I noticed yesterday they have flagged the path areas along NW Expressway and NW 63rd.
16th St Bridge is open now. The bike paths are on both sides of the road.
Work began in earnest today on the SE corner of NW Expwy and 63rd and going East along the South side of NW Expwy. The have been digging out the path areas. It will be a tremendous change to actually see people using that area.
They have still got a long way to go in many parts of this trail.
This is the finished 16th Street bridge:
Thanks for the pictures, I've been watching them put in the section along NWXY between Portland and Meridian over the past month or so. I wish future MAPS initiatives could dedicate about 10X more funding for similar efforts!
I noticed they are putting in sidewalks on NW 50th between Portland and Meridian as well. These aren't related to the trail are they?
Erosion fencing is now up all along 63rd from Meridian to NW Expway and beyond.
Anyone have any pics?
I know this is going way back, but Pete -- where were you able to find the detailed construction plans included in the first post? I can't find them anywhere on the MAPS 3 site.
Trail along Grand Ave. between NW 16th St and NW 23rd is mostly dug out, but not yet poured. Looks like they've got most/all of the curb ramps installed too for the cross streets.
The connection between this trail and the East River Trail is underway by the last remnants of the old Sandtown neighborhood at May Ave and the Oklahoma River. I was down there Friday and it looked like the dirt work on the trail connection is basically done, but I didn't see any paving yet. I thought some of the houses on SW 5th were still inhabited, but based on the plans in the original post it appears that's not the case. In fact, it looked like some of the homes/structures on SW 5th have been demolished and others are being demolished, though the area has been become extremely overgrown in the last couple of years so it's hard to see from the East River Trail or from May. The neighborhood sign at the intersection of SW 5th and May is still standing, despite the fact that, apparently, no one lives there anymore.
Several years ago, Doug Loudenback did some in-depth posts on the history of the area, and it's pretty fascinating: http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2013/02...irca-1884.html
Took an hour and a half to explore parts of the bike trail along NW 63rd/NW Expwy/Portland tonight. Can post bigger versions of pictures later, but it's a nice trail. I'm excited for it to be finished (though I imagine the intersection of NW Expwy/Portland will be intimidating, even with a trail.
Hey LocoAko is that a black labrador? A male black lab?
I agree, some of the crossings are (as of now) cause for concern. While I feel that NWXY and Portland can certainly be intimidating, at least it is a "big" intersection that raises a trail user's awareness due to the large visibility and traffic volumes. I think that Tulsa Ave & 63rd is more likely to "sneak up on you", as both drivers and trail users feel they are approaching a small neighborhood intersection.
Where the trail crosses Tulsa Ave, one has to pull their car entirely in to the trail in order to see east or westbound traffic on 63rd. With the new development (hotel, shopping) on the north side of 63rd, and a bus stop, I'm concerned additional traffic controls are needed. Tulsa Ave is a fairly busy street these days. It is the only way to go from 63rd to 50th with zero stops. I think many that would usually take Portland or Meridian simply use Tulsa because there are no stop signs or lights. (Try turning left (west) on to 63rd from Tulsa during morning rush hour!)
I've annotated some issues in this image. Merging traffic areas marked in red. Obviously, 63rd has a fair amount of non merging traffic as well:
The plans from the city indicate stop signs will be on the trail, but I still feel that more is needed:
I'm otherwise very excited about this project!
Nope! (Even though that's what the adoption agency had said). We got a DNA test and he's 1/4 Blue Heeler (he has much more obvious heeler markings on his chest out of the picture), 1/8 Dalmatian, 1/8 American Staffordshire Terrier, and the other 1/2 was a mix of herding breeds overall -- we suspect mostly more heeler and border collie based on his coat. Needless to say that mix of breeds makes him a bit of a holy terror energy-wise, but we keep him around anyway...
Sorry for the off topic discussion -- back to your regularly scheduled programming!
Strongly agree. I actually live just off of Tulsa between 50th and 63rd, so I know the issues you mention well, including the crazy drivers flying down Tulsa. It has already come up on Nextdoor about having to pull all the way into the bike trail path just to see oncoming traffic. I was hoping they could put in a flashing light-up crosswalk, but I'm sure those are expensive. But unfortunately, I do foresee issues there. Hopefully it winds up being better than we suspect.
Thanks for all the great photos and info.
Been meaning to post that the trailhead parking and rec area at the southernmost part of this trail has been approved.
63rd and Tulsa has long been a problem just for cars. Almost everybody makes a left turn there and it's a terrible place to not have a light. IMO they just need to put in a light with a button and call it good. That said, the light should be timed so that the NW Exp traffic turning onto it from the northbound lanes should trigger the tulsa light to stay green to get that traffic cleared...
Shawnw, I 110% agree wtih you. This bike path has alot of margin for error from Meridian and 63rd, up to Tulsa. I noticed yesterday that there isn't much room between the bike path and 63rd in this stretch, and the cars entering 63rd from the south neighborhood have to pull well across the bike path to see evaluate traffic on 63rd before turning right or left. Hope vehicles and bikers all pay attention, as there could be some potential accidents in this area.
There are a couple solar-powered LED lights along the trail between NW 23rd and NW 16th St.
This entire path seems to be coming together. The stretches through Will Rogers park -- inlcluding a small bridge -- are almost complete.
This is the parking area at southern terminus near the OK River. You can see the path in the second picture which is the connection to the river trails.
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