City of Tulsa forming Route 66 Task Force

[we vs us]

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Tulsa-to-form-Route-66-development-task-force/v38WN__s00-DIEtQtEXxag.cspx

It's known nationwide as the "Mother Road" and "America's Main Street." Roughly 27 miles of Route 66 run through the heart of Tulsa.

Now the City of Tulsa is forming a task force to explore ways to cash in more on the old highway, and attract more Route 66 themed private development.

Tulsa already has Route 66 markers along the road, a Route 66 bridge over Southwest Boulevard with an adjacent plaza, and a growing Route 66 Village in the Red Fork area of Southwest Tulsa. But several other cities along the historic highway have done a much better job of cashing in Route 66 economic opportunities.

With the formation of the task force, city leaders and Route 66 enthusiasts are hoping Tulsa will soon become the symbol of Route 66's legacy.

"It's the number one tourist attraction in the world, and it runs through our city," Blake Ewing, Tulsa District Four City Councilor, said. "and I think we're missing it a little bit."

Millions of tourists from across the globe drive stretches of old Route 66 every year. So why not make sure they all end up in Tulsa?

"Without Tulsa, really and truly, there would be no Route 66," Michael Wallis, Route 66 historian and co-founder of the Route 66 Alliance, said.

After writing a best-selling book about Route 66, Wallis became known as the new "Father of the Mother Road."

"We have 410 miles in Oklahoma going and blowing, more than any other state," Wallis said. "And it's a resource that has been largely overlooked. And it's time to get our kicks."

"I'm not sure you're really aware of what the possibilities and the opportunities are," Gary Purcefull, Route 66 enthusiast, said.

Purcefull and others in the Red Fork area of Southwest Tulsa have been building the up the Route 66 Village for years.

"It is kind of about the American dream," he said. "It's about free enterprise."

"We want to take the next step, and that's to go from acknowledging its presence here, acknowledging its history, and then turning that into new economic development for Tulsa," Ewing said.

The city has access to federal, state and local grants and programs to use on the effort, plus $15 million in Vision 2025 bond package funds.

Ewing says all Tulsa needs now is a little push from the soon-to-be-formed task force.

"Do some basic public enhancements to the road, then we'll let the private developers come in and do their thing," he said. "It's what they do."

Those enhancements could begin with new Route 66 signs.

"And I don't just mean identifying marker signs, but historic neon signage."

"I can remember driving 66, so I can relate to that," Denise Coffee said.

Coffee brought her home-schooled son to the Route 66 Village for a field trip, and says using Route 66 to Tulsa's advantage is a win-win situation.

"Tulsa has other things that they could do when they're visiting Route 66. We've got our museums and sports."

"[It's} a no-brainer," Wallis said. "this road puts vehicular traffic in our state, in our county, in our city."

Some of the early plans for the Route 66 Task Force include putting up more signs and markers along Route 66's path, altering ordinances to encourage business along Route 66 to put up larger, neon signs, developing a Route 66 interpretive park in East Tulsa, and building a Route 66 Experience center near the Route 66 Bridge near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Southwest Boulevard."


As the man said, it's a no-brainer.  Sad it hasn't happened up till now but glad that it's on the table.

Hopefully Rwarn's going to be involved in this somehow.

[nathanm]

Good news, but I do have to take issue with one comment:

"[It's} a no-brainer," Wallis said. "this road puts vehicular traffic in our state, in our county, in our city."

There is no inherent good in more traffic.

</nitpick>

I'll say again precisely what it is we need to attract more road-going tourists: Better roads. People come here and are shocked by the sad shape of our highways and byways. We are the only state in the nation who can have roads like we do and not be embarrassed enough to do something about it. And Tulsa has some of the worst in the state. We need to stop making excuses and fix the effing problem.

[Conan71]

Good news, but I do have to take issue with one comment:

There is no inherent good in more traffic.

</nitpick>

If you own a curiosity shop on Route 66 more traffic is a good thing

[we vs us]

Good news, but I do have to take issue with one comment:

There is no inherent good in more traffic.

</nitpick>

I'll say again precisely what it is we need to attract more road-going tourists: Better roads. People come here and are shocked by the sad shape of our highways and byways. We are the only state in the nation who can have roads like we do and not be embarrassed enough to do something about it. And Tulsa has some of the worst in the state. We need to stop making excuses and fix the effing problem.

Preach it.

[SXSW]

The stretch of Route 66 between Peoria and Utica would be a good place for an extension of the streetscape they just finished up at the 11th/Peoria intersection.  Lots of empty storefronts.  It would be awesome to someday have a cohesive streetscape on 11th between TU and downtown with wider sidewalks, intersection pavers, trees and better lighting.  It seems like there could be some kind of historic tax credits that could help pay for it too.

I personally wish the Meadow Gold sign was on top of an actual building and not the platform they built for it.  Maybe someday..

[TheArtist]

I would love to see this happen and of course our Art Deco is a must see attraction when your in town.  During the pop-up shopping downtown we had the museum starter space open for a bit.  We haven't done anything at this point to attract visitors but was still suprised at how many dropped by who were from out of town.  Some were doing the Route 66 thing and said they were here to see Tulsa's Art Deco.  One group I talked to from Paris, then another from Toronto and Singapor said they were in town to see Tulsa's deco and had a tour map they hand printed off from online. I personally really enjoyed talking to these people. I wish we were further along with the museum effort but they seemed to like what they saw so far.  Course the building itself is a showstopper.  I think we are going to have a really nice little set of displays ready for our grand opening (tentatively set for May but will decide for sure at tonights board meeting).  Have one local designer in the works right now who does props for TV,Hollywood movies, etc. who is going to create something really neat for us stay tuned.      

