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Sidewalks (emphasis on 31st street)

Started by CoffeeBean, May 22, 2016, 10:21:33 AM

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CoffeeBean

Are there any plans to put in sidewalks on 31st between Harvard to Riverside?

I drive this stretch regularly and there's always people/people with dogs/runners, etc. either in the street or trying to maneuver the adjacent terrain, which is difficult in some places, like over crow creek at Zink Park. 

With the Gathering Place using 31st as a major entry point, are there any plans to upgrade the infrastructure leading to it?   
 

Breadburner

31 St... Just Past John Knox going west needs to be widened to Peoria...That would be time to start and bring side walks back west....
 

SXSW

It would be nice to see sidewalks added before the Gathering Place opens.  After all it is the main east gateway to the park. 

What's the status of the planned Crow Creek trail to connect Zink Park to Brookside and the Gathering Place/river trails?
 

Dspike

As someone who runs through those areas on occasion, I prefer to stay off the main roads. Even with a sidewalk, 31st is not an exciting walk while those neighborhoods have some beautiful homes to go by. The path along Crow Creek, at least from the river to Brookside, should help and be a big draw. And it should take pressure off of people walking along 31st there. If there were neighborhood sidewalks from Brookside to Zink Park that would connect quite a bit.

Otherwise, not sure once you go east of Peoria that it would be worth the cost and effort. I guess 31st makes as much sense as any other route, but I really doubt we have people walking from Harvard (or even Lewis) all the way to the gathering place.

Bamboo World

Quote from: Breadburner on May 22, 2016, 12:16:00 PM

31 St... Just Past John Knox going west needs to be widened to Peoria...


Why, in your opinion, does 31st need to be widened?  Would you be opposed to re-striping the lanes?  According to INCOG, the traffic counts are relatively low compared to other arterials.  Seems to me a center turn lane with one traffic lane in each direction would suffice.

Bamboo World

Quote from: Dspike on May 22, 2016, 02:39:29 PM

As someone who runs through those areas on occasion, I prefer to stay off the main roads. Even with a sidewalk, 31st is not an exciting walk while those neighborhoods have some beautiful homes to go by. The path along Crow Creek, at least from the river to Brookside, should help and be a big draw. And it should take pressure off of people walking along 31st there. If there were neighborhood sidewalks from Brookside to Zink Park that would connect quite a bit.

Otherwise, not sure once you go east of Peoria that it would be worth the cost and effort. I guess 31st makes as much sense as any other route, but I really doubt we have people walking from Harvard (or even Lewis) all the way to the gathering place.


All of Tulsa's arterials ought to have sidewalks, preferably on both sides of the street, and especially in Midtown.  Many Tulsans do not drive and/or do not have easy access to cars.  I agree that not many would walk all the way from Harvard or Lewis to Riverside (and that the side streets are more pleasant for pedestrians), but more people would walk the 31st Street corridor if sidewalks were in place.

swake

#6
Quote from: Bamboo World on May 22, 2016, 02:47:19 PM
Why, in your opinion, does 31st need to be widened?  Would you be opposed to re-striping the lanes?  According to INCOG, the traffic counts are relatively low compared to other arterials.  Seems to me a center turn lane with one traffic lane in each direction would suffice.


It would be better to narrow 31st from Zink Park to Riverside to 3 lanes with sidewalks on one side and a bike path/lane on the other.

Breadburner

Quote from: swake on May 22, 2016, 03:30:50 PM
It would be better to narrow 31st from Zink Park to Riverside to 3 lanes with sidewalks on one side and a bike path/lane on the other.

No it wouldn't....
 

Conan71

#8
Quote from: Bamboo World on May 22, 2016, 02:47:19 PM
Why, in your opinion, does 31st need to be widened?  Would you be opposed to re-striping the lanes?  According to INCOG, the traffic counts are relatively low compared to other arterials.  Seems to me a center turn lane with one traffic lane in each direction would suffice.


It's always felt too narrow even at a 35 MPH speed limit until it widens east of Columbia or Delaware.  I've driven it for 35 years and have always that way.  Same thing with Lewis from 21st south until they re-worked it a few years ago.  I do find it curious that there wasn't a sidewalk west of Harvard all these years when there were along Lewis. 
"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first" -Ronald Reagan

Red Arrow

Quote from: Conan71 on May 22, 2016, 08:10:28 PM
It's always felt too narrow even at a 35 MPH speed limit until it widens east of Columbia or Delaware.  I've driven it for 35 years and have always that way.  Same thing with Lewis from 21st south until they re-worked it a few years ago.  I do find it curious that there wasn't a sidewalk west of Harvard all these years when there were along Lewis. 

I thought that discouraging automobile traffic was the ultimate goal.  Get automobile speeds to 20 mph or less.

I am not being totally sarcastic.  In some areas, that should be the goal.  I don't know if 31st street is one of those areas.

That is why bypass roads are legitimate.  When I was (a lot) younger, our family would travel along US 301/ I95 to visit my grandparents in FL.  We would go through the business district when it was close to dinner time to buy some food to cook on the grill at a roadside rest.  Otherwise we hit the highway.  Forcing us to go through a small town did NOT result in our spending money there.
 

davideinstein

Quote from: Dspike on May 22, 2016, 02:39:29 PM
As someone who runs through those areas on occasion, I prefer to stay off the main roads. Even with a sidewalk, 31st is not an exciting walk while those neighborhoods have some beautiful homes to go by. The path along Crow Creek, at least from the river to Brookside, should help and be a big draw. And it should take pressure off of people walking along 31st there. If there were neighborhood sidewalks from Brookside to Zink Park that would connect quite a bit.

Otherwise, not sure once you go east of Peoria that it would be worth the cost and effort. I guess 31st makes as much sense as any other route, but I really doubt we have people walking from Harvard (or even Lewis) all the way to the gathering place.

It's a terrible mentality that we suggest people not walk on main roads because of years of bad planning.


rebound

Quote from: Conan71 on May 22, 2016, 08:10:28 PM
It's always felt too narrow even at a 35 MPH speed limit until it widens east of Columbia or Delaware.  I've driven it for 35 years and have always that way.  Same thing with Lewis from 21st south until they re-worked it a few years ago.  I do find it curious that there wasn't a sidewalk west of Harvard all these years when there were along Lewis. 

I drive that stretch virtually daily, and I agree.  If it is going to stay four lane, it needs to be widened.  It is uncomfortable to drive on in the right lane.  And while I'm a bike/walking guy,  the major arterials in Tulsa need to stay four lane.

 

DTowner

I believe a city ordinance or regulation requires installation of sidewalks on any arterial road or parkway when any major street rehabbing work is done.  Also, if you build or do any substantial modification on your property that is on an arterial or parkway, you have to build sidewalks on your property (or pay into the city sidewalk fund in lieu of building the sidewalk).

Markk

Quote from: davideinstein on May 22, 2016, 11:19:13 PM
Absolutely would.

You're never going to win an argument with Breadburner.  He knows everything.