Bricktown Strategic Plan

[Urbanized]

A couple of Bricktown history notes relevant to the last few posts:

There's no mystery as to why there aren't parking spaces (other than 15 minute in front of the ballpark, one disabled spot in front of Mickey's) along Mickey Mantle south of the trolley stop. When MM was lightly streetscaped and resurfaced with brick around the time the ballpark opened and canal was built, the OKC traffic folks were concerned that allowing parallel parking on the street would somehow interrupt the postcard view between canal and the ballpark. Someone decided there should be no visual clutter.

I have always thought that was a mistake. This leaves the street artificially wide and turns it into a raceway, among other things. People go down this stretch at 40-50 mph daily. It's deadly.

Parallel parking there would be fine, but the street could actually support angled parking very easily due to its width. It should be metered, however, to keep employees from day parking.

Also, regarding parking shuttles: it has been tried repeatedly (with significant effort, marketing, PR and expense from various parties), and has failed miserably every time. No ridership. There is no demand even on nights when the district is PACKED, which only bolsters the argument that the parking "issue" is mostly a red herring.

[Steve]

Urbanized is absolutely correct on the shuttles. Now, when it comes to Reno Avenue... that design is a remnant of Paul Brum thinking....

[Urban Pioneer]

Now, when it comes to Reno Avenue... that design is a remnant of Paul Brum thinking....

It is hard to criticize Project 180. Particularly when it is not completed. However, I do hope, that the city is wise enough to develop a "kit of parts" that enable future projects to duplicate and extend the P180 design and precedents set there forth, to wipe out Paul Brum's dinosauric engineering relics.

However, I get the sense that city staff is on a mission to complete Project 180 and get it over with. Hopefully, someone will stick around long enough afterward to put a binder together of exactly what makes up a P180 street for future use and dissemination.

I grabbed a manufacturers label and a scrap chip of charcoal brick from a street construction site today in hopes of doing my own P180 sidewalk outside the slated area of renovation as I could find no information readily available in hopes to duplicate some of this.

[Just the facts]

Everyone loves new urbanism until it comes to their street, then suburban NIMBYism kicks in. As Spartan pointed out, traffic along Walnut is only going to get heavier and faster unless traffic calming techniques are implemented now. Do you really Walnut to be a major urban boulevard through a residential area? Oklahoma Ave would connect OKC Boulevard, Lower Bricktown, Upper Bricktown, Deep Deuce, Flatiron District and 10th Ave Corridoor all with out cars having to make left turns. Since the entire street would be two lanes with on-street parking, traffic will remain slow and the area will remain pedestrian and bicycle friendly. It will also encourage in-fill through the current parking lot and north of 4th.

I also wish there was a way to put Central back through.

[Urban Pioneer]

I also wish there was a way to put Central back through.

In think there is a historic building in the way. Lol. Not sure it ever went through after the Rock Island RR line was installed.

Plus, a new at grade crossing on Oklaohoma would involve adding clanging signals and blaring train horns in the future. Not sure loft, apt, hotel occupants will like that.

[betts]

In think there is a historic building in the way. Lol. Not sure it ever went through after the Rock Island RR line was installed.

Plus, a new at grade crossing on Oklaohoma would involve adding clanging signals and blaring train horns in the future. Not sure loft, apt, hotel occupants will like that.

I forgot about train horns. Yeah, that would be popular with the hotel residents especially. The rest of us would have time to get used to the noise, but hotel visitors don't. I'm all about living downtown and "new urbanism" but having at least one street where I can walk without having to wait for traffic lights at every corner is nice. Walnut is going to be a busy street regardless, because, as I said, it is the direct line to Bricktown off the 6th St. exit, as well as the street you take to enter the Broadway Extension. It's also a great route to 8th St. and the Health Sciences Center. People are going to preferentially drive it because they don't have to turn to get on or off the Broadway Extension. That won't change. I don't even want a boulevard so, of course, I'm not excited about having a connection to it either.

[Spartan]

In think there is a historic building in the way. Lol. Not sure it ever went through after the Rock Island RR line was installed.

Plus, a new at grade crossing on Oklaohoma would involve adding clanging signals and blaring train horns in the future. Not sure loft, apt, hotel occupants will like that.

It is going to be at-grade?

[Spartan]

As Spartan pointed out, traffic along Walnut is only going to get heavier and faster unless traffic calming techniques are implemented now. Do you really Walnut to be a major urban boulevard through a residential area?

I don't believe that Walnut is particularly special when it comes to traffic speeds. The congestion I was describing at rush hour is just a lot of cars not moving, trying to get onto 235. As for Walnut's frontage, this will be a busy street. This will be a busy area. There's a flashy hotel, tons of street-level retail, and some historic structures across the street. Of course the city doesn't have a grand plan for what Walnut will become, but I think without us realizing it, it will become something impressive. That's what I meant. I believe you were arguing that we need to widen Oklahoma so that we can have -A- important N/S street, and I was explaining that I believe that will become Walnut.

