Originally Posted by
mdeand
I just read this entire thread from beginning to end. I have not been up to speed on the Lindsey Street improvement plans. However, I do live in the neighborhood and turn onto and from Lindsey Street every day.
Some observations: Do any of you live here? It doesn't seem like it, based upon some statements made, such as the concern for property values in the area west of campus. The value of property there is extremely high already. Widening a road there just to inflate property prices even more doesn't make sense. Some persons posting here seem to forget the fact that Lindsey Street serves the people who live in the neighborhood more than visitors to OU. It's access from the nearby homes to the stores on Lindsey Street and access to I-35 for the work commute to OKC.
Who is the improvement to Lindsay supposed to be serving? The assumption seems to be the university and folks who go to football games. That's a fallacy in both respects. Most commuter traffic to OU comes via state highway 9 -- not Lindsey Street. Lindsey Street serves the people who live along it between campus and I-35. It's a real neighborhood. Those trees people want to rip up for the sake of a four-lane road between Berry and Jenkins are some of the reasons people like living there. Very little traffic continues to the east side of Norman via Lindsey. Those pedestrian crossings at Cate Center deter that. There are better avenues to the east side, anyway.
As for football traffic -- big deal. So, it takes 45 minutes to get out of Norman. So what. As a citizen of Norman, I don't care one damn bit. I put up with you clogging my streets, so you put up with sitting in your car for a little time while you listen to the post-game interviews on the radio.
Am I the only one who is stuck on Lindsey Street every morning waiting on traffic to pass so I can turn left? (I laughed out loud at the person who posted that traffic on Lindsey is declining). Without a center turn lane, how is that supposed to happen without backing up traffic behind me? And the idea driving 1/2 mile to the next "roundabout" and come back just to turn left turn is ridiculous. The roundabout idea is ridiculous for any area of Lindsey west of campus. If David Boren wants one on campus, that's fine.
I have lived in this area of Norman for 31 years. My plan is to live here until I die. I like the idea of making the west-of-Berry portion of Lindsey Street more attractive (and bike lanes are needed there and throughout Norman), but let's keep sight of the constituency the street serves.
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