Belle Isle Library

[barrettd]

Drove by this the other day for the first time in a very long time. Those big glass windows look terrific. It's going to be unrecognizable from the library I frequented as a junior high/high school student.

[David]

This is such a home run for the area. I can't wait to visit after they are finished.

Edit: It really calls for sidewalks up and down Villa Ave, I just double checked Google Maps for that and was so disappointed to see the lack of good pedestrian access. Imagine living right next to a library like so many people in the area do and having to chance walking to it in the street or on people's lawns.

[Pete]

They had said it should be finished by the end of the year, but as you can tell by the interior photos, they are really going to have to hustle.

[Pete]

[5alive]

Love it!

[HOT ROD]

yes, and how they're adding sidewalk pedestrian connectivity from the start. only question is if they're also integrating with transit - would be cheaper to do it now than tear it up.

[shawnw]

Going to have to be bus routes or something. I'm a transit guy but they'd have to eat half their budget or more to get streetcar or similar out there.

[Pete]

I've said this several times but adding a pedestrian crossing at NW Expressway and Villa should be the first priority.

I live south of there and it is literally almost impossible to cross that intersection. There are no crosswalks or 'walk' lights or buttons, and NW Ex is so wide and the traffic so heavy that you have to run fast and still can't make it across on a green light. It's like an effort was made to make it impossible.

And right next to a major library that is now being expanded by 10,000 square feet.

[David]

It would take about a half mile off sidewalk to connect to Penn and the upcoming BRT stops there. Slightly pie in the sky. but with the new sidewalk they have put in right in front of the library that might be a sign someone is thinking about them along NW Expressway.

[Pete]

^

Sidewalks are required when there is a big construction project, so I wouldn't read too much into what has been built.

In addition to the absurd lack of pedestrian crossing at Villa, there are no real sidewalks along either side of NW Expressway anywhere. This means even if you are near Villa and want to walk down to Penn where there is a decent crossing the future BRT stop, you can't do it without slogging through weeds and mud. Same way if you want to head towards May or really anywhere along the corridor.

It just goes to show who hard and expensive it is to undo a century of not thinking of these things. Very easy to add them when everything is being constructed than crazy expensive to do it afterward.

[David]

Didn't the city take over management of NW Expressway from the state somewhat recently? I suspect that ODOT was never particularly interested in running it as anything other than a highway, maybe we'll see changes to make it more pedestrian friendly under city management. The upcoming crosswalks coming with the BRT stations at Penn make me slightly optimistic.

[shawnw]

Kinda like the pedestrian friendly changes we've seen for OKC boulevard?

[HOT ROD]

other parts of the country even highways (not freeways guys) have sidewalks where there's development density or even between developments. Not sure why Oklahoma and OKC have been so hell bent on not building sidewalks into the road construction but this needs to change rapidly if we want a fit, accessible city.

[Teo9969]

other parts of the country even highways (not freeways guys) have sidewalks where there's development density or even between developments. Not sure why Oklahoma and OKC have been so hell bent on not building sidewalks into the road construction but this needs to change rapidly if we want a fit, accessible city.

Because there's 600+ Square miles to cover with sidewalks and only 700k people. Obviously that's a bit of an over simplification, but we're just so sprawled and we only recently started caring about it.

I think one thing we've done a poor job during our renaissance is really identifying and investing in our Arterial Roads. It seems to me like we've kind of identified every sectional road as important and we're just kind of getting to them when we get to them. That NWX doesn't have significant pedestrian infrastructure in place and that it is the first route for BRT shows that we haven't really thought this through. I looked at Houston's Westheimer road from the Galleria (W 5000 block) all the way to the W ~15000 block before there curb disappeared on the westbound side (I think it was the same or longer on the eastbound side). It's not always pretty and I don't think I'd call it walkable, but having only sporadic sidewalks along NWX (which is about as close as we get to Westheimer) shows how far off we are from rational planning and development. If Houston can get if 15000 blocks, we should be able to figure it out for half that stretch.

[HangryHippo]

Because there's 600+ Square miles to cover with sidewalks and only 700k people. Obviously that's a bit of an over simplification, but we're just so sprawled and we only recently started caring about it.

