Cool Projects in Other Cities

[Downtown Osprey]

OKC seems to be having a lot of growth, good for them, but I would have no desire to live in a landlocked state like Oklahoma.

[Kerry]

Oklahoma City First National Center

https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/okc-landmark-first-national-center-faces-a-bright-future/Content?oid=2979744

Quck Facts:
$235 million renovation
145-room luxury hotel
200 apartments
high-end basement vault restaurant
bar and lounge with downtown views from the 31st floor 25,000 square feet of street front retail

[thelakelander]

Nice adaptive reuse project. Sounds like the Trio and Barnett.

[Todd_Parker]

Oklahoma City: Santa Fe Station improvements to continue


Published:

A $2,287,250 contract to continue the work of transforming Oklahoma City's historic Santa Fe Station into an intermodal transit hub was approved Monday by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission. The contract is part of a $28.4 million project to renovate the downtown 1930s-era train station and convert it to a transit hub to serve passenger trains, a new streetcar system, city buses, a bicycle sharing service, taxis and ride-sharing services. The transit hub is located at 100 South E.K. Gaylord, between Sheridan and Reno avenues.

https://youtu.be/sD7fnjg1giA

Exactly what people had been hoping the Prime Osborn would have become for the last 10 years. Imagine seeing people hop off the Brightline at Jax Terminal and then waiting in line for their autonomous vehicles to take them to the newly refurbished Landing!

[Kerry]

Oklahoma City Streetcar

https://www.okc.gov/government/maps-3/projects/modern-streetcar-transit

2 routes
22 stations
4.6 miles
$131 million (built debt-free)

[Kerry]

Oklahoma City: Wheeler District (under construction)

150 acres
2000 housing units
mixed-use pedestrian oriented

https://www.wheelerdistrict.com/

Interview with developer
http://www.koco.com/article/new-neighborhood-in-okc-s-wheeler-district/14031364

[KenFSU]

^Wow!

Almost five miles, 22 stations, for $133 million.

Hits the business district, Chesapeake Energy Arena, museums, a library, the law school, a park, the courthouse, etc.

Cool project.

[KenFSU]

P.S. Question for someone more knowledgeable about the subject than me:

Am I missing some obvious logistical hurdle, or doesn't a streetcar line running from the sports complex, down Bay Street to the CBD, into Brooklyn, and possibly even into Riverside make a ton of sense?

It seems like a fairly straightforward route, it complements the existing Skyway route while making good on the promised extensions, and it would do ten times more to jumpstart infill development between Lot J/Shipyards and the CBD (and in Brooklyn) than JTA's clown car system.

A loop from Everbank to Brooklyn would be roughly the same mileage as the OKC line, and TIGER grants are available for projects like this. Wouldn't this be a pretty solid addition to our transportation network?

[jaxnyc79]

P.S. Question for someone more knowledgeable about the subject than me:

Am I missing some obvious logistical hurdle, or doesn't a streetcar line running from the sports complex, down Bay Street to the CBD, into Brooklyn, and possibly even into Riverside make a ton of sense?

It seems like a fairly straightforward route, it complements the existing Skyway route while making good on the promised extensions, and it would do ten times more to jumpstart infill development between Lot J/Shipyards and the CBD (and in Brooklyn) than JTA's clown car system.

A loop from Everbank to Brooklyn would be roughly the same mileage as the OKC line, and TIGER grants are available for projects like this. Wouldn't this be a pretty solid addition to our transportation network?

Seems incredibly sensible to me, but is there a way to get the mayor to propose this as a capital improvement project in coordination with JTA?  I guess "build it and they will come" only applies to expressways amidst pine fields and not to the core?

[Kerry]

Makes total sense to me, except for the Sports District part.  There simply isn't enough activity down there to justify it, although it would make getting to a Jumbo Shrimp game easier for me.

[Kerry]

^Wow!

Almost five miles, 22 stations, for $133 million.

Hits the business district, Chesapeake Energy Arena, museums, a library, the law school, a park, the courthouse, etc.

Cool project.

When you remove debt from the equation things get a lot cheaper.

[ProjectMaximus]

^Wow!

Almost five miles, 22 stations, for $133 million.

Hits the business district, Chesapeake Energy Arena, museums, a library, the law school, a park, the courthouse, etc.

Cool project.

When you remove debt from the equation things get a lot cheaper.

Also seems to move along faster too! When is this expected to be operational?

[thelakelander]

The hurdle is JTA, not necessarily money or the mayor's office. They don't believe fixed transit like streetcars is the future. Time will tell if they are right and OKC, Charlotte and all these other places are wrong or if we're doing Skyway 2.0 all over again.

[Kerry]

^Wow!

Almost five miles, 22 stations, for $133 million.

Hits the business district, Chesapeake Energy Arena, museums, a library, the law school, a park, the courthouse, etc.

Cool project.

When you remove debt from the equation things get a lot cheaper.

Also seems to move along faster too! When is this expected to be operational?

They say they are schedule to start operation in December.  It is in testing now and only about half the streetcar vehicles have been delivered.  There are also still portions of the track under construction.  Expansion is already in the planning stage as well as implementing regional rail to some of Oklahoma City's 43 suburbs (primarily Edmond, Moore, Norman, Midwest City, Yukon, Mustang, and the airport).

Also, they made some route adjustments and it is now 4.9 miles and not 4.3 miles.

[Kerry]

The hurdle is JTA, not necessarily money or the mayor's office. They don't believe fixed transit like streetcars is the future. Time will tell if they are right and OKC, Charlotte and all these other places are wrong or if we're doing Skyway 2.0 all over again.

Skyway 2.0