OKC Trails Network

[Mott]

Have you contacted the Action Center (or the dept. responsible for the trails)?

This is from the Oklahoma Bicycle Society website, April 22, condition of the trails...

Oklahoma river trail north side..

The trail between Portland and the Chesapeake Boathouse has been mostly repaved. There is still one bridge that needs to be repaired, but the trail is open. No word from the City as to when the bridge repair might be started.

[SouthSide]

I would encourge anyone interested in MAPS 3 fulfiling its promise of trails in southwest okc watch and act upon the May 27, 2021 Maps 3 Citizens Advisory Committe. Mike Adams makes a detailed presentation at time 59:30 of failure of Maps to deliver upon its promise to build a trail in southwest okc which was identified as a priority trail and was promoted in Maps 3 literature. Now it is 12 years late and no trail has been built and no funds have been committed to it. There are no funds for southwest okc trails in the 2017 bond issue and Better Streets Safer city. This is a disgrace!

[SouthSide]

Does anyone know when the Maps 3 Citizens Advisory Committee will vote on trails funding? I just finished listening to the June 24 and they didn't touch on it at all. Hoping but not optimistic they will fulfill the promise fo the Earlywine Trail.

[Mott]

The north trail bridge has been repaired, and new paving continues.

[shawnw]

What's "north trail"?

[Anonymous.]

Probably talking about north side of the OK River.

[shawnw]

Good point, I did notice the new asphalt, super smooth ride now (but bridge wasn't repaired yet)

[Pete]

Plans are moving forward to connect the OK River trails to the First Americans Museum and the Eagle Lake / Katy Trail:

[SouthSide]

I thought the Katy trail conneciton was hold. Is this being done with Maps 3 funds?

[Pete]

These plans were recently submitted.

Don't know the timing of making it happen.

[shawnw]

I believe it's BCBS money, or at least one of the new trails was (between deep fork and greenway). I think the other (probably deep fork) is bond funded.

[SouthSide]

Based on the Maps 3 Advisory Board, it appears no trail even though it was part of the MAPS 3 implemenation paln will be funded for south west okc. I am so disgusted by this action.

[CCOKC]

My husband and I road our bikes from Wheeler to Will Rogers Park on the Will Rogers Trail last Monday. I really wish the trails had better signage. For example, it would be super helpful to have a sign at May on the north side of the trail to direct a rider to the Will Rogers trail. It would also be nice to have distances between landmarks such as for the Park, Lake Hefner etc. I get the feeling the trails would be used more if people knew how connected the city is by the trails. There are a few dated maps along the river but you have to get off your bike to actually read them. Does anyone know if there are any plans for something like that?

[Bill Robertson]

When Hal McKnight and a bunch of us in the Oklahoma Bicycle Society first met years ago to suggest trails nobody had any dreams they would become this big. I'm beyond happy and hope they keep expanding. I'm just an ordinary nobody so I take pleasure in having even a tiny part in anything like this.

[shawnw]

Agree on better signage, throughout the system, especially for things like the trail connecting Lake O to Lake H, if you don't know the way, you'll miss it at first.

[Roger S]

Agree on better signage, throughout the system, especially for things like the trail connecting Lake O to Lake H, if you don't know the way, you'll miss it at first.

This ^

We park at the Overholser Dam and ride our bikes up the river levee and what we call Stoner Road on the other side of the bridge then head up to 50th and turn around multiple times a week.... It wasn't until just a few days ago when I was looking on Google Map for other places to ride that I saw that if we just rode up 50th to Council we could ride all the along the canal to Hefner.

[OKC1987]

The city is in the process of a large wayfinding and signage project that is expected to be completed by Spring 2022. Hopefully, supply chain issues or cost overruns don't significantly delay it or scale it down (not saying I know of any issues for this project, but with current general market conditions, its always a concern).

Below is a link to the city’s Bike and Pedestrian News Bulletin (From May 2021) that discusses the project (not a ton of information, but there is a small rendering showing what the signage will look like). It looks like an impressive project that will greatly enhance the trail system!

https://content.govdelivery.com/acco...letins/2d9ce95

[CCOKC]

The city is in the process of a large wayfinding and signage project that is expected to be completed by Spring 2022. Hopefully, supply chain issues or cost overruns don't significantly delay it or scale it down (not saying I know of any issues for this project, but with current general market conditions, its always a concern).

Below is a link to the city’s Bike and Pedestrian News Bulletin (From May 2021) that discusses the project (not a ton of information, but there is a small rendering showing what the signage will look like). It looks like an impressive project that will greatly enhance the trail system!

https://content.govdelivery.com/acco...letins/2d9ce95

Thank you so much for posting this information. That signage is exactly what I was hoping for. And I got on the mailing list that I did not know existed!

[shawnw]

AH HA! There's one of these going up at Will Rogers Park and there's no sign on it yet, just the stone base, which doesn't match any of the park architecture and I couldn't figure out what the heck it was going to be. I'll take a pic on the way home.

They've also been putting the in concrete for the in-trail signage all over the place and I couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing. Thought it was groundwater testing wells or something...

[Roger S]

They've also been putting the in concrete for the in-trail signage all over the place and I couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing. Thought it was groundwater testing wells or something...

HA! Right there with ya! I was wondering the exact same thing about that work when I saw it.

[king183]

I recently started cycling and use the trails multiple times a week. These trails are an amazing asset to our city. They’re safe, scenic, and fun. So, thanks to all who had a part in making these a reality. I think it would be awesome if we could connect the trails all the way to Norman and beyond.

This weekend I tried (and succeeded) going on my longest ride of 30+ miles and I ran into the problem mentioned above. Once I got to the north part of Overholser, I didn’t know where to go to continue toward Hefner. I stopped at the Wildlife Refuge, but it wasn’t clear if I had gone too far or if I missed a turn, so I think better signage there would be great. [EDIT: Looking at the city’s trail map now, it looks like I stopped and turned around exactly where I should have turned right on NW 50th and then briefly taken Council Rd north and then along the canal.)

Still, these trails are amazing and I’m very happy OKC has them. We need more of these types of options to get people active in the city.

[shawnw]

Would like to see connections to Arcadia and Thunderbird (and then Edmond [I know it's planned] and Norman do trails around those lakes), but would also like to see a connection to Guthrie but that's beyond our control there. IMO we could easily mimic what NW Arkansas has done with trails connecting several cities. All of that said, the supposed plan to make all of Rt 66 bike friendly throughout the entire state could do this but I'm not sure to what extent that will be.

[David]

I think this will look nice and will be a great enhancement to the trail network.

[amocore]

Hello,

Do we know if the Katy trail on the NE of OKC has been reopened ?
The City website says it has been being resurfaced but there are hardly up to date.

[shawnw]

It's been open for quite some time. Rode it back in April and again this past weekend.