Oklahoma Ave would connect OKC Boulevard, Lower Bricktown, Upper Bricktown, Deep Deuce, Flatiron District and 10th Ave Corridoor all with out cars having to make left turns. Since the entire street would be two lanes with on-street parking, traffic will remain slow and the area will remain pedestrian and bicycle friendly. It will also encourage in-fill through the current parking lot and north of 4th.

Just what we need, to have our main N/S artery be "Oklahoma Avenue" while our new main E/W artery is "Oklahoma City Boulevard." Shoot me now...

[Just the facts]

No, Oklahoma Ave doesn't need to be widened, just connected. If Walnut becomes a main road, which it is on its way to becoming, it will cut Deep Deuce in half; so they will end up with Deep Deuce and Deeper Deuce. Arterial roads should run adjacent to neighborhoods, not cut them in half. As for a bridge or at-grade crossing at Oklahoma, either one is possible but if you remember, Walnut was supposed to be an at-grade crossing until the Civil Rights issue came up.

Walnut has 5,310 cars a day thru Deep Deuce and Oklahoma only has 342. Spreading that traffic out across two roads and the addition of on-street parking along Walnut would do wonders for retail in the area - otherwise, Deep Deuce just becomes some place people drive thru to get somewhere else; and usually as fast as they can.

[Spartan]

No, Oklahoma Ave doesn't need to be widened, just connected. If Walnut becomes a main road, which it is on its way to becoming, it will cut Deep Deuce in half; so they will end up with Deep Deuce and Deeper Deuce. Arterial roads should run adjacent to neighborhoods, not cut them in half. As for a bridge or at-grade crossing at Oklahoma, either one is possible but if you remember, Walnut was supposed to be an at-grade crossing until the Civil Rights issue came up.

Walnut has 5,310 cars a day thru Deep Deuce and Oklahoma only has 342. Spreading that traffic out across two roads and the addition of on-street parking along Walnut would do wonders for retail in the area - otherwise, Deep Deuce just becomes some place people drive thru to get somewhere else; and usually as fast as they can.

This is a very good post of yours, Kerry. Not that you need our approval, but you've been fetching and scrambling for a few, and here's a solid post. I think you threw people off when you were talking about widening Oklahoma. If it's just a matter of connecting Oklahoma, I think almost all of us can agree with this point. It just makes sense.

I doubt that an at-grade crossing is really at play, although when you think that through, then you realize it may take a long time to get around to connecting Oklahoma. I'd just say don't hold your breath, even though it would be really nice to get that HSR connection sooner rather than later. You're right about Walnut though, now that I think about it. However it doesn't mean that would have been a good idea. Betts and UP are right, an at-grade crossing there would be a nightmare--literally.

I'm surprised that Walnut's traffic numbers are as low as 5,000, yet that street really only has an hour a day where it's very busy, and only on weekdays. Besides when it's jammed at rush hour, right now there's not a whole lot going on just because the area is pending. I wouldn't be surprised if traffic soars to at least 15,000 within 4-5 years, once Walnut-to-BNSF is totally filled in with new rooftops and businesses. As for dividing Deep Deuce, I think this is already the case. The Deep Deuce apartment area and the Maywood Park area are already splitting off it seems. The best way to prevent that? Walnut could bind the area together if it emerges as a truly great avenue.

[betts]

I don't consider Deep Deuce or Maywood Park to be divided from each other at all. I would love to see retail down Walnut, but regardless, there's plenty of traffic between the two already. People in Maywood go to Deep Deuce to eat at Sage, the Deep Deuce Grill and the Wedge very frequently. I walk my dog every day and usually it involves a stroll though Deep Deuce. As I've said, Walnut is incredibly easy to cross, because of the lights that can be triggered, and it happens almost instantaneously, so crossing Walnut is as simple as pushing a button. In addition, there's not going to be any room for retail on Oklahoma, unless you go north of 4th St. There's almost none at the Maywood Lofts, there will be none at LEVEL, save Native Roots, which is on Walnut, the Brownstones only have the photography studio and the new apartments on Oklahoma and 4th have no plans for retail. North of 4th, Oklahoma is going to be less attractive for cars because of what will take place at the at-grade railroad crossings on the east-west streets in order to create a quiet zone. Traffic will be funneled over to Broadway primarily, because it's going to be slow crossing over the tracks. I don't really see Oklahoma being a retail hot spot in the near future anywhere, unless it's local foot traffic. Maybe the Triangle will be developed, but we've seen no evidence of that, and it's going to be most easily accessible via Walnut or Harrison/6th St.

