2013 USDOT Tiger Grant Projects

[Just the facts]

TIGER Grants | Department of Transportation

OKC was one of several cities that were awarded grant money for transportation related projects. Our grant is going for remodeling work at Santa Fe Station as it is converted to a transit hub. While that is real good news for OKC some of the other projects on the list are also very good.

Here is a project in the small town of Olean, NY.

Notice the back in angled parking



Walkable Olean, Olean Downtown, Dan Burden Olean Study, Jeff Belt Olean Vision, Downtown Olean Stores, shopping in olean, Restaurants in Olean,

[CaptDave]

[Plutonic Panda]

This is great! Wonderful to hear all of this exciting news here in OKC improving its mass transit in the recent weeks. Hope to hear more(light rail hint hint )

[CaptDave]

I think you will see commuter rail first Panda. But the good news is there is a real effort underway to establish a regional transit authority that will make those projects possible.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah, that will be an excellent though. Does anyone know if they are aiming for establishing new commuter rail lines or just strictly upgrading the existing ones?

[CaptDave]

The plan - as of now - calls for using the BNSF right of way between Edmond and Norman, and the Tinker line that runs through Bricktown and the UP facility east of I235. The Adventure Line would probably be part of this system. There is also a possibility of getting to the airport but unfortunately the best route for that was destroyed by the I40 Crosstown relocation (it would not have been terribly difficult to plan ahead and make it easier to get across the new highway, but with ODOT involved....). These are the obvious, relatively "easy" routes but I suppose there are other possibilities.

Light rail is farther out I think and I am not 100% sure where it would work best for a reasonable cost. Maybe along NW Expressway? Maybe light rail instead of commuter rail on the Adventure Line? Maybe LRT to the airport instead of conventional (I actually like this better than conventional).

[Just the facts]

There is also a possibility of getting to the airport but unfortunately the best route for that was destroyed by the I40 Crosstown relocation (it would not have been terribly difficult to plan ahead and make it easier to get across the new highway, but with ODOT involved....). These are the obvious, relatively "easy" routes but I suppose there are other possibilities.

That was 'a' route, but I'm not sure it was the best route. The rail just south of Wiley Post Park has direct access to the Airpark site which allows us to kill 2 birds with one stone.

I doubt we will ever see light-rail in OKC. There isn't any place dense enough for it that can't be better served by streetcars.

[soonerguru]

As Joe Biden would say: this is a big f@cking deal!

Thank you OKC for voting for MAPS 3! Without that public support this would not have happened!

And thank you to COTPA and the MAPS 3 subcommittee for your tireless effort to submit requests for this funding!

And finally, Thank You Mayor Cornett for your visionary support of transit in Central Oklahoma. When the citizens of our city learn all that you have been doing for transit for the last few years, there's no way you won't be reelected!

[ljbab728]

I don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but Wichita didn't have good fortune with this and that affects us somewhat.

Wichita’s first bid for a federal grant for passenger rail service is turned down | Wichita Eagle

The federal government said no on Thursday to the city of Wichita’s first bid for a transportation grant to bring passenger rail back to downtown.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced 52 grants in 37 states totaling approximately $474 million. Projects ranging from bike trails to bridge repair or replacement and port expansion will be funded under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, program.

Wichita sought $12.7 million to essentially complete the planning – though not the construction – for the possible extension of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer line to Wichita and Newton. The plan would connect the Heartland Flyer with the Southwest Chief line and close a 185-mile service gap from Oklahoma City to Wichita.

[Just the facts]

Jacksonville also got denied in our attempt to expand the Skyway. That loss is bitter sweet. While our Skyway has the fastest growing ridership in the US it is not a very well designed mass transit system and is right out of the Le Corbusier playbook of separating automobile, pedestrians, and mass transit on multiple horizontal planes. A vocal group of civic leaders see mass transit as a waste of dollars (but can't spending enough on the public subsidy of the private automobile) so if we lose the Skyway there is a good chance it will be replaced with nothing. So do we go with the already implemented 'bad idea' or risk losing everything?

JTA continues quest to build new Skyway station despite missing out on $10 million federal grant | jacksonville.com

Plans to build a new Skyway station along Riverside Avenue suffered a setback when the Jacksonville Transportation Authority missed out on winning a $10 million federal grant.

In a decision eagerly awaited by the JTA, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it would award $474 million to 52 transportation projects across the country for its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, known as TIGER. JTA wasn’t among those selected.

Alas - here is the saddest line in the whole story.

This time, 568 applications across the nation totaling $9 billion of projects were chasing after the $474 million.

We have a $3 TRILLION annual budget and we can't fund all $9 billion of this? 4 miles of the new I-40 cost more than everything that was awarded nation wide. If Obama calls off the Syrian attack can't we use the 'money saved' to fund these shovel ready projects?

I need put on my cone of silence!!!!!!

[LakeEffect]

I don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but Wichita didn't have good fortune with this and that affects us somewhat.

Wichita’s first bid for a federal grant for passenger rail service is turned down | Wichita Eagle

I may be consultant myself, and I'm not well-versed in rail planning, call me naive, but spending $12.7M for planning seems crazy. I wonder if that included design plans and more...

Also, this wasn't the first time OKC had submitted for a TIGER grant, so Kansas still has a chance.

[ABryant]

Wichita is important for our connection to the north.

[Just the facts]

Reading the comments at the bottom of the Wichita article makes me want to just say screw it and give up.

[ABryant]

Reading the comments at the bottom of the Wichita article makes me want to just say screw it and give up.

People hurt my brain. Still we all have to figure this stuff out.

[BoulderSooner]

Reading the comments at the bottom of the Wichita article makes me want to just say screw it and give up.

don't read comments

[Just the facts]

don't read comments

LOL

If we could just get the "It's Bush's fault" and "Obama sucks" people to shut up the rest of us could probably figure out some solutions.

[warreng88]

From the chat today:

Gary T - 10:22 a.m. There has been talk about opening up a connection to BT from the Santa Fe train station as part of the renovation. Where will that entrance into BT open up to? Will it be overlooking the canal?

Steve Lackmeyer - 10:23 a.m. It's more than talk now - it's going to happen. The $13.6 million TIGER grant awarded to the city last week will pay the tunnel opening that will connect the depot to Bricktown. The opening will be just above the Devon tile mosaic mural at the western-most terminus of the Bricktown Canal.

[OKCisOK4me]

I don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere but Wichita didn't have good fortune with this and that affects us somewhat.

Wichita’s first bid for a federal grant for passenger rail service is turned down | Wichita Eagle

Surely that amount would also include the remodeling planned for their Union Station:

Remodeling planned for Wichita's Union Station - News - El Dorado Times - El Dorado, KS - El Dorado, KS

Wichita is important for our connection to the north.

I think Tulsa is important for our connection to the north. You can still get to KC through Tulsa and you can even get direct access to other points through St. Louis. I think the Tulsa element is better.

[ljbab728]

I think Tulsa is important for our connection to the north. You can still get to KC through Tulsa and you can even get direct access to other points through St. Louis. I think the Tulsa element is better.

That's true if you're only considering going to points north or east. Going back to the west or northwest, Wichita provides a better option along with being able to go back to the north or east.