We will ensure that street improvements and expansions to the network serve the development vision of planokc. The Land Use Plan, the foundation of planokc, is based on efficient use of land resources, and incremental, market-based extensions of urban development. Road construction projects in undeveloped areas can have the opposite effect by encouraging decentralized development. Both city and regional road plans should reinforce the vision of efficiency by focusing on enhancing the existing network, addressing areas of congestion and poor operation, increasing network connectivity and route choice, and using new street extensions to guide development in desirable directions.

We will implement the street typology concept. The street typologies combine the function and context of streets to produce design standards. Our subdivision ordinances and design practices should be amended to be consistent with these standards. Different land uses and intensities of development also require streets with the ability to handle the traffic they generate. Therefore, new development should be located on streets of appropriate type and capacity, or include measures necessary to supply the required capacity.

We will provide good street connections within and between neighborhoods to provide a choice of routes and separate local traffic from major arterials. Good street connectivity has many benefits. By providing alternative routes for short distance trips, it indirectly increases the capacity of arterial streets. It also provides better quiet street opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improves the efficiency of delivering emergency access and city services.

We will establish a systematic neighborhood street program, focused on rehabilitation, traffic calming, and safety and functional improvements. Citizens place a high priority on the condition and repair of the existing street system. The streets that affect residents most – local and connector streets – are rarely addressed by normal transportation programs. A systematic neighborhood street program will both provide regular funding for street repair and rehabilitation and completion of special street projects such as traffic calming.

We will incorporate all appropriate forms of transportation into major street and land use corridors. Major corridors provide access to important community destinations, including shopping centers, civic institutions, and employment centers. Multi-modal corridors do not require every form of transportation on every major street. Rather, the corridor taken broadly provides access for all modes of transportation to destinations along the way. For example, service roads, local streets, trails, or other paths parallel to arterials can accommodate local transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists comfortably. The concept of multi-modal corridors also requires that projects that change or expand the motor vehicle capacity of major streets and roads accommodate transit and active modes in the final design and during the construction process.

We will maximize the safety and efficiency of arterials by developing and implementing new standards and strategic access management projects. New design standards and practices should reduce the number of driveway cuts on streets, encourage shared access points, develop properly designed service roads where appropriate, and align curb cuts across streets wherever possible. These changes are usually good for business because they increase the efficiency of parking, reduce crashes and conflict points, and reduce stress on customers and motorists.

We will work to establish a regional authority for financing and operating transit in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Providing a quality public transportation service requires a reliable funding source. The need for and benefits of public transportation do not stop at the borders of Oklahoma City. Effective transit benefits the region in several ways, including providing direct services in and to surrounding cities and opening street and highway capacity for suburban commuters who do not use transit. A metropolitan authority can coordinate current regional services and expand into areas like commuter rail. Most importantly, it can provide a dedicated and stable source of funding – necessary for fully realizing transit initiatives recommended by the Fixed Guideway and Transit Analysis studies.

We will implement the general recommendations of the Transportation Service Analysis (TSA) and the Fixed Guideway Study (FGS). These two studies together define a transit future for Oklahoma City. The Service Analysis addresses enhancements of the existing bus system while the FGS provides a long-term direction that introduces new transit technologies. We have begun implementing elements of both studies. The restructured EMBARK system has made the substantial short-term route adjustments and re-imaging recommended by the TSA. The MAPS 3 program, approved by the voters, includes capital funding for a modern streetcar serving the Downtown area, a major recommendation of the FGS. Both projects will change the image and visibility of transit in the city.

The TSA established basic principles to guide short-term adjustments and longer-term system design. These guiding principles include simplicity of service, directness of routes, minimized transfer waits, operation along arterials, route symmetry in both directions, and service to rider destinations. Key long-term recommendations include weekend service expanded evening hours, and more frequent service on routes with high ridership potential. These service expansions are vital to expanding the relevance of transit to more people. The analysis also recommends new routes with available funds, including a direct service to the airport. New service should also serve destinations of special interest to both residents and visitors, using routes that will appeal to specific markets.