[Conan71]

The stretch of Route 66 between Peoria and Utica would be a good place for an extension of the streetscape they just finished up at the 11th/Peoria intersection.  Lots of empty storefronts.  It would be awesome to someday have a cohesive streetscape on 11th between TU and downtown with wider sidewalks, intersection pavers, trees and better lighting.  It seems like there could be some kind of historic tax credits that could help pay for it too.

I personally wish the Meadow Gold sign was on top of an actual building and not the platform they built for it.  Maybe someday..

I suspect that will become a target-rich redevelopment environment after the Pearl is substantially cleaned-up and repurposed.  That is assuming that Hillcrest doesn't swallow all that property up in the meantime.

[Ed W]

I've used "Oklahoma Route 66" by Jim Ross for a closer look at the historic alignments through the city.  The oldest parts of the route, and the businesses that once lined it, are fascinating subjects for photography.  Tulsa's city-county library has the Beryl Ford photo collection that has some documentation of the old road.

One of the projects the state is pursuing is to make the road bicycle-friendly throughout its length.  The state tourism commission is behind it, though there's precious little funding available.  Bicycle tourists spend just as much money as motoring tourists, but they do so in a more restricted area.  Since the state has more existing miles of the old road than any other state, it should be a natural draw for tourists.  Route 66 had amenities every 15 to 20 miles, too short for motorists, but perfect for bicyclists.  What could be better?  They ride into town, spend money, and ride away.

Perhaps a downtown Route 66 photo walk could be done sometime soon.

[carltonplace]

and building a Route 66 Experience center near the Route 66 Bridge near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Southwest Boulevard."

This is moving along with lightning speed.

[tulsabug]

The stretch of Route 66 between Peoria and Utica would be a good place for an extension of the streetscape they just finished up at the 11th/Peoria intersection.  Lots of empty storefronts.

The strip of empty storefronts by Quincy would benefit from the same streetscaping they did on Cherry Street. Oh, and somehow tear them (and most other buildings on 11th) away from the slumlords who own them. All they do is charge absurd amounts of rent and when they do sell a building they ask 200-300% of the appraised value.

It would be awesome to someday have a cohesive streetscape on 11th between TU and downtown with wider sidewalks, intersection pavers, trees and better lighting.

Route 66 doesn't end at Harvard. If they're going to do it they need to include all of the businesses on 11th.

I personally wish the Meadow Gold sign was on top of an actual building and not the platform they built for it.  Maybe someday..

I personally wish they would maintain the Meadow Gold sign. Parts of it stopped working within a month of it going up there (and where the hell is the clock?). Maybe someday... (yea, whatever).

Some of the early plans for the Route 66 Task Force include... altering ordinances to encourage business along Route 66 to put up larger, neon signs

Yea, because large neon signs are cheap (too bad we don't all have deep-pocketed silent partners to pay for such dreams). And besides that's rich coming from a city who has basically let TU, Hillcrest, and every church that wants a parking lot tear down most of historic 11th street without raising a finger to protect anything.

[Vision 2025]

This is moving along with lightning speed.

This project is actually moving more than it appears... although it has been delayed by cash flow restrictions of both Vision2025 and the 3rd penny. 

[Conan71]

I've used "Oklahoma Route 66" by Jim Ross for a closer look at the historic alignments through the city.  The oldest parts of the route, and the businesses that once lined it, are fascinating subjects for photography.  Tulsa's city-county library has the Beryl Ford photo collection that has some documentation of the old road.

One of the projects the state is pursuing is to make the road bicycle-friendly throughout its length.  The state tourism commission is behind it, though there's precious little funding available.  Bicycle tourists spend just as much money as motoring tourists, but they do so in a more restricted area.  Since the state has more existing miles of the old road than any other state, it should be a natural draw for tourists.  Route 66 had amenities every 15 to 20 miles, too short for motorists, but perfect for bicyclists.  What could be better?  They ride into town, spend money, and ride away.

Perhaps a downtown Route 66 photo walk could be done sometime soon.

Rte 66 between Tulsa and OKC has become the ride route for the annual MS-150 ride.  Lots of things to see and do and plenty of hills.  I do training rides to Bristow and back every now and then.  The shoulder is inconsistent between Kellyville and on out west of Bristow.  48 north out of Bristow to Mannford is a nice ride, then back in 51 and Avery Drive.  You can make about a 120 mile loop riding from roughly 21st & Yale to Sapulpa, then south on old 75 through Keifer to Beggs, then Beggs to Bristow, to Mannford then back in.

[carltonplace]

This project is actually moving more than it appears... although it has been delayed by cash flow restrictions of both Vision2025 and the 3rd penny. 

Kirby, what's the status of the statue?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Good news, but I do have to take issue with one comment:

There is no inherent good in more traffic.

</nitpick>

I'll say again precisely what it is we need to attract more road-going tourists: Better roads. People come here and are shocked by the sad shape of our highways and byways. We are the only state in the nation who can have roads like we do and not be embarrassed enough to do something about it. And Tulsa has some of the worst in the state. We need to stop making excuses and fix the effing problem.

Can I get an Amen, brother!!?

It is beyond an embarrassment.  It is deadly.


Only thing I would quibble about even a little bit is Tulsa versus the rest of the state - the roads are an atrocious disgrace across the state.  One huge part of this that is seldom noticed is the county commissioner scheme we have for road work.  The main highways are bad enough, but the county roads suck up stupid proportion of the road money and we get squat for it due to the county commissioner cult of corruption.

[Vision 2025]

Kirby, what's the status of the statue?

Completion this Summer as in 2012