Most of the current traffic jam-up on Walnut is because of the fact that there are frequently construction vehicles in one lane, or one lane is blocked off completely. There are a few rubberneckers too who slow down to watch what's going on. Traffic moves very smoothly on Walnut, including onto the Broadway Extension. In addition, almost all of that traffic comes across on Second or Third Sts. from the CBD. Very little of it comes from Bricktown, so making Oklahoma a through street into Bricktown wouldn't even significantly affect Walnut traffic. Perhaps some day there will be more traffic on Walnut, but certainly right now there's no need for concern. As I've said, even post basketball games, traffic moves very quickly.

[Urban Pioneer]

It is going to be at-grade?

It is likely. Otherwise, it would have to be a underpass. Also, you reference HSR. That's decades away. I'm more concerned about connections to the NE and Tinker AFB which are potentially much sooner.

Also, I don't think the traffic debate holds water (at least it may change). I lived at that intersection for 10 years. Walnut is a busy street, but it is not excessively wide and it is signalized with pedestrian crosswalk triggers. If your worried about highway traffic landing in Bricktown via the Harrison exit and further becoming worse, keep in mind that the northbound exit on I-235 moves to 10th street severing traffic volume at Harrison.

Also, the first, most convenient exit off the new Boulevard will be Oklahoma directly off of the new Crosstown. Bricktown will get it's own exit right next to the Harkins. I think that traffic volume will at least stabilize once these exits change/open.

[king183]

Hey J. Pitman,

Have you seen the plan to re-do the parallel parking along North Broadway with new angled parking that will add about 500 new parking spots to A-Alley? How would you feel about redesigning all of the on-street parking, which could easily add hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of new spots while still being sensitive to the streetscapes... It seems like adding such a glut of free on-street parking spaces would really drive down the incentive to pave lots over. *ahem* particularly along Mickey Mantle where the on-street parking is mysteriously missing for a very long stretch, where the limos and taxis all line up during after hours.

I've always wondered if the relative disappearance of on-street parking was in some way, at any point in time, the city's part in helping out the Bricktown parking lot operators. Reno too needs to be redone, narrowed, and parking needs to be incorporated there especially. Changing it away from parallel parking to the angled parking would make an amazing difference too.

Simply put, Bricktown is not dense enough nor crowded enough, even on Friday nights, for the parking demands to be so far ahead of the street capacity that we're paving the entire district over for new parking. Especially considering that all the hotels have made parking arrangements one way or another.

After reading The Oklahoman's editorial on the issue, I decided to come over here and post my thoughts on parking, which mirror Spartan's expressed view here. Thankfully, I decided to go back and read the thread before posting.

Anyway, if we created angled parking on Reno, that would help reduce its highway-like speeds and make the area 100% more friendly to pedestrians. Same thing with Mickey Mantle's. At the same time, we make it far less profitable for surface lots, which is always a good thing in an (ostensibly) urban area.

[Spartan]

I don't consider Deep Deuce or Maywood Park to be divided from each other at all. I would love to see retail down Walnut, but regardless, there's plenty of traffic between the two already. People in Maywood go to Deep Deuce to eat at Sage, the Deep Deuce Grill and the Wedge very frequently. I walk my dog every day and usually it involves a stroll though Deep Deuce. As I've said, Walnut is incredibly easy to cross, because of the lights that can be triggered, and it happens almost instantaneously, so crossing Walnut is as simple as pushing a button. In addition, there's not going to be any room for retail on Oklahoma, unless you go north of 4th St. There's almost none at the Maywood Lofts, there will be none at LEVEL, save Native Roots, which is on Walnut, the Brownstones only have the photography studio and the new apartments on Oklahoma and 4th have no plans for retail. North of 4th, Oklahoma is going to be less attractive for cars because of what will take place at the at-grade railroad crossings on the east-west streets in order to create a quiet zone. Traffic will be funneled over to Broadway primarily, because it's going to be slow crossing over the tracks. I don't really see Oklahoma being a retail hot spot in the near future anywhere, unless it's local foot traffic. Maybe the Triangle will be developed, but we've seen no evidence of that, and it's going to be most easily accessible via Walnut or Harrison/6th St.

Most of the current traffic jam-up on Walnut is because of the fact that there are frequently construction vehicles in one lane, or one lane is blocked off completely. There are a few rubberneckers too who slow down to watch what's going on. Traffic moves very smoothly on Walnut, including onto the Broadway Extension. In addition, almost all of that traffic comes across on Second or Third Sts. from the CBD. Very little of it comes from Bricktown, so making Oklahoma a through street into Bricktown wouldn't even significantly affect Walnut traffic. Perhaps some day there will be more traffic on Walnut, but certainly right now there's no need for concern. As I've said, even post basketball games, traffic moves very quickly.

LEVEL will have more than just Native Roots, right? And there will be some stuff on the ground-floor of the Aloft, too, such as a cafe and a coffee shop, etc.

