OKC Boulevard

[Ross MacLochness]

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.

[OKCisOK4me]

You can see the side road as described in post 302

[d-usa]

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?

[catcherinthewry]

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

[shawnw]

wow

[BoulderSooner]

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.

[AP]

Here's an aerial of the road.

[Lazio85]

OKC Crosstown Boulevard by lazio85, on Flickr

[baralheia]

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.

[David]

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

[jn1780]

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.

[d-usa]

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.

[Bill Robertson]

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.

[flyfisher07]

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.

[Anonymous.]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

Construction update from ODOT for the BLVD.

https://youtu.be/JwQcreHO9CE

[Ross MacLochness]

Construction update from ODOT for the BLVD.

https://youtu.be/JwQcreHO9CE

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

[Ross MacLochness]

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.

[Pete]

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

[BoulderSooner]

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

[Pete]

Here are the plans:

[baralheia]

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.

[jn1780]

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?

[Pete]

Yes, opened at 2PM today:

[bradh]

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