(PROJECT) A Gathering Place For Tulsa

[Conan71]

Well, gee, I wish I was you.

Levees hold water back. Railroads hold trains up. The civics lesson was un-necessary.

This path was in need of a new coat of asphalt, just like they re-pave side streets rather than dig them up and pour concrete to make it smoother for high speed bikers who think they're preparing for Olympic events. It didn't need widened, marked, concreted, lit all night and made suburban pretty. The auditory, stop light on 21st is a nice touch but no one was complaining. Now cars have to stop both ways for two blocks for one pedestrian and often just run it anyway. But like I already said, I have no problem with it. Its a nice path. And I understand why they did it considering the expected traffic for the water park. It just lost its character and it now appears overdone without a water activity at the other end.

You'll never hear me complain about a water spray park at 41st and Riverside that I've never even visited either. I wish it had been there when my kids were little but everyone wanted to spend money on running paths and tennis courts back then. Never enough of them and always in demand. So they built more courts and paths then those phases diminished and they all fell into dis-repair. Parks dept didn't have money.

Now its bikes and parks and we're all supposed to feign excitement for what looks to be a pretty boring little park with limited access. You are in one of those groups that insists on all of us dedicating public assets for your current passion. I'm in one too! Try to step out of that world and look at all the overweight, elderly, infirm, unhealthy, desk chained, overworked taxpayers who help fund our passions and understand this: it was good Kaiser jumped in because had it come to a vote the population would have shrugged.

You're starting to sound like a conservative curmudgeon, Aqua.  Sure there's not an old Republican voter ID card in your wallet? 

I'm really not aware of any organization amongst Tulsa cyclists that's insisting all of us dedicate public assets to fuel "our passion".  Far as I know, KFF has personally funded most of the trail improvements since the 2007 river tax vote when tax payers didn't shrug their shoulders, they said "NO!"- and for good reason public trusts find ways to mismanage and misallocate funds at an alarming rate.  You can see what 30 plus years of management of the trail system led to with a public trust.  Once we found a private benefactor to shepherd improvements and maintenance, look how much better the system looks and how much safer it is.

As the popularity of cycling has increased in Tulsa, it's been nice to have separate trails for walkers and runners and trails for those on wheeled equipment (long-boarders and skaters use the trails as well).  Judging by the ever-growing cycling community in Tulsa, I hardly see it as a fad.  Nationally, cycling is on the increase, not just Tulsa. As gas prices remain at or above $3 per gallon, people are finding ways to leave the car at home and people are finding it's a very low impact exercise with long-lasting benefits.

Wider trails allow people with their strollers, wandering toddlers, dogs on long leashes, joggers, skaters, and cyclists to co-exist safely.  Let's face it, use of the trails is up quite a bit from the mid-1970's.  To be quite honest, I've never observed any lack of interest in them, if anything the interest and usage seems to increase yearly.

[Red Arrow]

Railroads hold trains up.

i thought it was train robbers that hold trains up.

[AquaMan]

i thought it was train robbers that hold trains up.

Used to be, now its government bureacracy and inefficiencies!

[sauerkraut]

I somewhat disagree.  There are plenty of places around to jog, bike, or walk where you can be out of sight and sound of traffic.  I like River Parks precisely because it is not so isolated.  Driving down riverside you see the people out and that in itself encourages you to join in and do the same.  Being on the trails, even during times when there are not many people out, and having the cars go by helps you feel like your not "out in the middle of the boonies".  Guess I am a city boy and like a good mix of traffic with my nature    However, I do agree that having the section in front of the casino in back of it would be a good change.

Yes, but with the street (RiverSide Drive) being  so close  you hear traffic noise while  in the RiverSide Park and runners breath in traffic fumes and tail pipe  exhaust, and sections of the trail are darn close to the roadway so that any car that jumps a curb can hit a runner. The Sandspring Trail is  also is close to a street (Charles page) and it's full of street crossings. That's one thing I really enjoyed about the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth Texas it follows the Trinity River with no street crossings and no roads or highways are near.. At any road/street crossings the trail goes under the road using a underpass so runners do not have to stop. The  runners are close to nature, in spring the riverbanks are full of Texas wildflowers and you see many animals around. It's a very pleasant place to run- one side of the Trinity Trail has the river and the other side you have woods and open prairie lands, above you have the big blue Texas sky. No motor traffic. I know it's not practical to move RiverSide Drive away, but it would be nicer if it was not there.