The FGS proposes a future system utilizing four technologies:

1. Enhanced bus on the basic system, using conventional buses with more frequent service, longer operating hours, rider amenities such as shelters and schedule information at stops, less frequent stops, and faster operating speeds.
2. Bus rapid transit (BRT) on four corridors: Reno Avenue, Northwest Expressway, 59th Street, and Meridian Avenue.
3. Modern streetcar, to be implemented on a starter basis through MAPS 3 as noted earlier.
4. Commuter rail on two corridors: the primary north-south route from Edmond to Norman via Downtown Oklahoma City and Downtown to Midwest City/Tinker Air Force Base.

Scheduling and funding for this 2008 study must be re-evaluated, but the basic long-term system concept remains sound.

We will develop facilities that encourage people to use other means of transportation to travel to transit stops and stations. The traditional service area around a transit route is a 1/4 mile walking distance. We should maintain clear and continuous pedestrian routes within that service area to transit stops or stations. Safe, comfortable, and attractive shelters and waiting areas should be located at strategic points along routes. Providing features that encourage people to bike or drive to stops and stations can extend these service areas and increase the number of potential riders. These features can include:

• Connections from trails to transit stops.
• Bike parking, lockers, and potentially rental stations at major transit stops and hubs.
• Park and ride facilities such as lots and structures, integrated into transit-oriented developments or at appropriate commuter sites.

We will incorporate transit access into street design standards and projects on appropriate corridors. As streets that carry transit routes are improved or modified, their design should include features that specifically encourage amenities, pedestrian access, and smoother operations. These features may include enhanced pedestrian access and street crossings at transit stops; signal cycles that give pedestrians time to cross streets; space for shelters; signal controls; and reserved lanes or “JUMP” lanes for bus rapid transit. In addition, street typology standards that include transit-friendly features should be implemented.

We will implement standards that provide good transit access and user connections to major projects on transit routes. The length and nature of the path between a transit stop and the entrance to a major destination determines whether a project really has adequate transit service. For example, a stop should not require people to find their way across a large parking lot to enter the development. New design standards for large projects with transit potential should provide safe and comfortable links from the transit stop, or provide routes into the project for transit use.

We will implement appropriate transit service to Will Rogers World Airport. Airport transit services address two markets: airport employees and airline passengers. Many cities, including Oklahoma City, attempt to serve their airports by extending a local line, a technique which serves neither market effectively. The Transit Service Analysis recommends a direct bus service to the airport in its long-term, unconstrained resources scenario. The proposed route would serve the transit hub, Convention Center , and hotels, with typical weekday headways of 30 minutes.

We will design and implement a bicycle route system based on getting people to priority destinations. The current Bicycle Transportation Plan provides a two-phased network of potential bike routes. This network is based on evaluating various streets for bicycle suitability, and provides a solid foundation for implementation. The system should now be refined by considering destinations and designing routes that assemble on-street segments and trails into an entire network that serves multiple destinations.

We will incorporate appropriate support features such as bike parking and wayfinding signage into the system. On and off-street facilities function best with relatively inexpensive support facilities like parking and information graphics. Zoning ordinances and cost-sharing programs can both require, and encourage through incentives, bike parking for appropriate land uses, like major commercial, multi-family, and mixed use development. Desirable city actions include installing bike parking in public parking structures and business districts and encouraging bike “corrals” in which one parking space is dedicated to bike parking in neighborhood business districts.

We will establish and execute annual goals for completion of new bicycle infrastructure. Annual installation commitments ensure that new facilities are installed in a systematic way. These goals may be established for specific destination-based routes or for miles of such new facilities as shared use lanes or bike lanes. The annual performance goals also include incorporating bicycle facilities into resurfacing or construction projects of streets on the bicycle network.

