A few years ago Los Angeles (through an activist group) started an event whereby a contiguous corridor of streets are shut down for about half a day on Sunday to allow for runners, walkers, rollerbladers and cyclists to have exclusive use of the roadway.

The next version in L.A. this April will feature 15 miles between downtown and all the way to the beach in Venice. And there are lots of vendors and little "hubs" of activities along the way.

What about doing this for OKC??

How about closing Western all the way from I-240 on the South to around Hefner road on the north?? Or maybe 23rd from the Capitol to I-44??


CicLAvia | April 21, 2013 CicLAvia (http://www.ciclavia.org/)

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This is a really cool idea. Who would we talk to here?

If we were to do this, what would be a good route?

I suggested Western because it runs through both North & South OKC, has a good number of merchants, and is somewhat near downtown.

But we could also do it down Lincoln or Classen, trough downtown and then on to the southside.


I love the idea of getting the whole community out to experience the city in a different way, and to get some fresh air and recreation in the process.

Or maybe just do it along the proposed streetcar route??

Would raise awareness, get people excited and showcase our urban renaissance.

I've seen similar things and they are really cool. I really think you two need to drop the phrase, "car free" from your vocabulary though. It is focuses on the negative from the get go and crates the sense of an adversarial kind if thing in which car owners are unwelcome participants. The one in Eugene oregon had a clever name which is eluding both me and google at the moment. The goal should be to frame it such that people who are not naturally "car free" types are interested in attending, and not just new urbanist nut jobs ;).

^^^^ THIS!!! I would love for this to happen here in OKC, though don't get me wrong.

This would need to be during the summer. Some mom trying to drop off her kid at Bishop McGuiness would, otherwise, wreck her minivan trying to exit off of I-44...

Was in LA during last year's Ciclavia. Very cool. Perhaps we should propose a route from City Hall to ODOT.

Do it along the new boulevard route and shut all the cross-streets for the day - on a Monday. I wonder what PW would think of that. j/k

On a serious note - make all the P180 streets car free for a day, or do it from Paseo to Capitol Hill.

Closing down streets are generally opposed by business owners. At least there was a recent snafu when they were closing streets for the recent MLK parade???

I think the objective is creating good feelings and good will, but not to alienate those who might have legitimate concerns and who might be helpful in our urbanization efforts. While it is fun for some to think about shoving it in the face of others, I think it can be done with the buy-in of those on the route. If opening the route for alternative traffic expands their exposure it can be sold. If it is about just riding around for a day and with negative economic results it will have a harder time. Shop owners must be convinced a decent amount of the foot and bicycle traffic will actually stop and shop. The organizers have to "sell" this idea to business owners on what ever route it takes. I have seen in Vancouver where riding routes are done regularly that it can be great fun or a cause of substantial conflict. I was stuck on a bridge for over 90 minutes with bicyclers just being arses and blocking traffic just because they could. It ticked off the whole city who, as we know is very supportive of bicycling and walking.

I see some cycling community "PR" problems with doing this. Even significant annual events such as the OKC Memorial Marathon, Redbud Classic, Redman Triathlon, Spin Your Wheels and others raise the ire of non-participants. Motorists are incredibly annoyed when they encounter a closed road during the event, even when signs have been posted for weeks and they're talking to a uniformed OCPD officer. Conducting one of these on a monthly basis might cause more harm than good.

I was thinking once a year, not monthly.

Well personally I think some motorist need to be put in their place. They don't own the road, even if they think they do. The fact that someone who chooses to drive might be inconvenienced for a very short duration of time just goes to show how far the pendulum has swung in favor of the "car" crowd.

Surely if a 3rd world country can do it the good people of OKC can find a way to adapt - even if it just for a few hours.

L8R7JJBjsHs

We all "own the road" and with the exception of interstate/high speed type roads they should be all be open to all forms of traffic. When you eliminate a certain segment that is normally allowed free access, it is going to cause problems. Not that I am against the idea (as long as it doesn't effect me) :)

Well personally I think some motorist need to be put in their place. They don't own the road, even if they think they do. The fact that someone who chooses to drive might be inconvenienced for a very short duration of time just goes to show how far the pendulum has swung in favor of the "car" crowd.

Surely if a 3rd world country can do it the good people of OKC can find a way to adapt - even if it just for a few hours.

L8R7JJBjsHsThat's not really a good argument.lol A lot of people in "new world" societies, esp. Oklahoma, seem to be opposed to change. Edmond is a classic example of that and probably the worst in the state.

That's not really a good argument.lol A lot of people in "new world" societies, esp. Oklahoma, seem to be opposed to change. Edmond is a classic example of that and probably the worst in the state.

Edmond has been surprising me lately. Based on some of the new developments up there someone is catching on and the Edmond Sun seems to have taken a keen interest in regional rail.

Edmond has been surprising me lately. Based on some of the new developments up there someone is catching on and the Edmond Sun seems to have taken a keen interest in regional rail.Yeah, they seem to be doing okay. They also have new mixed development that was recently approved, 3 stories apartment with bottom retail. Something OKC in general needs more of. I'm also pleased that The Edmond Sun has taken interest in the regional rail as well. I just hope the city is in it as much as they seem to be.

The only thing I have with Edmond, is whenever a new development is proposed, people go crazy. With this new Thunder Canyon thing, I don't like it, but they make the classic argument of, "it's going to ruin "my" views, "or there is going to be too much traffic and noise". . . and on and on and on. It seems this happens with almost every development I hear about. But the city seems to really be making a stride. But, if you didn't like the way they did Covell, that's a bummer because they plan to do that with every new street they build even Danforth is going to be widened to 5 Lanes and I recently heard from a few people that work for the city that they're going do a study to estimate cost to widen 2nd St. to six lanes. Something quite a bit of people on this board seem to not like.

I just hope with the new "convention center" their building, that the retail follows through instead of falling through. If they build that deal and no retail happens, that will suck. Anyways, it would be nice to see some streets closed down and pedestrians allowed to walk on them with activities. They could even do it for a month or two during early summer or early fall, a seasonal kind of thing. Could be a local attraction to. Maybe do a seasonal carnival or something with unique rides and could boost nearby businesses along that street. Would be cool, doubt it will ever happen though.