Current image of Reno by Ford Center. Goal is to have it done before NBA season starts.
Current image of Reno by Ford Center. Goal is to have it done before NBA season starts.
Great photo thanks Metro! A picture it truly worth a thousand words! I am glad that they are moving on this one quickly, the less disruption to the area around the arena the better for the city shots on all those televised games we are going to be having this season! Plus hopefully it will incorporate many of the items that we can expect to see for the remainder of the project. Kind of a sneek peak!! I just hope what they do is worth it, and they actually incorporate bike lanes, planters, trees, benches and well placed and designed lighting. This is a huge deal and one that we want to have a real impact, the kind that visitors will take note of, not just the locals who will be happy with simply improved roads!
Are they simply expanding the street? Looks like the same size to me...
No Thunder it's part of the Project 180 streetscapes, hence the title of this thread.
Not sure why people keep doubting bike lanes, it's already approved folks, there will be lots of bike lanes both dedicated and shared. See the map of bike lanes at the link below. Note that Reno won't have a bike lane but Robinson and EK Gaylord will have dedicated lanes by the Ford Center.
http://www.okc.gov/PROJECT180/BIKEROUTE.PDF
correct, in full disclosure they are from the Project 180 blog, thus I didn't take credit for them either.
metro: no matter where it came from, thanks for the map, hadn't seen it before.
Are they putting in automatic water sprinklers?
You want the sidewalks watered? Might make it interesting in the winter...forget the Braums Ice Skating Rink in December (or who ever is sponsoring it now)...just have a connecting series of "ice lanes" all over downtown. This would be supplemental to the naturally occurring ice storms...LOL
I thought there be a median with trees, shrubs, and flowers? Are you telling me that the city screwed up again with this project?
Sorry for the snarky comment... not sure if an irrigation system is part of the plan or not...seems like a valid question, maybe FritterGirl knows?
One thing that bugs me about this 180 thing is Reno between Cox and Ford. This has got to be like the 5th time since they built the Ford Center that they've torn up the road to do crap. I just don't see why such a short stretch of road needs to be re-worked that much. It's closed all the time for events anyway (which is also REALLY ANNOYING), so it's not like it gets a HUGE amount of traffic. I bet Sheridan gets a lot more.
bomber, Project 180 wasn't planned until well after the times you mentioned. If Devon wants to give the city $120+ million dollars and pay it 20 years early to renovate our downtown, who cares about the inconvenience it causes for 2 months to Reno in front of the Ford Center. I question if you and Thunder even understand what Project 180 is and will do for us. Must be a MWC thing.
In additional to the actual street work, Project 180 will add modern lighting, street furniture, continuous street trees, wider sidewalks, and more pedestrian-friendly intersections. This is not simply a repaving of the street.
krisb, think Thunder knows all of that, his question was, is the City putting in irrigation (to water the trees, flowers etc) or is it going to be left on its own and we hope there is enough rain (at the right times of course) to keep all of those improvements alive? Or maybe the Parks Dept is poing to go around watering everything by hand every day? Or is the City going to spend whatever share of the millions on it, then let it die?
I hope they put in irrigation. Does the city pay the water bill or not? People pay the city for water use, but I don't know about the water use by the city. If the city don't pay for water use, then they should be putting in sprinklers all over.
The City doesn't pay for water because it is city owned (as opposed to electricity which is supplied thru a 3rd party). Even though the City doesn't have to pay for the water itself, they have to pay for the cost of the irrigation systems, its installation and upkeep. The City has to pay for the treatment and distribution of the water, so even though they "own it", there are costs involved to use their own stuff. They can often come up with money for the purchase/installation (usually borrowed bond debt) but when it comes to maintaining stuff, that often falls to the way side. It has been reported that the massive cost over runs with some of the original MAPS projects was due to the City not performing the routine maintenance. Betts asked about waste and graft elesewhere, that is a good example of it. There is an old saying that for want of a screw, the ship was sunk (or something like that). The deferred maintenance that may have been in the 10s of thousands of dollars, ended up costing millions to ultimately repair. Its like regularly putting off that routine oil change. That leads to poorer gas economy which costs you more. Eventually you end up having to replace the engine (or at least very expensive repairs). Which makes more sense?
Ongoing maintenance needs are rarely factored into a bond or MAPS (readily admitted). The maintenance costs often come out of the General Fund, which is often under stress.
The business improvement district, operated by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., will continue to maintain medians, etc.
Larry, you're giving Thunder too much credit.
Steve,
Thanks for the info...interesting visual comes to mind though...how does Downtown OKC go about maintaining it (do they contract with someone to water the plants daily, etc)? 180 acres (or the streets that go thru them) is a lot of ground to cover (so to speak).
Also, what exactly is a "business improvement district" work? Is it like a TIF district (where they use borrowed money that is eventually paid back with the increased property taxes)
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