Re: MAPS IV & Transportation Bond Package Wishlist
Maps IV - the METROPOLITAN Maps
1) Local Transit
a) streetcar expansion in all of the CBD and have at least one ROW in each downtown district, with extension to Plaza, OCU/Asian District and Uptown/Paseo, OHC, and to Capital Hill via C2S and Boathouse/Riverside (focus on rails this time, not necessarily the purchase of cars)
b) revamp the city bus network, get rid of the overlapping routes (does EVERY NW route have to follow the same path/venues?) - Instead create hub/spoke system with downtown/Santa Fe as the main hub but with several additional transit center "hubs" anchoring sections of the city; with local routes feeding those hubs and larger buses feeding between hubs and to downtown for transfers. Implement late night and Sunday service as well as special event service
c) Implement Airport-Downtown express bus service. If warranted, there could be other Express Bus service to the airport from other hubs in the city
d) Santa Fe hub expansion for local bus, intercity bus, integrated parking, intercity rail (to Tulsa), and (when warranted) Commuter Rail, transit oriented retail, and retail - adding to the current Amtrak and streetcar focus (since Santa Fe is the main, intermodal hub for the region; there could be a small assessment to the suburbs as well)
2) Metropolitan Transit (this is the core 'metropolitan' component of MAPS IV which could be managed by ACOG; Identified transit suburbs would need to approve Maps tax in their municipality to be included in route selection)
a) Implement Commuter Bus routes from suburbs to downtown with routes from suburb transit centers and park n rides to downtown. This could include Express routes to downtown during rush hours. Commuter Bus would be the precursor to Commuter Rail, which routes could easily be transformed into once ridership and funding outside of MAPS is established
b) suburbs can decide how to implement local bus routes in their suburbs that feed the central suburb transit center and/or park n rides
e) If warranted, implement Express Bus service to the airport (or other suburbs) from the suburbs
3) Sidewalks - do it right this time. All major thoroughfares covered with sidewalks, lighting, and transit shelters (in designated transit routes). Secondary thoroughfares in the inner city also with sidewalks, lighting, and transit shelters. Neighbourhoods can decide if sidewalks/shelters are warranted on tertiary streets; city could require developers to implement.
4) Beautification
a) Freeway: Tree farms, cultural programming amenities at key locations (such as route 66 spots, I-40 halfway between LA and NC with a wayfinding sign (I-35 similar), perhaps an ode of sorts to the 'Crossroads of America' designation at the I-35/I-40/I-235 super-junction, more signage identifying downtown OKC BEFORE mention of another anchor city.
b) Thoroughfare: Tree and lighting (to go along with sidewalk component), cultural programming, statues/fountains at key spots (perhaps anchoring roundabouts)
c) Neighbourhood placemaking: entry signage, lighting, bulls-eye crosswalks at key intersections, cultural foliage for every inner city historic/entertainment district and key 'hoods. Rather easy examples of this I can think of include :
* implement hub cap man-hole covers for each of the dealers that were/are in AAlley to go along with the current signage and neon lighting
* Film Row man-holes could be modeled after Hollywood stars/walk and movie reels/time click, movie/film theme lighting, tile sidewalks
* Deep Deuce: statues of famous Jazz artists and famous Black Oklahomans, period gas lighting
* BRICKtown having brick sidewalk at intersections (instead of the more costly bricking the entire street), vintage lighting
* Asian District: a real Chinatown Gate, better/larger pagodas, Red heritage style lightpoles, a bus shelter with cultural amenity for each Asian country represented in Oklahoma, and Chinese calligraphy at random locations in the district. Encourage the Asia District Association to require buildings adopt a pagoda style roof and urban oriented design for new buildings (no parking in front)
* Uptown: high intensity lighting light poles (to create a urban vibe), key entertainment events in OKC etched in sidewalks, themed bus shelters (one could look like a movie chair, another could look like a restaurant chair, another could look like a bar chair, so on). Perhaps a permanent rotating skylight
* Plaza: theatre centric artwork/statues, tile sidewalks
* Paseo: a main fountain with floral latin-american vibe, relocate the very nice Paseo placemakers to the actual district itself (instead of their current locations in Uptown). design the fountain in the same style as the placemakers
* 39th Street: crosswalks, pink and/or rainbow light poles and transit stops, classy signage
* Arts District: lots of public art and sculptures AND reduce the boundary of the Arts District to within 1.5-2 blocks of the Civic Center campus (subtract MBG [already a fine park in Bicentennial Pk and Cox/the Peake), classy signage, utilize Bicentennial Park for civic/art events (tie into OCMOA for example)
* Midtown: SIDEWALKS!!!, encourage NO surface parking, encourage creative non-neon signage (leave neon to AAlley), build a community center
* Park Plaza/SOSA: Crosswalks, utilize the Federal Park - somehow tie it into the memorial (would have been better if the park was on the memorial side), enable bus parallel parking (to encourage field trips/large-scale tourism), creatively placed signage, figure out what to do with SOSA (combine it with PP or Midtown or Arts D - would be nice to have more museums there).
