First MAPS3 Project

[jeffery581]

Does anybody know what the first project will be?

[kevinpate]

The purchase of land for the park was happening prior to the vote (Old Post Office and Goodwill), so by default the first project is the park, even if the city fathers should decide to shelve it temporarily for something else. Can't imagine why they would shelve it though.

I also canna imagine it being open by 2014 to coincide with the new blvd. The park, sure, that's doable, but dismantle crosstown and put in a new blvd in our years? Hard to see that happening in that time frame absent bringing in a bunch of different folks rather than the usual suspects.

[Midtowner]

It'll be awhile yet. Remember, the tax pays cash for stuff, so the money has to be collected before it can be spent.

[kevinpate]

It'll be awhile yet. Remember, the tax pays cash for stuff, so the money has to be collected before it can be spent.

Except when they elect to fund some part of it via bonds, as they can do. hope they don't go that route very much, but it's within their authority under the M3 ordinance.

[Larry OKC]

NewsOK

New boulevard in Oklahoma City won’t see stimulus (Oklahoman, 11/29/09)

It is hoped that the boulevard will open in 2014. ...$8.7 million demolition of the Crosstown Expressway bridge. ... the department must have funding for the boulevard by 2013 in order to have it completed by 2014.

Having it open four years from now seems aggressive and there are a lot of variables that could impact.

Can't tear down/build anything until the new one is opened (scheduled for 2012) that date hasn't changed recently but has been pushed back from the original date by at least a couple of years so further delay can definitely happen. Even if everything stays to the 2012 date, that means only 2 years to tear down/build. Should go faster than the relocation since they wont have to deal with building overpass bridges etc (everything is at grade and will just be normal intersections). But seems very aggressive.

To date, no source of funding has been secured. No money, no new road

Funding OK'd in Crosstown highway plan Money is still needed to tear down old one, department official says. (Oklahoman, 9/20/2008)

The department hasn't found a source yet for about $100 million needed for [1] tearing down the current Crosstown Expressway, [2] building a boulevard in its place and [3] an interchange at Byers and Lincoln Boulevard, Ridley said.

From the linked article NewsOK
, looks like they have further subdivided the Boulevard:
[1] funded = $8.7M
[2] still unfunded = $80M
[3] funded = $17M

Can't build a new one until the design is finalized (especially with critical components, number of lanes, median, if streetcars are incorporated etc). Articles indicated that they aren't even close to deciding all of that. As with so many of the things MAPS 3 related, the costs are just estimates, is the $80M for the Boulevard accurate?

Not "if" on the Boulevard? (5/27/09)

"We are in frequent communication with the City on this issue and as we develop plans together on the boulevard the next few years, more details including the actual and not the rough costs can be refined. The City is looking at their options on how they want to see the boulevard and all of that will come into play in planning for the boulevard. I hope that answers your question." -- ODOT spokeswoman Terri Angier

On a side note, found in Steve's blog post that the City would be responsible for an unspecified amount of the Boulevard costs

Before You Make Those 2012 Core to Shore Plans … (4/17/09)

"To win the city’s support for ODOT’s preferred route, Neal McCaleb, then Secretary of Transportation, with the governor’s backing, promised to build a boulevard to replace the current alignment. The state promised to pay for the boulevard, with the city paying for infrastructure needs and amenities intended to make it a grand entry into downtown." -- Steve Lackmeyer

Some of that could be covered by Project 180 funds (but don't recall the Boulevard being specifically mentioned) or as we know, they could come out of MAPS 3 funds (nothing in the ordinance preventing it) or it might even come out of the 2007 General Obligation bonds somehow.