Driving Forward OK - Oklahoma Turnpike Improvements and New Construction

[Snowman]

^
from the people i've talked to, that's exactly what the long term goal is. the primary purpose of this route is to help alleviate capacity issues on existing interstates by providing a bypass for interstate traffic passing through oklahoma city. -M

There is only like four hours max out of weekdays it is anything but running above posted speeds, less on Monday & Friday. The rest of the time it will be faster, shorter and cheaper to take 35 or 235

[Martin]

There is only like four hours max out of weekdays it is anything but running above posted speeds, less on Monday & Friday. The rest of the time it will be faster, shorter and cheaper to take 35 or 235

it's my impression that ota isn't just reactively trying to solve an existing capacity issue but is planning to handle anticipated demand based on current trends... i think they're looking 10-20 years ahead. assuming their projections are correct, it's far cheaper to build this now than to wait till we absolutely need it. not saying they're right or wrong, just trying to explain the rationale as i understand it. -M

[heyerdahl]

Unfortunately they are not looking at how much transportation is going to change in the next 10-20 years. Regional desire for public transportation options, living closer to work, one-car households, ridesharing, biking, walking, etc. Plus driverless cars.

[stile99]

Unfortunately they are not looking at how much transportation is going to change in the next 10-20 years. Regional desire for public transportation options, living closer to work, one-car households, ridesharing, biking, walking, etc. Plus driverless cars.

They're building in the real world, not the fantasy land you describe. Other than the driverless cars (and even that is going to take more than a generation, there are still PLENTY of cars from the 80s and even earlier still on the road today), everything you list is what you WANT to happen, but won't.

[heyerdahl]

They're building in the real world, not the fantasy land you describe. Other than the driverless cars (and even that is going to take more than a generation, there are still PLENTY of cars from the 80s and even earlier still on the road today), everything you list is what you WANT to happen, but won't.

I'm not saying this will be a fantasy land where no one drives. Even if only 10% of people change their transportation behavior in 20 years, that's a huge difference for our roads and highways.

Planning and building to incentivize that 10% change is a viable congestion management alternative to 'expand highway until you're totally gridlocked.' Dallas and Houston already previewed that strategy for us, and now they have been playing catchup to provide alternatives to long and stressful commutes.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

my understanding is that there will be access every two miles. i don't think that the interchange proposed for ne 23rd is going to be the only access point between i-44 and i-40. -M

My wife was at the meeting, and the engineers and others that spoke there specifically said that 23rd was the only planned exit/entrance.

I would hope that that is incorrect, but that's what they've said on more than one occasion. This will pass 1/2 mile from me, and while I'm not happy about it, if they put a couple of more exits in, it will be fairly convenient to me in a couple of ways.

I think the owner of Old Germany has said about the same thing...But man oh man is he taking a beating on Facebook about his (perfectly logical) position. As angry as people are, and you're going to speak out in a non-NO TURNPIKE!!!!-manner? You sir, are a glutton for punishment.

I'm not going to say anything to him other than "thanks for having Chimay at Turek's", that is...Convenient

[stile99]

My wife was at the meeting, and the engineers and others that spoke there specifically said that 23rd was the only planned exit/entrance.

The English language can be tricky sometimes. Did they say it is the only planned exit/entrance as in "Once we know where the road is going, we'll determine where additional exit/entrances should go", as many believe, or did they say it is the only planned exit/entrance as in they plan for it to be the only exit/entrance with no intention of building any others? Since, again, they are still in the very preliminary stages, I'm inclined to believe it is the former, and people believing the latter are just grasping at straws to oppose the road.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

This was at the meeting where they announced the route. My wife is not grasping at straws and she understands the nuances in sentence structure perfectly fine, but thanks for implying that she's prone to hysterics and hyperbole when reacting to something that doesn't have a lot of impact on her. They've said this several times, in several venues.

Like I said...I hope that there will be more, and more would make sense...But they stated explicitly that there's only one planned.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

The English language can be tricky...Are you serious with that crap?

That's the kind of a$$hole stuff that keeps me from coming here much any more.

[stile99]

Can someone help me out here? Are people seriously unable to see a difference between "we have only one planned" and "we plan to build only one", to the point where this person's random rudeness is justified? I don't know another way to explain it, and I personally see a WORLD of difference between the two statements. I just don't know another way to explain it, and this person seems to have taken offense where it is very clear to me none was intended. Is there another way it can be worded?