We will identify major obstacles to completion of important system connections and implement projects that bridge these barriers. Most interstate crossings are arterial streets, often with interchanges, creating conditions that many cyclists find hazardous. The city has previously developed projects to address these barriers such as the SkyDance Bridge over I-40 and the Woodson Park Bridge over I-44. Other barriers persist, such as the lack of safe crossings over I-44 between May Avenue and I-235, a high intensity area with many important destinations. Options for these projects include dedicated pathway bridges or retrofit of existing interchanges and arterial crossings for better pedestrian and bicycle accommodation.

We will work as a community to create a supportive environment based on the principles of engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. The “5 E’s” which the League of American Bicyclists views as the measures of a bicycle friendly community recognize that engineering (bicycle infrastructure) alone does not create a successful bicycle culture. The other components include:

• Education, making cyclists and motorists aware of the rules and practices of safety and etiquette and their mutual rights and responsibilities as road users.
• Enforcement, helping to ensure safety by enforcing rules that pertain to all users.
• Encouragement, executing events and programs that promote bicycling and its many benefits.
• Evaluation, establishing benchmarks and measurements to gauge the effectiveness of bicycling initiatives.

We will update the Trails Master Plan to be consistent with planokc policies, funding availability, and progress made since 1997. This visionary master plan, completed in 1997, called for completion of 208 miles of trails by 2020. We have made significant progress since then, and MAPS 3 will complete major parts of the proposed system by that date. We now should update this document in view of these accomplishments, new thinking about coordinating off- and on-street systems, increased community support for trails and active transportation, and resource availability.

The updated plan should include:

• Design of a new trail network coordinated with multi-modal streets, on-street bicycle/pedestrian routes, and potential greenbelts and green infrastructure.
• Updated trail design standards, using new documents such as the 2012 edition of the AASHTO Guide to the Design of Bicycle Facilities and other contemporary standards.
• Consistent identification and wayfinding graphics, unifying the trail system while allowing identification of individual trails.
• Public safety standards and measures, including design, view corridors, lighting, and communications.

We will develop a reliable and innovative funding program for the development and maintenance of trails. MAPS 3 will invest almost $40 million into trail construction between 2014 and 2020, completing three very difficult but critical trail links. This critical funding will create three excellent facilities and vastly increase the utility of existing trails. A more regular funding source needs to be established for building neighborhood connections, additional linkages between existing trails, greenways, and extensions of the core trail system. The traditional method of trail funding, the federal Transportation Alternatives program, faces challenges with every reauthorization of transportation bills and must compete for declining funds with a wider variety of projects. In addition, good trail maintenance is important, and total costs will increase as the system expands. Because trails are both transportation and recreation facilities (and sometime transportation to recreation), funding from the capital and operating budgets of both the Parks and Public Works Departments is both necessary and appropriate. But these funds are stretched thinly, and other sources should be explored. Private developments should build trails within their boundaries identified by the Trails Master Plan and connecting paths to nearby regional trails. Costs may be shared based on the level of local versus general benefit. We must explore these and other techniques to ensure that our trail system continues to both grow and be properly maintained.

We will design or retrofit trails to provide convenient and barrier-free access to adjacent streets and major destinations. A trail that provides miles but does not connect to its surroundings may provide benefits to people seeking workouts, but it fails in its transportation mission to move people to places. In addition, poor access or visibility to and from surroundings can create public safety problems as well. We must design new trails and retrofit existing trails to provide frequent and comfortable access to wayside destinations and streets, with clear signage that helps orient users to their location.

We will develop and implement a strategic plan for the city’s pedestrian network, building on the foundation of the 2013 Sidewalk Master Plan for MAPS 3. The 2013 Sidewalk Master Plan was a significant step forward, including an analysis of pedestrian demand in different parts of the city. However, its primary purpose was to identify priority projects for a specific sidewalk construction category of MAPS 3. Many of these projects supply new sidewalks along major corridors with high demand, based on a systematic rating system. These are extremely important, but many other problems remain, including:

• Neighborhood sidewalks on local streets that provide access to destinations such as schools and transit stops.
• Barriers to pedestrian travel such as major intersections, long arterial street crossings, and signal timing.
• Relationship of sidewalks to other parts of the active transportation network, including multi-modal streets, bicycle facilities, transit, connections to adjacent development, and trail access.

