Cherry Street makeover

[heironymouspasparagus]

Please no - we need fewer streets built to crumble under Oklahoma weather extremes.  The brick cross-walks in Brookside lasted about 3 months before they needed work.  Police presence to enforec the rules would be much preferred.

Ya gotta do bricks right.  And Brookside didn't do it right if they lasted anything less than 70 years!!

For real.  70 years and more.  Go drive around Nowata or many of the small towns around here.  Much better roads.

[Townsend]

Go drive around Nowata or many of the small towns around here.  Much better roads.

How much traffic on Nowata roads?

[heironymouspasparagus]

How much traffic on Nowata roads?

Well, they have about 6,000 people with a network of roads that covers an area that is primarily encompassed by an area close to that of 21st to 41st, Yale to Sheridan - small town, light traffic.  Traffic counts will be much less than Tulsa.  Their main street (highway 60) gets about 5,000 vehicles a day.  And the brick on main has been covered up since about the mid 70's -ish.  When it was covered, it was structurally sound along most of it, but was not "smooth" like asphalt.

Their brick roads were put down mostly in the 30's.  When you get away from the main drag, many of the streets show need of maintenance - some very rough, but many are fundamentally sound.  Vastly better than the same type of neighborhood road in Tulsa with the same amount of wear over time.  If you allowed any Tulsa residential street to go as long without "rebuild" as those brick streets have gone with minimal maintenance, they would have reverted back to 'gravel' long, long ago.

And that brick provides a very effective built in traffic calming effect...it will washboard your teeth right out of your head if you go too fast!

[patric]

Anyone notice we now have a street light on every utility pole on Cherry Street between Peoria and Utica?

Went by last night to look at them.

As far as I could tell (in the rain) it actually looked good.
Using existing pole spacings to determine light placement is not ideal design practice, but sometimes you get lucky, and the light looked fairly uniform.
They are LED Cobras that appeared to be Full Cutoff (FCO, so that will help with glare) and the intensity didn't appear to be way out of scale for the surroundings.
Not crazy about the garish blue color, but Ill get some pictures in better weather.

Apparently a lot more thought went into this than the recent "LightsOn!" bullshirt the city slapped together for 61st & Peoria and north Tulsa, so I find this very encouraging.

[carltonplace]

Went by last night to look at them.

As far as I could tell (in the rain) it actually looked good.
Using existing pole spacings to determine light placement is not ideal design practice, but sometimes you get lucky, and the light looked fairly uniform.
They are LED Cobras that appeared to be Full Cutoff (FCO, so that will help with glare) and the intensity didn't appear to be way out of scale for the surroundings.
Not crazy about the garish blue color, but Ill get some pictures in better weather.

Apparently a lot more thought went into this than the recent "LightsOn!" bullshirt the city slapped together for 61st & Peoria and north Tulsa, so I find this very encouraging.

I agree that its not bad. The glare is low, the street and sidewalk are visible and it doesn't interfere with the lighted signage.

[dbacks fan]

Went by last night to look at them.

As far as I could tell (in the rain) it actually looked good.
Using existing pole spacings to determine light placement is not ideal design practice, but sometimes you get lucky, and the light looked fairly uniform.
They are LED Cobras that appeared to be Full Cutoff (FCO, so that will help with glare) and the intensity didn't appear to be way out of scale for the surroundings.
Not crazy about the garish blue color, but Ill get some pictures in better weather.

Apparently a lot more thought went into this than the recent "LightsOn!" bullshirt the city slapped together for 61st & Peoria and north Tulsa, so I find this very encouraging.

I have to say that I have seen the LED replacements for overhead lighting and I agree that it's good and also found the blueish color a bit bright. The ones that I saw were the square fixtures like you would see in the canopy at a QT. I think the biggest issue, for me, was that it was almost excessively bright. I think that a slightly smaller number of LEDs per fixture, and or maybe a different lense color to tone it down would help.

Slightly OT, whatever came of the development where the old Mercury Mortgage buildng was at 14th & Utica?

[carltonplace]

I have to say that I have seen the LED replacements for overhead lighting and I agree that it's good and also found the blueish color a bit bright. The ones that I saw were the square fixtures like you would see in the canopy at a QT. I think the biggest issue, for me, was that it was almost excessively bright. I think that a slightly smaller number of LEDs per fixture, and or maybe a different lense color to tone it down would help.