[RecycleMichael]

Yes, but with the street (RiverSide Drive) being  so close  you hear traffic noise while  in the RiverSide Park and runners breath in traffic fumes and tail pipe  exhaust, and sections of the trail are darn close to the roadway so that any car that jumps a curb can hit a runner.

That must be why no one ever runs or walks there.

Oh. Wait a minute.

[BKDotCom]

Yes, but with the street (RiverSide Drive) being  so close  you hear traffic noise while  in the RiverSide Park and runners breath in traffic fumes and tail pipe  exhaust, and sections of the trail are darn close to the roadway so that any car that jumps a curb can hit a runner.

That must be some beater of a car going by if it's exhaust is an issue.
Riverside is currently a pretty narrow street with narrow lanes.  Cars are close to other cars.   Cars might (and do) hit other cars.   

Any car leaving the roadway is being helmed by a drunk and/or careless driver..  they're going to cause harm one way or the other.     

On rivertrails cyclists are the bigger hazard to pedestrians.

[rdj]

Aqua, the same could be said of Guthrie Green.  It has just about zero "amenities" and the first time we visited my kids found it boring.  But, the foundation has programmed the heck out of it and now my kids love to visit there.  I believe they will do the same thing with A Gathering Place.  The programming will make the difference in turning a big open expanse into a destination.

[AquaMan]

Aqua, the same could be said of Guthrie Green.  It has just about zero "amenities" and the first time we visited my kids found it boring.  But, the foundation has programmed the heck out of it and now my kids love to visit there.  I believe they will do the same thing with A Gathering Place.  The programming will make the difference in turning a big open expanse into a destination.

I hope you're right. I would point out that the area surrounding the Green is an attraction in itself. It has museums, theater, restaurants, studios, bars, the arena, the Drillers stadium and more. The Gathering place will have to rely on programmed activities as it is hemmed in between an inactive river and a sedate neighborhood.

Conan, we see those trends differently I guess. When I ran there in the mid seventies it was very busy. That's what spurred improvements and expansion of the River Parks. Lots of interest in jogging due to a book by a guy named Cooper. When they shut the path down to build the fountains and dam at the pedestrian bridge, people were livid that they had to be inconvenienced. It peaked in the early 80's when the path became known for perverts, rapists and homeless and has only in the last decade regained momentum. Still its a very small percentage of taxpayers who even make regular use of the facilities.

btw, I am just a regular curmudgeon.

[swake]

I hadn't seen this photo before. Pretty awesome

[patric]

replacing old classic light fixtures with new light fixtures built to look like the old one is not the same thing.

Older lighting fixtures had optics designed for much lower levels of light, which allowed them to blend in to ambient lighting.

The big fail today is trying to make high-intensity light sources work inside those low-intensity unshielded optics, and the result is vision-robbing glare.


BTW, I have yet to see a rendering of the proposed lighting for this project; a somewhat critical detail in an area where people are sharing it with nature.
All the structures and landscapes seem to glow on their own in the drawings.
...not that that couldnt be kinda cool, but...

[Townsend]

The Gathering Place Gets a Green Light

http://kwgs.com/post/gathering-place-gets-green-light

The proposed 'Gathering Place' along the Arkansas River gets a boost. The Tulsa Planning Commission, this afternoon,  approved a Public Unit Development permit for the project along Riverside Drive.

The park is being funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Planning Commissioner Bill Leighty says Tulsa has never had a gift like this.

Bill Leighty - "This is such a enormous gift to the City of Tulsa of the extent of what it's going to do for the quality of life here really won't be realized until sometime after the thing is completed."

He says the gift from the Kaiser Family is attracting other philanthropic groups to donate to the project.

Bill Leighty - "The foundation has made it clear that they're sponsoring this and they're going to fund it. But a lot of other philanthropic interests and corporate sponsors are coming forward because they want to be partner."

Construction on the first phase is expected to begin early next year.

[Hoss]

The Gathering Place Gets a Green Light

http://kwgs.com/post/gathering-place-gets-green-light

I hate to be the skeptic here, but I'll believe it 'when cranes are in the air'...so to speak, anyway.

[Conan71]

I hate to be the skeptic here, but I'll believe it 'when cranes are in the air'...so to speak, anyway.

It's Kaiser. It will happen.

[Hoss]

It's Kaiser. It will happen.

It's not Kaiser I'm worried about getting it done.  I worry about those forces that may try to oppose it.

[BKDotCom]

Williams pledges 18mil (11 of which is conditional of Zink dam being fixed).  "Lodge" structure is now "Williams Lodge"

Tulsa World