North/South access North of Memorial RD

[C_M_25]

Can somebody please enlighten me on who is driving the decisions at ODOT for some of these construction jobs on the North/South roads on the north side of the city??

For instance:
I live off of 192nd and May. Savy? May avenue is in desperate need to be widened at 178th which they are working on now. They shut down that section of the road. I'm fine with that. But now, I see a sign pop up this morning that they are shutting down 74 highway today near the Kilpatrick!!! It doesn't say for how long or anything like that. So they just cut off easy access to the two main roads that alot of people use to get home at the same time! You go a mile west and hit McArthur, and you have a 4-way stop sign that takes a good 15-20 minutes to get through...plus ongoing construction. So they are, in essance, pushing alot of people to use Penn to get home that wouldn't normally go that way.

I understand the widening projects are needed, and I will be happy when they are done, but why in the heck do they have three different projects going that affect three main roads at the same time!!!! Grrr!!!

[HangryHippo]

Can somebody please enlighten me on who is driving the decisions at ODOT for some of these construction jobs on the North/South roads on the north side of the city??

For instance:
I live off of 192nd and May. Savy? May avenue is in desperate need to be widened at 178th which they are working on now. They shut down that section of the road. I'm fine with that. But now, I see a sign pop up this morning that they are shutting down 74 highway today near the Kilpatrick!!! It doesn't say for how long or anything like that. So they just cut off easy access to the two main roads that alot of people use to get home at the same time! You go a mile west and hit McArthur, and you have a 4-way stop sign that takes a good 15-20 minutes to get through...plus ongoing construction. So they are, in essance, pushing alot of people to use Penn to get home that wouldn't normally go that way.

I understand the widening projects are needed, and I will be happy when they are done, but why in the heck do they have three different projects going that affect three main roads at the same time!!!! Grrr!!!

There will inevitably be posts about why in the hell do you live at 192nd and May, but dismissing all of that, this is just another prime example of ODOT's lack of planning and the complete absence of forethought at that agency. It needs a serious overhaul.

[CaptDave]

I think the primary reason is 74 is being shutdown because of the Tunrpike Authority's unnecessary widening of the Kilpatrick. This is very likely related to the flyover support column that muct be relocated because it is in the middle of the new center lanes. The May project is a city project so it is very likely there was zero coordination between OTA and OKC - and usually there is no need to do so.

On a related note - I live in that general area and I think widening every single street up there to four lanes was a mistake and not the best use of tax payer money. There was no need for four lanes so people can fly down the arterial at breakneck speed. In my opinion, a much better use of those bond funds would have been to add center turn lanes to each of these streets, wide sidewalks on both sides of the road, and bike lanes. The center turn lanes would alleviate the vast majority of the interruptions to the flow of traffic and the bike lanes would enable people to move around in that suburban environment without a car. The speed limits would not be that much lower - probably 35mph instead of 40 mph if at all. Currently, and for the forseeable future, there is no way I would attempt to ride a bike down any of these streets.

[Buffalo Bill]

There will inevitably be posts about why in the hell do you live at 192nd and May, but dismissing all of that, this is just another prime example of ODOT's lack of planning and the complete absence of forethought at that agency. It needs a serious overhaul.

ODOT has nothing to do with the scheduling of any of these projects.

[HangryHippo]

Who did schedule them? The city? OTA (run by the same guy as ODOT) has everything to do with the turnpike interfering with Hwy 74.

[CaptDave]

The city and OTA separately. 99% of the time there is no reason for them to coordinate projects.

[C_M_25]

There will inevitably be posts about why in the hell do you live at 192nd and May, but dismissing all of that, this is just another prime example of ODOT's lack of planning and the complete absence of forethought at that agency. It needs a serious overhaul.

Well lets clear that up then. I live there because I choose too. People have no business nagging at me about where I choose to live.

Yes, I agree. Maybe I should run to be the head of ODOT

[C_M_25]

Thanks for the replies guys. You all bring up good points. I tend to agree though. I think a center turning lane is needed more than anything on those streets. And if any of them needed to be widened, it is 74 highway. It has lights at every mile section, so it is more suitable for that kind of set-up, imo.

[Buffalo Bill]

The city and OTA separately. 99% of the time there is no reason for them to coordinate projects.

and the coordination, or lack thereof, would come through ACOG. There will always be conflicts between projects in the rapidly expanding burbs. Western, 164th, the list goes on.

[Dubya61]

and the coordination, or lack thereof, would come through ACOG. There will always be conflicts between projects in the rapidly expanding burbs. Western, 164th, the list goes on.

Does anyone on ACOG see themselves in that role? Does OTA know that ACOG exists? Does anybody in the state government level know that ACOG exists?

[CuatrodeMayo]

How I understand it:

ODOT: Portland Ave widening (since it is SH 74)
OTA: Kilpatrick Turnpike widening.
OKC: Widening the section line roads (May, 192nd, etc.).

[Buffalo Bill]

Does anyone on ACOG see themselves in that role? Does OTA know that ACOG exists? Does anybody in the state government level know that ACOG exists?

yes.

yes.

yes.

This isn't a big deal. OTA has SH74 closed at Memorial from 8PM to 6AM. You just have to get off and back on at Memorial. That will remain open. Plan accordingly.

[LakeEffect]

How I understand it:

ODOT: Portland Ave widening (since it is SH 74)
OTA: Kilpatrick Turnpike widening.
OKC: Widening the section line roads (May, 192nd, etc.).

Yep. OTA and ODOT "should" be coordinating, but I bet they don't. OKC does what it wants to, generally.

[Buffalo Bill]

How I understand it:

ODOT: Portland Ave widening (since it is SH 74)
OTA: Kilpatrick Turnpike widening.
OKC: Widening the section line roads (May, 192nd, etc.).

If you think it's bad now, wait until 74 gets torn up from Memorial north.

[HangryHippo]

Yep. OTA and ODOT "should" be coordinating, but I bet they don't. OKC does what it wants to, generally.

It appears my hatred for ODOT has clouded my vision. My apologies for misplaced frustration.

Cafe, you said exactly what I wanted to but in a calmer way. Thanks. It just feels like there should be a lot more coordination between various agencies, but they generally do what they want to do. And I do find that very frustrating.

[okcfollower]

Y'all do realize this at night only...8pm to 6am. It will be open during all other hours when traffic is heavy thru here...shouldn't be much of a problem to just get off the parkway and go thru a light then get back on during those nighttime hours.

[C_M_25]

I noticed tonight that they have taken out the light at 164th and Penn and put in a 4-way stop preparing for....you guessed it! Construction!!! The unfortunate thing is May is still ~3 weeks from completion, McArthur is no where near done, and the Kilpatrick is nowhere near done. So we have about a 3 mile stretch where N-S access is limited. Hooray!!