164th and North May Construction

[mugofbeer]

That intersection is surrounded by housing additions. What else is supposed to into that area trendy night clubs, clothing boutiques and sushi bars?

For every person complaining about fast food, gas stations and chain drug stores there will be a 100 people behind them handing over their money knocking the Nimby complainer out of the way landing them in the next county.

McDonalds and OnCue have done fairly nice buildings with nice landscaping recently so they deserve a little credit. On the other hand if Starbucks or was moving in I bet you would be planning a party.

How about just more housing? What is there in the psyche of OKC that requires there be garbage retail on every friggin corner? Go to any other major city and you will find many, many, many major intersections that are nothing more than the backs of housing additions. One thing this city needs is LESS retail space since half of it is empty already. Gee, it might even give some possibility to private individuals who might want to open a small business and not be constantly squeezed out by the national chains. It seems to work pretty well NE and NW.

[fromdust]

I don't understand why they think they have to widen the turnpike to 6 lanes. A. There is very little traffic on it to begin with and B. The service road and turnarounds is what needs the attention. There is way more traffic snarls on memorial than the turnpike.

Had not heard about this...sounds like the turnpike authority has lots of money to throw around?

he is being facetious!

[onthestrip]

he is being facetious!

Maybe he is but it is true about widening the turnpike. It was announced that they will be widening it to 3 lanes each way from Portland to Broadway.

[FritterGirl]

That intersection is surrounded by housing additions. What else is supposed to into that area trendy night clubs, clothing boutiques and sushi bars?

Actually, there is a sushi bar going in at 178th and Western. Talk about waaayyy in the burbs.

For every person complaining about fast food, gas stations and chain drug stores there will be a 100 people behind them handing over their money knocking the Nimby complainer out of the way landing them in the next county.

I don't really has much of a problem with the gas stores and chain drug stores.Walgreens' own development marketing plan is to have a location within 5 minutes of every household in the metro. As ubiquitous as they are, they are also a necessity for many people.

My snide comment about fast food is that there is really no benefit to it. Period. It wasn't a NIMBY statement so much as it was a statement about my distaste for fast food chains to begin with, and what they have done to this country, and to other countries, in terms of overall health and obesity.

McDonalds and OnCue have done fairly nice buildings with nice landscaping recently so they deserve a little credit. On the other hand if Starbucks or was moving in I bet you would be planning a party.

I do agree that they have tried to put together a much sleeker aesthetic design-wise. Still, it's a McD, and there are two others within about 5 minutes' drive of the one just built.

[Pete]

This will be the 36th (!) McDonald's in the metro area and the 11th (!) within a five mile radius.

The latter fact is pretty amazing given that most of the area around this location is not dense at all.

[MikeOKC]

This will be the 36th (!) McDonald's in the metro area and the 11th (!) within a five mile radius.

The latter fact is pretty amazing given that most of the area around this location is not dense at all.

Pete, We discussed just the other day in another thread how for McDonald's it's mostly about the land. What seems like way out and country today will be like NW Expressway was 40 years ago. McDonald's, when push comes to shove, is truly in the real estate business.

[ljbab728]

I don't understand why they think they have to widen the turnpike to 6 lanes. A. There is very little traffic on it to begin with and B. The service road and turnarounds is what needs the attention. There is way more traffic snarls on memorial than the turnpike.

I'm surprised an urban turnpike wasn't built with at least 6 lanes to start with. It's smart to not wait until a road has traffic snarls to plan for the future when construction cost will be much higher.

[MikeOKC]

I'm surprised an urban turnpike wasn't built with at least 6 lanes to start with. It's smart to not wait until a road has traffic snarls to plan for the future when construction cost will be much higher.

Absolutely. Talk to Austin about planning for the future (or not, as it were).