Slightly OT, whatever came of the development where the old Mercury Mortgage buildng was at 14th & Utica?

Ask TTC

[dbacks fan]

Ask TTC

I'll pass on that one.

[Teatownclown]

Ask TTC

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=9210.msg264909#msg264909

The owner can do nothing and let it sit.

[patric]

I have to say that I have seen the LED replacements for overhead lighting and I agree that it's good and also found the blueish color a bit bright. The ones that I saw were the square fixtures like you would see in the canopy at a QT. I think the biggest issue, for me, was that it was almost excessively bright. I think that a slightly smaller number of LEDs per fixture, and or maybe a different lense color to tone it down would help.

There is a big difference in the eye's sensitivity to blue-rich LED's Vs. the more orangish High Pressure Sodium we are used to, so yes, they could have turned down the intensity a bit and still have good visual acuity.  The neat thing about LED Cobras is you can order them with a broad range of intensities, simply by adding or subtracting groups of LEDs.
Overall, I would call the new lighting on Cherry street an improvement not only for Cherry Street but the city's approach to street lighting in general.

I found this amusing:
http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3981031 

[TheTed]

I found this amusing:
http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3981031  

"I've never had this problem before"

I'm not sure what that even means. Every mid-block crosswalk in Tulsa is like that (and in most of the country).

Nobody stops until you start walking. The only way to cross is to wait for a break large enough so you're not forcing them to slam on the brakes, start cautiously walking while also being ready to get out of the way if they don't stop, which is not an unlikely scenario.

TPD could do some crosswalk enforcement. I've never seen them doing so, and it seems like it'd be easier, create more revenue with less required manpower, and increase safety a lot more than those speed traps on the expressway.

http://youtu.be/98aTVVyhvqE

[Red Arrow]

Nobody stops until you start walking. The only way to cross is to wait for a break large enough so you're not forcing them to slam on the brakes, start cautiously walking while also being ready to get out of the way if they don't stop, which is not an unlikely scenario.

I believe the law is for drivers to stop for pedestrians in/on the crosswalk.  No need for the drivers to stop if you are still up on the sidewalk.  Step off the sidewalk onto the crosswalk and I believe you get the right to continue.  Just don't be dead right. 

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Additionally, Cherry Street will undergo a street rehabilitation project in mid-to-late 2016, says Doug Helt, lead engineer for the project.

The project will cost $3 million and be funded by the Improve our Tulsa package.
Helt and his team are currently beginning the design process for the project and plan to have design renderings by August or September.

The project will focus on repairing all portions of 15th Street from Peoria to Lewis avenues, including sidewalks, parking areas and crosswalks.

"There have been temporary changes made to the street regarding painting and striping in various areas," says Helt. "Now, we want to go out there and make those temporary changes permanent."

Those temporary changes are important, though, because they "give us a working model to come back and, later, make them permanent if they work," he says.

Helt does not foresee any changes being made to parking layout or street width.
At least one public meeting will be held later this year in order to receive feedback from residents and others, Helt says.

http://gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/13447/area-districts-see-development

[carltonplace]

I like Mr Helt. I'm glad this is his project.

[SXSW]

Additionally, Cherry Street will undergo a street rehabilitation project in mid-to-late 2016, says Doug Helt, lead engineer for the project.

The project will cost $3 million and be funded by the Improve our Tulsa package.
Helt and his team are currently beginning the design process for the project and plan to have design renderings by August or September.

The project will focus on repairing all portions of 15th Street from Peoria to Lewis avenues, including sidewalks, parking areas and crosswalks.

"There have been temporary changes made to the street regarding painting and striping in various areas," says Helt. "Now, we want to go out there and make those temporary changes permanent."

Those temporary changes are important, though, because they "give us a working model to come back and, later, make them permanent if they work," he says.

Helt does not foresee any changes being made to parking layout or street width.
At least one public meeting will be held later this year in order to receive feedback from residents and others, Helt says.

http://gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/13447/area-districts-see-development

This is great news.  Hopefully this improves the overall walkability and pedestrian safety in Cherry St.