These issues require an expanded pedestrian system plan that:

• Identifies a Complete Streets Network prioritizing pedestrian corridors that should be developed and funded as part of the city’s transportation program. The MAPS 3 and previous bond issue study provide a starting point for this network.
• Establishes standards for local sidewalk coverage and a process to evaluate pedestrian service on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. An example of such a standard would be provision of a complete and well-maintained web of sidewalks within a 1/2 mile walking radius of elementary and middle schools.
• Identifies key pedestrian barriers that obstruct access for important user groups, including children and older adults. This effort should include standards and techniques to minimize these barriers.
• Relates other active modes or facilities to the sidewalk network.
• Provides a phased implementation program that may include individual categories of funding, such as neighborhood target areas and major network investments.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

We will establish clear private and public funding mechanisms for sidewalk construction and repair, and define and enforce maintenance responsibilities for property owners. Several issues complicate funding and maintenance requirements. First, sidewalks are a community responsibility at both citywide and local levels – failure to comply with requirements by one or two property owners can deprive many people of access. Second, in many cases, people with the least ability to build, repair, or maintain sidewalks have the greatest need for them. Third, funding for sidewalks has often been collected through special assessments, often leading to opposition from adjacent property owners. We must develop alternatives that encourage sidewalk connectivity and maintenance. Neighborhoods may be more engaged in sidewalk development or maintenance when owners are unable to meet these responsibilities, and sidewalk networks in local areas may require some level of public funding to be developed fully.

We will begin a cooperative study with the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway and other involved railroads to expand freight and passenger capacity in the north-south corridor. In view of increased freight traffic projections on the BNSF, it will be important to develop a plan to increase capacity in this service corridor. The public has a significant stake in addition to increasing Oklahoma City’s ability to position itself as a freight transportation hub. Increased length and frequency of trains can degrade traffic flow at this line’s relatively frequent grade crossings. Also, from a regional transportation perspective, increased freight traffic on this single line may make commuter rail or additional Amtrak service impossible. A study will examine alternatives that could include an additional track, improved technology, or a freight bypass.

We will work to establish Oklahoma City as a principal intermodal center, beginning with a study to consider the demand, feasibility, and measures necessary to develop such a facility. Oklahoma City, at the intersection of major road, railroad, and air facilities, appears well-positioned to expand its role as a major focus for intermodal freight and distribution. The impact of such a center can be very beneficial in terms of new jobs, investment, and even redevelopment of brownfields industrial sites. One of the newest intermodal facilities, the BNSF’s Kansas City Intermodal Facility and the associated Logistics Park, is opening with about one million square feet of warehousing space and is projected to attract up to 15 million square feet of warehousing, distribution, and associated industry, with employment in excess of 2,000 people. The private and public sectors of our community should examine the feasibility of such a facility, potential sites, potential developers, and steps necessary to execute the concept.

We will develop and implement new land development regulations that support the Land Use Typology Area system of integrated uses and greater flexibility and efficiency. Our current development ordinances date from a time when we valued low density and separation of different land uses higher than city life. The fact that low density increases the cost of services and infrastructure gives us pause. That, combined with our successes at building places that people want to experience has moved us in new directions. The zoning code, which divides the city into 26 single-use “base” districts, 7 special districts, and 16 overlay districts, discourages the trends toward new development forms. We must modernize these codes to implement the LUTA concept and provide both the flexibility and protection that benefit contemporary developers and their neighbors alike.

Despite its large number of specific districts, our zoning ordinance does not provide adequate protections for neighborhoods or guarantees to approving agencies on actual performance or design of projects. This forces the Planning Commission and City Council to use Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), tying developers to a specific project and building design. PUDs are actually intended for a different purpose – to encourage innovative, comprehensively planned developments– and are overly rigid when applied to more routine projects.

