ROADWORK AHEAD
After streetcar construction, traffic complications will shift gears
With the end of streetcar construction in sight, downtown Oklahoma City motorists might think things are coming up roses. Not quite. Installation of 2.3 miles of track for the streetcar’s Bricktown loop is to be completed this month, with the entire system ready to go in November.
From the $575 million convention center complex to private developments, though, projects that will affect traffic are underway, close to starting, or standing by.
And soon, streetcars will appear in traffic as testing shifts from the “driveway” on S Hudson Avenue, which has been closed to traffic, to streets including Sheridan and Reno avenues.
Streetcar system contractor Herzog/Stacy and Witbeck is about 75 percent of the way through installing 5.9 miles of rail.
Since beginning in February 2017, the work has progressed through Bricktown and the south end of the central business district.
Besides track, crews are installing 22 boarding platforms, 3.4 miles of overhead wire and six electrical substations. Streets have been dug up and utilities relocated.
Work is concentrated now on the north end of the route, along NW 11 Street in Midtown, on N Broadway through Automobile Alley, and in the downtown core, along Hudson and
NW 4.
Lane, street and intersection closures are updated weekly, on Fridays, at okc.gov.
Also at okc.gov, a street work map specific to downtown can be found under the “Traffic Advisories” button on the Public Works department home page.
Once streetcars begin moving out into traffic for testing, motorists will need to share the road.
Michael Scroggins, Embark transit spokesman, said streetcars undergoing testing are likely to:
• Stop more often than they will when service begins in December.
• Stop at places other than boarding platforms.
• Go slower than they will in regular service.
Also of concern: Motorists parking on the street will have to be sure they park well clear of the rails.
Streetcars and boarding platforms will be clearly marked for testing. Details will be updated on the Oklahoma City Streetcar Facebook site and at @okcstreetcar on Twitter.
Other projects
While streetcar system construction will end soon, the MAPS 3 upper park along S Robinson Avenue has another year of construction to go.
Across Robinson from the park, MAPS 3 convention center construction is expected to begin in June.
Including a luxury hotel and parking garage, the convention center complex will be a construction zone for two years.
Cutting through the convention center/park construction zone is the final segment of the Oklahoma City Boulevard, due to be completed in mid 2019.
All that work disrupts S Robinson, one of the major thoroughfares into and out of downtown.
City officials, developers and others get together each Wednesday to coordinate all the activity.
Public Works Director Eric Wenger said the city requires permits when work will impede traffic.
Cooperation is paying dividends as plans for work zones and permits are managed in such a way as to keep traffic moving, he said.
Besides the convention center complex and park, Wenger is expecting to work with upcoming or ongoing private projects including:
• Veolia energy facility upgrades, at E.K. Gaylord Boulevard and W Sheridan Avenue.
• First National Center renovations, on N Robinson Avenue.
• The new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center campus at NW 11 and Broadway.
Meanwhile, Film Row on downtown’s west side is busy with construction and lane closures around the 21C Hotel and Jones Assembly.
Projects large and small, Wenger said, are “revitalizing downtown and clearly things are very good.”