[Martin]

My wife was at the meeting, and the engineers and others that spoke there specifically said that 23rd was the only planned exit/entrance.

hmmm... interesting. the person i talked to should have firsthand knowledge of the route and the particulars, so i'm fairly confident in the accuracy of the information. what i understood from the conversation was that 23rd will have an interchange and that there will be 'access' roughly every 2 miles. i took 'access' to mean entrance/exit ramps but it may mean something different to the person i was talking to. also there's always some possibility that my source could be in error or had outdated information... so who knows. -M

[Martin]

...and since i have to put on the mod hat here, i have to say that this issue isn't worth getting worked up over. so let's cool it with questioning people's ability to comprehend the english language and any subsequent retaliation. ok? -M

[stile99]

[QUOTE=Martin;945734so let's cool it with questioning people's ability to comprehend the english language[/QUOTE]

See, this is exactly what I mean. Is there another way to phrase it? English can be tricky, this is a fact. Anyone will tell you this, English teachers themselves are proud of stating the fact. One phrase, even one word, can have multiple meanings, some entirely contradictory. This does not mean I question anyone's ability to comprehend it, and yet I'm being accused of it and called an "a$$hole", entirely in my opinion unprovoked.

The. statement. is. ambiguous. I just can't be plainer, if someone else can, please help me out. Seriously.

[Martin]

without inflection, what was possibly intended as an observation on your part as to the ease of misunderstanding the english language might have come across as an insult to somebody else's capacity to understand the language. doesn't matter. let's just get this thread back to topic. -M

[rezman]

Given the oposition to the proposed route with the one interchange at 23rd, I can imagine the backlash by folks in the area if the maps showed other proposed or planned interchanges along the route. The planners know where they want them. They're just not going to show them on a map yet because they knew this project would cause a riff to begin with. Interchanges require more room and more impact on the area.

[ou48A]

The greater OKC area will continue to grow and as it does we will need more highway capacity.

I would like to see this turnpike extended southward to the eastern sides of Norman, but west of Lake Thunderbird and continue southward to a point where it intersected I-35 somewhere north of Purcell.

Where appropriate and during the daylight hours I would still like to see an 85 MPH speed limit on Oklahoma’s turnpikes, interstates and even a few 2 lane roads in remote areas.

[Plutonic Panda]

The greater OKC area will continue to grow and as it does we will need more highway capacity.

I would like to see this turnpike extended southward to the eastern sides of Norman, but west of Lake Thunderbird and continue southward to a point where it intersected I-35 somewhere north of Purcell.

Where appropriate and during the daylight hours I would still like to see an 85 MPH speed limit on Oklahoma’s turnpikes, interstates and even a few 2 lane roads in remote areas.

Completely agree.

[emtefury]

The Southwest Kilpatrick Extension Preliminary Alignment meeting will be Tuesday 29 March from 6-8pm at Mustang Town Center.

I find it interesting this meeting is considered a come and go to talk to engineers and right of way. There will be no public presentation. Is OTA weary of the feedback with a group question and answer session? My opinion is OTA is dodging.

[Plutonic Panda]

Plans for second Oklahoma City-area turnpike to be discussed | News OK

[stile99]

The Southwest Kilpatrick Extension Preliminary Alignment meeting will be Tuesday 29 March from 6-8pm at Mustang Town Center.

I find it interesting this meeting is considered a come and go to talk to engineers and right of way. There will be no public presentation. Is OTA weary of the feedback with a group question and answer session? My opinion is OTA is dodging.

Mustang already had the public presentation.

Mustang turnpike extension meeting draws calm crowd | News OK

[Plutonic Panda]

This is different I believe. They will present a some preliminary routes, one of which, will be the official route.

[HangryHippo]

Mustang turnpike extension meeting draws calm crowd | News OK

I can't believe they allowed this area to build up when they KNEW they were going to want to have the right of way eventually. Even if they didn't have the money to purchase it then, they sure as hell should have been blocking development on the eventual path.

[rte66man]

I can't believe they allowed this area to build up when they KNEW they were going to want to have the right of way eventually. Even if they didn't have the money to purchase it then, they sure as hell should have been blocking development on the eventual path.

And how do they do that without getting the crap sued out of them?

[HangryHippo]

And how do they do that without getting the crap sued out of them?

Are there no legal means available that would have let them control development around the intended route?

[adaniel]

Outside of gobbling up all the land in a possible ROW alignments (extremely expensive), not much.

IIRC it bears noting that OTA had largely abandoned extending JKT south of 40 last decade...same with the Eastern Loop. There was no reason for OKC to curtail any sort of development that would now be in the ROW. The sudden revival of this road is totally OTA's call...zero coordination with the cities of either Mustang or OKC.