City council approves water taxi dock plan


By Bryan Dean
When water taxis start running on the Oklahoma River, they will be taking passengers to one of three landings extending from Meridian Avenue on the west to Regatta Park on the east.


The Oklahoma City Council approved a plan Tuesday that calls for docks to be built at Meridian and SW 15, Agnew Avenue near Stockyards City and Regatta Park just south of Bricktown.

The plan to begin water taxi service on the river has suffered continued delays as the city tries to secure $2.25 million in federal transportation dollars to help pay for the service.

Other improvements that will be needed before the taxis can go into service include a navigational buoy system and improvements to the locks on the dams that control the water flow on the river.

Pat Downes, development director for the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Trust, gave a report Tuesday to members of the trust with new target dates for completing work on the project.

The report calls for boats to be delivered to the city by April and tested in May. Those deadlines are nearly a year behind goals cited by city officials in 2005.

Downes cautioned that the new goals may also be hard to meet.
"The dates that are mentioned in that report are somewhat aggressive, but we are trying to be somewhat aggressive in our approach," Downes said.

The plan to begin water taxi service on the river has suffered continued delays as the city tries to secure $2.25 million in federal transportation dollars to help pay for the service.

Just another thing Earnest Istook should have secured for Oklahoma (but didn't) while he was chair of the Transportation Committee at the national level. And where are all the commercials and hype now about I-40 being unsafe to drive on and it is going to collapse and needs to be re-routed (ruining our rail lines and chances for mass-transit), now that Route D has passed and I-40 will be relocated. Hype!!

Istook can’t be trusted unless in Utah!

Thanks for the update Patrick,are there any pictures of the boats or docks?

I'll believe it when I see it. This has been going for a couple years now...

You people need to have patience. You have to understand how things work in reality. They will be announced when they are ready. There are too many variables in planning stages.

I hate to be the one to criticize MAPs. I am a huge fan of it. But, it seems to mee that they missed the "boat" on this one. They knew from the beginning they would have boats traveling on the river. So, why did they not build the locks for that in the first place? Why are they trying to find funds to do it now?

Because MAPS barely passed it's extention back in 99'. With a 1- cent sales tax, that only brings in a certain number of dollars. You either cut back on a project or two, or you eliminate one. It's simple economics, not enough $$$. I agree though, would be simpler to do it right the first time. But if the money isn't there and it's taxpayer funded, there are limits. If you remember, the Ford Center was almost cut. Imagine the consequences of that! No Hornets, possible Sonics, less of a boom downtown. The Blazers playing in the Cox Center. No Rolling Stones, Brittany Spears, headline type concerts, etc.

I really don't mind that this isn't done "overnight". What I don't like is when they actually say it will be done by a certain date and then that date passes. Why don't they say it will be done by 2009 or something. Haven't they heard of underpromise and overdeliver?

Thanks for the update Patrick,are there any pictures of the boats or docks?
I believe they are to hold about 50 people and be of low wake design. Perhaps similar to the NY Water Taxi (http://www.nywatertaxi.com/).

Thanx keving,