Convergence (formerly Innovation Plaza)

[Martin]

Why does this offramp need to exist anyways? There is sufficient ramps at 4th street and 10th street that both meet this need. Let's just double-exit-lane the 10th street exit with an easy widen plan. Then all of this space can be developed, and hell even spur the capping of I-235 here.

i dunno... that cloverleaf provides good access to the west of the highway and south of 10th. going northbound and exiting at lincoln, you aren't able to turn left (west) at 4th street. if you get off on 10th, then you'd have to backtrack south on oklahoma... but that (imo) should remain a neighborhood street instead of becoming an artery.

[Plutonic Panda]

i dunno... that cloverleaf provides good access to the west of the highway and south of 10th. going northbound and exiting at lincoln, you aren't able to turn left (west) at 4th street. if you get off on 10th, then you'd have to backtrack south on oklahoma... but that (imo) should remain a neighborhood street instead of becoming an artery.

I don’t disagree but gaining the land in this case is worth the extra time drivers will spend. I think ODOT needs to at least study the potential pros/cons. Again, I’m about as pro car as it gets but downtown needs to prioritize other modes than driving.

[Martin]

using the setback from 235 of the westernmost building in the ou research park... that would be about 350ft of added frontage to harrison/8th that could support development... not an insignificant amount.

i guess i just see it the opposite way... to me, there is plenty of opportunity to create density on the east side of 235 without disrupting much needed connections to the west.

[Plutonic Panda]

There’s certainly valid points on both sides ends. I’d like to see it at least studied.

[Ross MacLochness]

We should remove 235 all together! replace w/ an at grade blvd. and canal. It's simply not needed south of i44

[chssooner]

We should remove 235 all together! replace w/ an at grade blvd. and canal. It's simply not needed south of i44

Tell that to people who work in North okc who live in South okc.

[Plutonic Panda]

We should remove 235 all together! replace w/ an at grade blvd. and canal. It's simply not needed south of i44

I’ve used to think that but the traffic counts justify it being a freeway. Ideally 235 would be an eight lane tunnel but nooooooo tunnels are too expensive and hard to build in the US. I’m not firmly against expanding I-35 in downtown Austin because TxDOT threw out the tunnel alternative.

[Anonymous.]

i dunno... that cloverleaf provides good access to the west of the highway and south of 10th. going northbound and exiting at lincoln, you aren't able to turn left (west) at 4th street. if you get off on 10th, then you'd have to backtrack south on oklahoma... but that (imo) should remain a neighborhood street instead of becoming an artery.

This is a solid point, but after looking at the 4th street exit more, that entire offramp/intersection looks like it could be redone to allow sufficient merging onto Lincoln way before the current location [the intersection]. This would allow utilization of double left turns for those exiting to go west. To me, there is no point in the barrier existing so far on northbound Lincoln. It seems you could bring the offramp to at-grade earlier and do without separation.

[Bellaboo]

Why does this offramp need to exist anyways? There is sufficient ramps at 4th street and 10th street that both meet this need. Let's just double-exit-lane the 10th street exit with an easy widen plan. Then all of this space can be developed, and hell even spur the capping of I-235 here.

IIRC, this was a result for St Anthony Hospital, for better access. I think a deal was made years ago to keep them from relocating from downtown.

I seem to remember this.

[HFAA Alum]

I’ve used to think that but the traffic counts justify it being a freeway. Ideally 235 would be an eight lane tunnel but nooooooo tunnels are too expensive and hard to build in the US. I’m not firmly against expanding I-35 in downtown Austin because TxDOT threw out the tunnel alternative.

Tunnels are expensive mainly because you'd have to bore into the earth. Lids are a less expensive but still costly alternative on the account that you would have to ensure that clearance is optimal for larger vehicles carrying heavy freight items that require a police escort. But if that's not the case, then you'd have to consider the fact that you'd be reconstructing the entire freeway for that section anyway. That's not only a large amount of concrete and reinforcement taking place for what's essentially a large land bridge, but also a huge traffic redirection effort that would congest that corridor even further. If anything, it would require the skeleton to be built over the interstate first before they move into the construction phase. You could also make that area more capable of housing buildings on top of it as well, but that takes massive amounts of reinforcement measures to ensure that the ground would be stable enough to maintain that building's weight, whether it's a 5-story infill or a 20 floor high-rise. Leadership at ODOT wouldn't be as ambitious to make this happen, as we've seen them opt for the cheap moreso than take the truly beautifying ones that could have a greater generational impact.

