We will provide complete sidewalk networks to serve local parks. People within the realistic walking radius (or “walkshed”) of a local park should have pedestrian facilities – sidewalks, paths, or trails – that connect to that park. Creating such a pedestrian web around parks includes:
- Analyzing sidewalk coverage within the walkshed, (½ mile for neighborhood parks and one mile for community parks) for interruptions and barriers.
- Evaluating current park access points and their relationship to the pedestrian system.
- Establishing priority routes to parks and focusing funding on closing gaps and removing barriers, including intersection design issues.
- Providing signage and wayfinding information to direct users to parks destinations.
- Within new developments, require street patterns and pedestrian links that provide direct routes to private parks, school parks, and public trails.
We will complete trails to serve all parts of Oklahoma City to meet the community priority placed on trails and increase access to parks. As discussed in connectokc, trails are both a recreational and transportation resource. The basic trail system identified by the Parks Master Plan included four major phases of trail development:
- The existing trail system.
- Programmed trails, including the MAPS 3 trails and a Katy Trail extension.
- Near-term off-street trails, connecting the trail core to outlying parts of the urban area.
- Long-term off-street trails, extending the city system to the periphery of Oklahoma City.
The programmed system should be completed by 2020, by which time priorities should be set for completion of the longer-term system components. The ability to provide park access should be a strong factor in setting priorities.
Other trail-related actions should include:
- Designating on-street routes that connect neighborhoods to trail access points. These routes should focus on low-volume, direct streets that include continuous sidewalks and pavement markings.
- Requiring developments to dedicate trail segments designated by the trails master plan.
- Enhancing the recreational trail experience with landscaping, fitness facilities, wayfinding signage, rest areas, and other amenities.
We will improve the usefulness of transit as a way of getting to parks. Parks can be hard to serve by transit because they rarely generate the trip volume at specific times that help support service. However, we can take steps that help transit service adapt to park needs. Directions include increasing service on potential high-volume routes that serve major park and recreation facilities, and locating new investments, such as multi-generational centers, on sites with good transit service. We also should be open to transportation solutions other than fixed route transit. Examples are special services or brokering of other transportation providers to serve time specific needs, such as after school service to a major recreation facility.