Revisions to Oklahoma City’s land development regulations could move in several directions, from modifying existing zoning districts with new performance and design standards to establishing a new structure that uses the Land Use Typology Areas as the basic development districts for the city. The LUTAs, as presented in Chapter Two, permit a variety of uses, but establish permitted ranges of development intensity. The LUTA system achieves compatibility between different types or intensities of uses by implementing performance standards, design guidelines, and transitional methods. These techniques give specific and predictable guidance to builders and developers, and address such areas as operating effects, traffic, parking, design, scale, and safety, avoiding the unnecessary overuse of PUDs. A LUTA-based system would incorporate the criteria for locations and supporting transportation and infrastructure established by this plan for individual land uses.

We will execute a smooth transition between the existing zoning code and new land development ordinances. Development ordinances are complicated and difficult to change because people have become accustomed to them, rough spots and all. Migrating to an alternative concept will take time and care. In the meantime, the City will evaluate using a hybrid approach, mixing the existing zoning districts with the LUTA/mixed use concept. One way of accomplishing this is to group the zoning districts that are consistent with the intensity and use ranges of LUTAs, and apply compatibility policies and design standards to developments within them. The existing zoning ordinance could then be modified to include these compatibility standards. New rezoning requests would be evaluated for consistency with the LUTA in which they are located. If the new project is adjacent to a different land use, the compatibility policies and standards would apply to the design of that project.

We will incorporate crime prevention principles into the City’s design regulations and guidelines. Previous elements of the plan, including playokc and liveokc, introduced the concept of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles (CPTED), which use common-sense design features to minimize opportunities for criminal activity. CPTED principles apply on a wide range of scales, from individual site vegetation choices to citywide development patterns.

Oklahoma City should incorporate CPTED principles into its design standards for development and redevelopment of public and private projects. Some cities (including Wichita, Kansas) have established ordinances that officially integrate CPTED principles into their design standards, while others use them as guidelines and adapt for their own use.

The City can encourage the use of CPTED principles through:

• Encouraging land use planning that mixes uses and extends hours of activity and “eyes on the street.”
• Establishing neighborhood territoriality by which adjacent residents and businesses can monitor activity in the public realm. a mixture of uses in neighborhoods.
• Lighting and building design guidelines.
• Landscaping guidelines that avoid hidden places.
• Building code enforcement and resolution and elimination of chronic vacancy and structural deterioration.

The City’s project review and approval process should include Police Department participation to provide specific public safety recommendations. The department should maintain an officer on staff with a specialty in CPTED and its principles. This staff member should also provide outreach to the development community to provide special training to builders, developers, and design professionals on safe community design.

We will implement land use and design policies that reduce the probability of loss of life and property and expedite response and reconstruction. Emergencies are inevitable and can never be fully prevented. But we will pursue a coordinated program to reduce their probability from avoidable causes and respond effectively when they do occur. We can reduce the probability of emergencies by building code revisions that limit threats from fire, weather, and other disasters; manage vegetation to reduce flammable vegetation around buildings and where urban and rural environments meet; and implementing the recommendations of the Oklahoma City Hazard Mitigation Plan (2012). Some high priority mitigation measures recommended by the plan include construction of safe-rooms and storm shelters, enhanced warning systems for potential hazards, regulation of development in the floodplain, and better stormwater management.

Once emergency situations occur, quick response and rapid access become critical. A well connected transportation network promotes efficient emergency response by providing multiple route options and shorter travel distances between emergency sites and service providers. In catastrophic disasters like floods and tornados, an interconnected street network provides alternative ways in and out of affected areas. Just as the development review process must address public safety through CPTED standards, it should also address fire safety and emergency response criteria, using available sources like the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise Communities.

