would build a dedicated right turn only lane. I understand that the designers wanted Shields to be the main exit but the public will do what it wants regardless of the designers ideas. Most people are not going to drive past downtown and then thread their way back in to the city if they work at Devon, the City, the courthouse, etc. They should have left a ramp at Hudson or Walker

I am guessing it might help if they programmed the lights on Western from Reno through the interchange to work together, though I am not there daily, it seems like most of the times I have been there they were terribly ordered or maybe it is just not at all. For instance the last time I was there this week going south on Western after the light at Reno turns green and before the first car can get to sw 3rd it's stoplight will turn red, so you sit and watch 4th be green and then have to stop at it too.

[Just the facts]

Say what you want but if they want to fix the problem the solution has already been identified. It is called greyfield development. It has been used in lots of cities - just not in OKC yet.

http://www.usmayors.org/brownfields/...goldfields.pdf

http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/strateg...urban-retrofit

[Zuplar]

Say what you want but if they want to fix the problem the solution has already been identified. It is called greyfield development. It has been used in lots of cities - just not in OKC yet.

http://www.usmayors.org/brownfields/...goldfields.pdf

Greyfield / Suburban Retrofit -- Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Is this not what they are doing with Crossroads? Turning a failing mall into a mixed use center?

[Just the facts]

Is this not what they are doing with Crossroads? Turning a failing mall into a mixed use center?

I'm not sure. I know they are redoing it to turn it into a Hispanic themed market place but I don't know if it will be mixed use. However, if the I-240 rehab is just about repainting the parking lot lines and some building remodels they won't solve anything. They need to bulldoze it and start over and this time focus on the adjacent neighborhoods and not people driving by on the interstate (which is the strategy that led to the area declined in the first place).

[Snowman]

Is this not what they are doing with Crossroads? Turning a failing mall into a mixed use center?

While it was talked about possibly doing that at one time, I think it shifted to being a reginal mall again with a focus on the Hispanic population.

[traxx]

I'm not sure. I know they are redoing it to turn it into a Hispanic themed market place but I don't know if it will be mixed use. However, if the I-240 rehab is just about repainting the parking lot lines and some building remodels they won't solve anything. They need to bulldoze it and start over and this time focus on the adjacent neighborhoods and not people driving by on the interstate (which is the strategy that led to the area declined in the first place).

Her message gets lost in a horrible PowerPoint. Talk about death by Powerpoint. It started off well enough with pictures used as examples but she then moved flow charts and words. She should've used more real world examples to walk through the planning and exection of good or successful suburban landscapes. She should've made it visual.

[Just the facts]

If you are interested in the subject there are lots of other videos out there on YouTube - but I know exactly what you mean. I actually prefer James Howard Kunstler - lots of visuals and is funny.

[Spartan]

Her message gets lost in a horrible PowerPoint. Talk about death by Powerpoint. It started off well enough with pictures used as examples but she then moved flow charts and words. She should've used more real world examples to walk through the planning and exection of good or successful suburban landscapes. She should've made it visual.

That's funny because she's one of the most renowned faculty members at GT and in planning nationally. You'd think she'd have a captivating presentation style.

[bombermwc]

Some folks just can't get away from using the ppt file as a script rather than a talking point reminder. A good idea can be ruined when someone starts reading each line in a ppt. If that's all you're going to do, then just give me the file and i'll go through it myself. Especially seems to be an issue in university schools of business.

[RadicalModerate]

I HATE it when presenters do that. Especially when you are also provided with a handout to look at that consists basically of all the PowerPoint slides . . .