11TH ST DEVELOPMENT

[carltonplace]

I'm not sure how you could reduce the lanes much further.  As it is now, you have angled parking on the north side and parallel on the south and two lanes for passage.  Unless you are talking about removing street-side parking, there's no way you could insert bike lanes.  The on-street parking is pretty much needed.  With a 25 MPH speed limit, I don't really get the point of bike lanes on the Utica to Peoria stretch anyhow.  Just pedal along in the car lane and annoy the people behind you.

Here's something I do not understand why Tulsa does not do a better job of enforcing, especially in pedestrian corridors like Cherry Street:  utilizing crosswalk yield signs "Yield To Pedestrians In Crosswalk State Law".  They use them in Jenks and I'm thinking I've seen them in downtown BA.  Most drivers just whiz through the clearly-marked Cherry St. crosswalks when people are trying to cross.

I get the drivers behind me really mad because I stop for every pedestrian or person trying to open a car door.

[Dspike]

Tulsa World covered the lane closures for the TYPros Street Cred today:

"Work will start Monday to close the outer lanes of 11th Street between Peoria and Delaware avenues for a temporary demonstration of "multi-modal transportation options," including bike lanes and a Bus Rapid Transit line.

Tulsa Young Professionals will work with city officials and Tulsa Transit to show ways that 11th Street could be permanently changed in the future to improve access for bicycles, pedestrians and buses. The lanes will be closed from Tuesday through Saturday, when the TyPro's annual StreetCred festival will include a pop-up Route 66 Museum, a food truck court and bike rentals."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/columnists/michaeloverall/streetcred-to-close-lanes-on-th-street-between-peoria-and/article_b1560327-485f-5981-8df1-7b12392d7fcc.html

Hope y'all can come out and support this effort at envisioning a more urban 11th Street corridor.

[davideinstein]

Lanes are closed. Looks awkward because you need a turn lane for traffic flow reasons.

[Dspike]

I haven't checked it out myself, but I see TYPros had a bike event on the "bike lanes" yesterday before the storms rolled in:

With orange cones blocking the outer lanes of East 11th Street this week to create temporary bike lanes, the Tulsa's Young Professionals group hopes to prove that permanent lanes would be a viable option along historic Route 66 and other major thoroughfares across the city.

But the lanes prove nothing by themselves. They need cyclists.

So local elementary schools helpfully provided more than 100 riders Tuesday morning, when bus loads of students rode from Peoria Avenue to the University of Tulsa, about 1.5 miles. The experiment, officials said, not only gave the children a fun way to exercise but demonstrated how the bike lanes could handle a large volume of riders without disrupting motor vehicle traffic.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/young-students-help-prove-that-bike-lanes-work-along-tulsa/article_f67a6084-adde-5e51-babf-dc7ca233c6af.html

[davideinstein]

Bus Rapid Transit is absolute money in Austin. Used it all day today. If we could make 11th Street even a slight bit like South Congress then we are heading in the right direction.

[SXSW]

BRT if done right will be huge for both the 11th St and Peoria corridors.  Austin has a good system, Cleveland too as do several other cities.  Protected stops and signs announcing the next arriving buses are a must.  Streetcar would be the best but maybe that is a future phase.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Speaking of 11th st development:

Fuel 66 food truck park planned on Route 66

Historic Route 66 will have a new food truck court this fall, thanks to a collaboration between a few Tulsa restaurateurs and organizations.
Fuel 66 food court and beirgarten is expected to open on the northwest corner of 11th Street and Atlanta Avenue, just east of Lewis Avenue.
The announcement of the new food court was made in partnership with the Street Cred: 66 block party event set from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday,  according to a news release.
Plans for Fuel 66 include food trucks, a pet-friendly space with a full-service bar, patio seating and a large biergarten, which will open to visitors 21 and older after 9 p.m. The food court will feature space for six food trucks, said J.L. Lewis, operating partner of Fuel 66.
"We'll have the ability to pull one or two food trucks up to the covered patios so we can serve food and drinks through winter," said Lewis, adding that the owners plan to keep the park open year round.
"Route 66 is one of Tulsa's greatest assets, and we want to restore the spirit of entrepreneurship that made the Mother Road great to 11th Street. We are excited to partner with experts in the food truck and bar restaurant scene to build a thriving space along Route 66 in Tulsa," said Chris W. Ellison, Fuel 66 partner.
Fuel 66 is a collaboration with Tulsa restaurateurs and Route 66 developers, including J.L. Lewis, former owner of Leon's On The Restless Ribbon; Chad Wilcox and Robert Carnoske, owners of MASA and MASA food truck, and Chris and Elizabeth Ellison, of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/food/fuel-food-truck-park-planned-on-route/article_34ee51b4-a18f-53c3-a37a-a0d7231bee73.html

This place was opened for a couple TU football games last year. It was nice and I hope it stays up and going. Although it does have nearby competition with the Park in the Pearl. Hopefully this helps both places become more popular lunch and dinner hubs.

[Ed W]

Oh yeah, I can see how this is going to be a big hit with 11th Street motorists - all of them taxpayers and willing to vent to their city counselors about the use of their tax dollars. Remember, motorists vote too. Traffic west of Bama Pie was backed up for at least half a mile as someone tried in vain to make a left turn. That half mile was not an exaggeration.

This is a half-asked solution to a non-existent problem. I've been along 11th both yesterday and today without seeing one bicyclist. Not. One. Bicyclist.