Now lets say that the ODOT grew a wild hair up it's crack and opted to do a lid. The cost of that could reach north of $200 million dollars (tossing a cheap number out there). If granted, it would expand the reach of the Innovation District to touch parts of Bricktown and the city core and give extra land to developers looking to make a statement in the downtown area. And the amount of greenspace implemented would become even greater investments towards connecting the now-distant communities across the corridor. I know it's a hell of a reach for comparison, but I'm going to go east and nab a project that would be the best blueprint for something like this, especially given the Innovation District and what it could become. Let's go to Atlanta.



The I-75/85 corridor is the stuff of nightmares during the morning commute. Another thing it is during the day... UGLY. Slabs of concrete walls on either side, bridges spanning the width in their attempt to branch the separated communities, the immensely increasing unpopularity for the divide remaining in place (sounds familiar?), these are the things that commuters and residents have to wrestle with on the daily. But the difference is that they do have a project in the works. They call it 'THE STITCH', a project valued at around 200-300 million dollars to completion with projected value creation of 1.2 billion dollars added to the city.
Here's the site. Here's the latest update.
Here's the preview:

I know that the markets are vastly different in both size and budget, but this is what I would like for OKC to implement if they were to go with a lidded approach. Now you don't have to have another two or three skyscrapers on top of the damn thing, but some infill would be nice to stretch between the empty space. And it would also be a great way to add more spaces for people to interact with one another by adding bustling avenues of leisurely activities, commercial shops, and even residential complexes with affordable living prices. If you wanted to do a tunnel like Boston's Big Dig or Seattle's Alaskan Way, you'd be breaking the billion dollar moniker. This would achieve the same result but with a fraction of the cost and with just as much of a value increase.

The Innovation District is probably the boldest thing that came around since the skyline-changing Devon Tower. I would say the residences at the Uhaul lot would be of this pinnacle, but much of that is in the drafting phase and will be subject to change and downsizing (which is more common than thunderstorms around here).

[shawnw]

IIRC, this was a result for St Anthony Hospital, for better access. I think a deal was made years ago to keep them from relocating from downtown.

I seem to remember this.

The sixth street clover leaf has always existed. It was the 10th street part of that exit that was added a few years ago for StA.

[Pete]

The sixth street clover leaf has always existed. It was the 10th street part of that exit that was added a few years ago for StA.

And for what was first the GE Global Research center.

I know OSU now owns it but don't even know the current name; the Baker Hughes signs are still up.

[GoGators]

And for what was first the GE Global Research center.

I know OSU now owns it but don't even know the current name; the Baker Hughes signs are still up.

OSU Discovery

[BoulderSooner]

And for what was first the GE Global Research center.

I know OSU now owns it but don't even know the current name; the Baker Hughes signs are still up.

IIRC a 10th street exit was a deal made with St anthony when the stayed and expanded in Midtown ..


that was delayed several years and then fully reconfigured because of the GE deal ..

[shawnw]

This is now being referred to as "Convergence".

I have this whole 15 page booklet with details (not sure how much of the info is new) acquired at the NE OKC Town Hall this evening (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neokc-t...s-189976714467) that I'll try to get scanned in soon.



Booklet says groundbreaking 1Q 2022, and during the presentation completion by March 2024 was stated.

[David]

That would be a lot of new construction in the core of the city all at once if this starts going up at the same time that OKANA does.

[aDark]

This is now being referred to as "Convergence".

I have this whole 15 page booklet with details (not sure how much of the info is new) acquired at the NE OKC Town Hall this evening (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neokc-t...s-189976714467) that I'll try to get scanned in soon.



Booklet says groundbreaking 1Q 2022, and during the presentation completion by March 2024 was stated.

I'd love to see the booklet if you can get it uploaded. Thanks!

[shawnw]

I'll break this up into images later, but for now, here's the fully scanned booklet.

http://nitnoi.io/convergence

[David]

I'll break this up into images later, but for now, here's the fully scanned booklet.

http://nitnoi.io/convergence

Thank you!

[Pete]

Mark Beffort told the Planning Commission on Nov. 18th that they plan to start construction on March 15, 2022.

This is going be one of the most highly visible projects in a long time; will be fun to watch it come together.

[HOT ROD]

noice, this and OKANA starting at the same time and having very similar impact/growth to Downtown!

OKC is on the move in a serious way! Again!

[Pete]

^

And the Dream Hotel project, Broadway Place and Alley's End will also be starting in 2022.

[G.Walker]

There are going to be cranes all over downtown within the next 3-6 months!

[ChrisHayes]

^

And the Dream Hotel project, Broadway Place and Alley's End will also be starting in 2022.

I've been wondering when Dream Hotel is going to be starting. Considering we have yet to see any detailed renderings of the complex, I thought it might be years away. Hopefully some other stuff gets going around the city next year as well. Make it a boom year.

[HOT ROD]