* Farmer's Market: Signage, period lighting, sidewalks, garage/transit
* Wheeler: seems to have a good design for placemaking, but do signage to pay homage to Downtown Airpark (mark the terminal and runway [denote the street the runway becomes with the original runway markings])
* Capital Hill/Riverside: signage (in spanish), vintage lighting, sidewalks with historic events etched, fountains, entry gate
* Eastside/E 23rd, also N Lincoln: repair sidewalks etched with significant contributions/people, Placard/statue signage, wayfinding, lot of lighting and transit shelters
* Adventure District: wayfinding, integration of transit with sidewalks, statues of venues
* Stockyard's City: Wayfinding, statues, period lighting, 'dirt' sidewalks
* OCU: Wayfinding, lighting, on-street parking
** major neighbourhoods: entrance sign/placard, improved lighting/sidewalks
These transit and beautification elements alone would make an immediate, HUGE difference in the viability of living in OKC and would be a very successful MAPS by themself. However, there are a few more things I would add to MAPS IV - education and cc.
5) Library/Cultural Community Center improvements
a) There needs to be a central building of sorts for the cultural districts we have around town. These could serve as town halls and office space for their neighbourhood associations as well as provide revenue from rentals for those orgs.
b) There needs to be a renewed emphasis on Libraries in OKC and the metro area. We did Maps for Kids but stopped at the school buildings, there needs to be more/better libraries (with enhanced hours/amenities) to serve as tools for education that could enhance the system as a whole. An Asia District and Capital Hill (Hispanic/Latin) library would be so cool to add to those districts, for example and could co-habit the Cultural Center mentioned above.
c) Each library needs to have accessible hours (M-Th 10am-9pm, Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 1pm-6pm, Sun 1pm-9pm for the largest/regional libraries for example) and be accessible via transit at least an hour prior to open/close.
d) Each library needs to be connected (free wifi, free printing with library account (daily quota), free use of computers inhouse (daily quota)).
e) Libraries need to be the focal point of community outreach
f) Community Centers need youth-centric amenities (such as pools, basketball courts, tennis, perhaps baseball and/or football for the more suburban locales). Keep young people active and therefore out of trouble; motivated to combine study with activity = win win with Education and Health. We shouldn't just build health centers only for seniors.
g) could combine Community Centers and Library with Transit Center at key/major locations to get the best cost-to-benefit.
This theme of Library/Community Center combined with Transit could be very useful for the suburb components; "build a transit oriented library/cc central in your suburb and be connected to downtown (and therefore the metro/state) by transit"
6) CC Expansion
a) since we are doing a CC in Maps III, build the darn thing right with the full expansion in M4. Ensure that OKC is forever Tier II without question or regional competition (but this should NOT cost as much as the original construction). ...
b) remove cox convention center, restore grid, sell land for highrise/skyscraper and retail development
Maps IV likely members as I see it:
Oklahoma City-Tier I
Edmond-Tier II
Norman-Tier II
Moore-Tier II
Del City-Tier II
Midwest City-Tier II
The Village-Tier III
Nichols Hills-Tier III
Yukon-Tier II
Piedmont-Tier II
Choctaw-Tier II
Shawnee-Tier III
perhaps Guthrie and El Reno (at Tier III)
Tier I - Full MAPS tax and benefits
Tier II - Partial MAPS tax (transit and their own exclusive project(s), so tax rates can vary between suburbs)
Tier III - Partial MAPS tax for transit only
With MAPS IV, I see the creation of a regional transit district (which would create a RTD tax to be added to property and/or vehicle tabs to fund transit operations within the OKC Metro Area) and perhaps an enhanced OKC Parks budget to upkeep Beautification capital elements. Speaking of capital, MAPS IV would fund transit components (buses, rails, a slight increase in streetcars, CR train(s), shelters/signage, buildings) while the new RTD and fares would fund actual operations/maintenance.
There could likely also be additional bond issues to fund infrastructure enhancements (more behind the scenes capital projects whereas MAPS is front facing).
Oklahoma City, the RENAISSANCE CITY!
MAPS IV & Transportation Bond Package Wishlist
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Originally Posted by soonerguru
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