[cannon_fodder]

This is a half-asked solution to a non-existent problem. I've been along 11th both yesterday and today without seeing one bicyclist. Not. One. Bicyclist.

This is supposed to be a "solution" to any problem. It is trying something different to see how it goes.

And what time were you down 11th? If it was during business hours, I would suspect you wouldnt find many cyclists. Also - other than us "urbanists," who really knows that there is a bike lane open there? I don't think I've seen mention of it on any of the cycling forums or facebook groups. It takes a while for people to realize there are amenities to be utilized. Even if they are perfect for them. The existing bike route from Delaware to downtown goes down 3rd.

I rode 36th from Yale to Riverside yesterday, down the riverside trail and back again. I bet I passed (or they passed me...) at least 2 dozen cyclists on 36th. Considering I was on 36th for a total of 30 minutes and that half again that number were likely traveling along with me (and hence we didn't pass), that's a decent number of people.  Cyclists are tax payers who vote too. Actually, marketing research indicates the average cyclists is more educated, wealthier, and more likely to vote than the average citizen.  And, shockingly, cyclists in Tulsa are also almost all motorists who pay taxes and vote.

I plan on riding this stretch of 11th tomorrow, mostly to say I did. But the picture you posted surely isn't inviting to me as a cycling. It looks like I will have to watch for random cones placed oddly, guard myself against right turners at every intersection (instead of just going through on green), and it looks like up ahead there are sections that just aren't protected at all. I'm all for trying new things. I'm glad they did it, even if all it teaches us is that it doesn't work.

But on that, I reserve my opinion.

[Conan71]

This is supposed to be a "solution" to any problem. It is trying something different to see how it goes.

And what time were you down 11th? If it was during business hours, I would suspect you wouldnt find many cyclists. Also - other than us "urbanists," who really knows that there is a bike lane open there? I don't think I've seen mention of it on any of the cycling forums or facebook groups. It takes a while for people to realize there are amenities to be utilized. Even if they are perfect for them. The existing bike route from Delaware to downtown goes down 3rd.

I rode 36th from Yale to Riverside yesterday, down the riverside trail and back again. I bet I passed (or they passed me...) at least 2 dozen cyclists on 36th. Considering I was on 36th for a total of 30 minutes and that half again that number were likely traveling along with me (and hence we didn't pass), that's a decent number of people.  Cyclists are tax payers who vote too. Actually, marketing research indicates the average cyclists is more educated, wealthier, and more likely to vote than the average citizen.  And, shockingly, cyclists in Tulsa are also almost all motorists who pay taxes and vote.

I plan on riding this stretch of 11th tomorrow, mostly to say I did. But the picture you posted surely isn't inviting to me as a cycling. It looks like I will have to watch for random cones placed oddly, guard myself against right turners at every intersection (instead of just going through on green), and it looks like up ahead there are sections that just aren't protected at all. I'm all for trying new things. I'm glad they did it, even if all it teaches us is that it doesn't work.

But on that, I reserve my opinion.

Yeah, well, you should have to buy a tag for your bike and insurance too!

[davideinstein]

Oh yeah, I can see how this is going to be a big hit with 11th Street motorists - all of them taxpayers and willing to vent to their city counselors about the use of their tax dollars. Remember, motorists vote too. Traffic west of Bama Pie was backed up for at least half a mile as someone tried in vain to make a left turn. That half mile was not an exaggeration.

This is a half-asked solution to a non-existent problem. I've been along 11th both yesterday and today without seeing one bicyclist. Not. One. Bicyclist.

Because the set up isn't safe. If they had protected bike lanes with a turning lane built in then it would be used and ridership would grow annually. Proven fact this would happen.

[SXSW]

Does 11th really need bike lanes?  Honest question.  I would rather see dedicated lanes for BRT and then have protected east-west bike lanes on 13th (figuring out how to bridge the gap at Lewis) and especially 6th.  Enhance the existing bike route on 3rd.  Connect them all north-south at Utica, Delaware and Pittsburg.

[davideinstein]

Does 11th really need bike lanes?  Honest question.  I would rather see dedicated lanes for BRT and then have protected east-west bike lanes on 13th (figuring out how to bridge the gap at Lewis) and especially 6th.  Enhance the existing bike route on 3rd.  Connect them all north-south at Utica, Delaware and Pittsburg.

Yes.

We would do bike delivery at our 11th Street location if there were bike lanes and I would use it often on the weekends. 3rd/4th needs to expand from Yale to Downtown too.

[Ed W]

Tulsa seems bent on adopting the same plans as many other American cities, plans that are often poorly implemented leading to facilities that are rarely maintained. So be it. I once read a complaint from a well-channeled bicycle rider who bemoaned not being able to get from A to B because there were no bike lanes connecting the two. These facilities foster dependency both for the facilities themselves and the entities that advocate them.

But the is another way, a "radical" way that was briefly promoted here in Tulsa, then quickly discarded for more conventional thinking. You can read about it.

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/

http://cyclingsavvy.org

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Tulsa seems bent on adopting the same plans as many other American cities, plans that are often poorly implemented leading to facilities that are rarely maintained. So be it. I once read a complaint from a well-channeled bicycle rider who bemoaned not being able to get from A to B because there were no bike lanes connecting the two. These facilities foster dependency both for the facilities themselves and the entities that advocate them.

But the is another way, a "radical" way that was briefly promoted here in Tulsa, then quickly discarded for more conventional thinking. You can read about it.

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/

http://cyclingsavvy.org

Doesn't fit with the militant cyclist theme, "We must have protected lanes, and traffic laws don't apply to us"