I think one thing we've done a poor job during our renaissance is really identifying and investing in our Arterial Roads. It seems to me like we've kind of identified every sectional road as important and we're just kind of getting to them when we get to them. That NWX doesn't have significant pedestrian infrastructure in place and that it is the first route for BRT shows that we haven't really thought this through. I looked at Houston's Westheimer road from the Galleria (W 5000 block) all the way to the W ~15000 block before there curb disappeared on the westbound side (I think it was the same or longer on the eastbound side). It's not always pretty and I don't think I'd call it walkable, but having only sporadic sidewalks along NWX (which is about as close as we get to Westheimer) shows how far off we are from rational planning and development. If Houston can get if 15000 blocks, we should be able to figure it out for half that stretch.

Excellent point, as usual, Teo.

[David]

From Marty's reporting of today's council meeting, starting at: https://twitter.com/OKC_SPAN/status/1468241500656095232

Now a change order for the Belle Isle library. This allows changing some of the interior glass. Also adding 50 days. Hopefully it will be ready to open at the end of January.

Pedestrian infrastructure improvements for that intersection are on a similar timeline.

[Pete]

I wasn't aware of the pedestrian improvements but very, very happy to hear they are being planned.

Even just a basic crosswalk with buttons and enough time to actually cross NW Expressway would be a huge improvement.

[HOT ROD]

Because there's 600+ Square miles to cover with sidewalks and only 700k people. Obviously that's a bit of an over simplification, but we're just so sprawled and we only recently started caring about it.

I think one thing we've done a poor job during our renaissance is really identifying and investing in our Arterial Roads. It seems to me like we've kind of identified every sectional road as important and we're just kind of getting to them when we get to them. That NWX doesn't have significant pedestrian infrastructure in place and that it is the first route for BRT shows that we haven't really thought this through. I looked at Houston's Westheimer road from the Galleria (W 5000 block) all the way to the W ~15000 block before there curb disappeared on the westbound side (I think it was the same or longer on the eastbound side). It's not always pretty and I don't think I'd call it walkable, but having only sporadic sidewalks along NWX (which is about as close as we get to Westheimer) shows how far off we are from rational planning and development. If Houston can get if 15000 blocks, we should be able to figure it out for half that stretch.

counterpoint - I'm not talking about sidewalks in the entire 600 square miles limits just the areas that are built up or are inbetween built up areas. For all intents and purposes, the rural areas of the 600 square miles (more than 1/3 of the total btw) could be assumed to not even be part of the city limits but even there arteries should have sidewalks as part of general road construction once it's funded/built. But the focus area should be the built up suburban and urban city, 400 square miles, where every artery and most major neighborhood roads should be sidewalked. This would allow connectivity to transit in a real way along with alternatives to driving where people can safely walk to destinations and have fitness opportunities. This is a no brainer and should be adopted as a practice by the city moving forward.

No more excuses OKC.You've built roads/sewers/pipelines/utilities on 600 square miles, no excuse not to also build sidewalks while you're building the road/utilities.

[Pete]

^

All new construction requires sidewalks.

And many miles have been installed through MAPS 3 with more to come through MAPS 4.

Good progress has been made. My neighborhood now has sidewalks on almost every residential street.

[ABryant]

Is there a book repository there?

[Brett]

Is there a book repository there?

The lower right rectangle on the west side, teal section of the building looks suspiciously like the book deposit. Just a guess, I could be wrong.

[Brett]

The name "Belle Isle Library" has been placed on the east side entrance.

[JDSooners]

They had said it should be finished by the end of the year, but as you can tell by the interior photos, they are really going to have to hustle.

If the building is enclosed to elements, the sheet rock, ceilings, flooring and paint happen pretty quick, I wouldn't say hustle is required, think the time line is about right, and a change order for interior glass should allow them to finish to the construction schedule

[Pete]

If the building is enclosed to elements, the sheet rock, ceilings, flooring and paint happen pretty quick, I wouldn't say hustle is required, think the time line is about right, and a change order for interior glass should allow them to finish to the construction schedule

?

The end of the year has come and gone and they still aren't finished.

[fortpatches]

The tweet above where the interior glass is mentioned included an additional 50 days.