As for Walnut, my experience is that it's mostly that right lane where people are trying to turn onto the 235 on-ramps that get really backed up at 5, and then the street is totally empty pretty much every other time. But I can't speak to how construction has affected the traffic...the recent downtown experience on that would have to be if you can still get through, even if there's a bottle-neck, that's an amazingly good thing.

[Spartan]

It is likely. Otherwise, it would have to be a underpass. Also, you reference HSR. That's decades away. I'm more concerned about connections to the NE and Tinker AFB which are potentially much sooner.

Also, I don't think the traffic debate holds water (at least it may change). I lived at that intersection for 10 years. Walnut is a busy street, but it is not excessively wide and it is signalized with pedestrian crosswalk triggers. If your worried about highway traffic landing in Bricktown via the Harrison exit and further becoming worse, keep in mind that the northbound exit on I-235 moves to 10th street severing traffic volume at Harrison.

Also, the first, most convenient exit off the new Boulevard will be Oklahoma directly off of the new Crosstown. Bricktown will get it's own exit right next to the Harkins. I think that traffic volume will at least stabilize once these exits change/open.

So why are the railroad crossings going to be at-grade? Granted it would have been very expensive, but I thought that would be necessary to maintain a grade on that curve that HSR can use. Has reality set in that we "aint gettin" any Amtrak money any time soon?

I know you guys have been meeting a lot lately and talking about the commuter rail and other non-streetcar modes, so my apologies if I'm asking stuff in the open that's currently very much in-flux.

[betts]

LEVEL will have more than just Native Roots, right? And there will be some stuff on the ground-floor of the Aloft, too, such as a cafe and a coffee shop, etc.

As for Walnut, my experience is that it's mostly that right lane where people are trying to turn onto the 235 on-ramps that get really backed up at 5, and then the street is totally empty pretty much every other time. But I can't speak to how construction has affected the traffic...the recent downtown experience on that would have to be if you can still get through, even if there's a bottle-neck, that's an amazingly good thing.

It is my understanding that everything that is not residential will be restaurant, with the exception of Native Roots. There's always some traffic on Walnut, but it's true, rush hour at 5 is when the traffic is significant, and really no other times. In the morning, for some reason, the traffic isn't nearly as bad. Again, too, the majority of the traffic was off 2nd or 4th St., although 2nd is difficult to negotiate right now. The only time significant traffic extends into Bricktown on Walnut is on Thunder game nights.

[Spartan]

It is my understanding that everything that is not residential will be restaurant, with the exception of Native Roots. There's always some traffic on Walnut, but it's true, rush hour at 5 is when the traffic is significant, and really no other times. In the morning, for some reason, the traffic isn't nearly as bad. Again, too, the majority of the traffic was off 2nd or 4th St., although 2nd is difficult to negotiate right now. The only time significant traffic extends into Bricktown on Walnut is on Thunder game nights.

I think the reason traffic is smoother in the morning is because the bottlenecks are still caused by the volume of people using a few on-ramps, but that would back up 235 instead of Walnut in the morning.

That's going to be a LOT of restaurant space then.

[Rover]

Wanting it to be all restaurants and it actually winding up to be all restaurants may be two different things. I think the strategic plan even says that just being a restaurant/club district doesn't make it a real neighborhood. Maybe if they are calling bakeries, coffee houses, etc. restaurants then maybe that will be a little better. But a good neighborhood book store, drug store, barber/style shop, etc. make for a balanced neighborhood. Maybe they can get Nichols Hills drug store to move down to the Level or across the street. That is a great "neighborhood" drug store and a really good fit.

[Just the facts]

You are correct Rover. The district needs to move away from food service and more towards daily living needs. If Nichols Hill drug store isn't interested a CVS or Walgreens would be a huge addition. Of course, services like hair cuts (Flux Salon), dentist/doctor, financial planners, or a bank branch (no drive through) would be huge as well.

[Rover]

You are correct Rover.

I am going to print and frame this. It is a red letter day.

[Just the facts]

I am going to print and frame this. It is a red letter day.

LOL - I thought you would like that. It was weird though - I kept trying to type it in Word and the auto-correct kept changing it. I had to use notepad.

[MDot]

Rover, I couldn't agree more with the points you made.

[MDot]

And this is also the first time I recall seeing you two agree. This is gonna be a good day.

[Just the facts]

Just for fun I started keeping a log in my car of where I drive and how many miles I go. In the 2 weeks I have been doing it I have found that about 90% of my driving is taking kids to football, golf, and karate practice. By tracking where I go it gives me an idea of what I need to look for in a walkable neighborhood, as well as business ideas for what other people might be looking for in a walkable neighborhood.

If I lived near a karate school I could eliminate half of my driving.

[David]

And this is also the first time I recall seeing you two agree. This is gonna be a good day.

Either that or the start of the apocalypse.