What's Going on at I-240 and Douglas?

[dismayed]

So in another thread you guys have already talked about the hospital going in at I-40 and Douglas. Earlier today I was in the area and I noticed some really large land flattening going on from about SE 59th Street all the way down to I-240, to the east of Douglas Blvd. It appears too far south to me to be part of the base, but you never know. My impression was retail perhaps? Anyone know?

[bombermwc]

I've been wondering that too. There are several utilities (sewer/water/etc) that all run on that side of the road. They seem to clear things out every few years now to do something, but who knows what.

[plmccordj]

I know this story is just to the South of the area that you are talking about but is it still going to happen? It is dated 2004.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n10161044/

[bombermwc]

Maybe they are prepping utility feeds to the area then? It'll be interesting to see if they continue their work south under the interstate then. They've had a LOT of heavy equipment in this area over the last few years....with no end result that you can see from the road. There's a dirt road about 1/4 mile east of Douglas that traverses the entire mile between 74th and 59th, so I'm wondering if that's a east-side access road to the gas lines and what not.

I don't get the gutt feeling that any actual development will happen on this stretch of road though. Since it's parallel to the runway and Tinker worked so hard to clear out the businesses just up the road (and the radar center is in the same square mile), I bet they only do utility work here and leave the development work to the lake.

Funny thing is, if you look at a map, you realize how much land there is between the lake and 240!!!! If they do this stuff, it's going to be awesome! The East side really could use another quality golf course. Conrad is about as good as you get and it's not fantastic or anything...it's an ok municipal course. And let's not talk about the 9-hole...lol. But you put in a 36 hole course and you're going to see an EXPLOSION of home building wanting on-course lots...and 36 holes makes for a lot of land....and a LOT of money. If the city owns it now....wowwie. Who wants to de-annex the SE when that cash cow starts getting milked....hmmm. Maybe that will also help develop 240 between Sooner and Douglas and get us a stinking grocery store out there.

[plmccordj]

That may be what is going on. I stopped by SE 59th and Douglas on my way home from work today and snapped this picture with my phone... http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/5469572156/

If you will notice in the picture it says "Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust". The link to the story above where it speaks of development at Draper, it has the following statement on the first page...

"Then the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust will receive the proposals and evaluate the proposals to determine which companies provide what they believe is the best opportunity for the trust and the city to actually fulfill the expectations."

This may just be a coincidence and nothing else. While I was stopped I noticed that they were installing metal pipes that were about five feet in diameter behind the trees. I am not sure if there is a connection at all but it sure looks like utilities are being installed. I did notice that Cox had spray painted orange lines in the grass and across Douglas Blvd. Anyway, it is interesting.

[dmoor82]

If this is The areas I'm thinking of there was a HUGE water main that busted in this area just year or two ago!

[bombermwc]

I wonder if this is some of the new water pipline to Draper that they had the lake shut down for?