We will provide City services in areas that create the most benefit for dollar spent and where market demand exists. New services should be provided in areas of the city are the most efficient to serve considering both operating costs and capital investments. In many cases, this will involve incremental infrastructure extensions in contiguous areas, or where a new drainage basin can be opened in areas where market demand and city growth goals coincide. Possible sources to demonstrate market demand include housing demand studies, employment land studies, retail strategies, land supply analyses, and system-wide study for specific services. The findings from these market studies should be incorporated into planokc and used to inform General Obligation bonds, Capital Improvement Projects, and the land use plan.

Public financing is a particularly important instrument for directing growth. In general, public financing should be directed to areas that promote planokc’s overriding goal of healthy and sustainable development. For example, extending a strategic interceptor sewer that opens a basin to development may receive front-end public financing through revenue bonds.

When developing new areas, the City should ensure that services can support new development without diminishing service to existing neighborhoods. For example, the need to extend water to new development should not jeopardize the availability of fire suppression flow in existing neighborhoods.

We will use municipal utilities and services as catalysts to leverage neighborhood revitalization and redevelopment. Investments in infrastructure and City facilities support revitalization efforts by both targeting and preparing key areas for redevelopment. Improvements to infrastructure and City services should be correlated with redevelopment efforts, in order to provide accurate information to the private market regarding preferred land use locations, uses, and intensities.

We will ensure that street improvements and expansions to the network serve the development vision of planokc. The Land Use Plan, the foundation of planokc, is based on efficient use of land resources, and incremental, market-based extensions of urban development. Road construction projects in undeveloped areas can have the opposite effect by encouraging decentralized development. Both city and regional road plans should reinforce the vision of efficiency by focusing on enhancing the existing network, addressing areas of congestion and poor operation, increasing network connectivity and route choice, and using new street extensions to guide development in desirable directions.

We will implement the street typology concept. The street typologies combine the function and context of streets to produce design standards. Our subdivision ordinances and design practices should be amended to be consistent with these standards. Different land uses and intensities of development also require streets with the ability to handle the traffic they generate. Therefore, new development should be located on streets of appropriate type and capacity, or include measures necessary to supply the required capacity.

We will provide good street connections within and between neighborhoods to provide a choice of routes and separate local traffic from major arterials. Good street connectivity has many benefits. By providing alternative routes for short distance trips, it indirectly increases the capacity of arterial streets. It also provides better quiet street opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improves the efficiency of delivering emergency access and city services.

We will establish a systematic neighborhood street program, focused on rehabilitation, traffic calming, and safety and functional improvements. Citizens place a high priority on the condition and repair of the existing street system. The streets that affect residents most – local and connector streets – are rarely addressed by normal transportation programs. A systematic neighborhood street program will both provide regular funding for street repair and rehabilitation and completion of special street projects such as traffic calming.

We will incorporate all appropriate forms of transportation into major street and land use corridors. Major corridors provide access to important community destinations, including shopping centers, civic institutions, and employment centers. Multi-modal corridors do not require every form of transportation on every major street. Rather, the corridor taken broadly provides access for all modes of transportation to destinations along the way. For example, service roads, local streets, trails, or other paths parallel to arterials can accommodate local transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists comfortably. The concept of multi-modal corridors also requires that projects that change or expand the motor vehicle capacity of major streets and roads accommodate transit and active modes in the final design and during the construction process.

We will maximize the safety and efficiency of arterials by developing and implementing new standards and strategic access management projects. New design standards and practices should reduce the number of driveway cuts on streets, encourage shared access points, develop properly designed service roads where appropriate, and align curb cuts across streets wherever possible. These changes are usually good for business because they increase the efficiency of parking, reduce crashes and conflict points, and reduce stress on customers and motorists.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

We will provide good street connections within and between neighborhoods to provide a choice of routes and separate local traffic from major arterials. Good street connectivity has many benefits. By providing alternative routes for short distance trips, it indirectly increases the capacity of arterial streets. It also provides better quiet street opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improves the efficiency of delivering emergency access and city services.

We will incorporate all appropriate forms of transportation into major street and land use corridors. Major corridors provide access to important community destinations, including shopping centers, civic institutions, and employment centers. Multi-modal corridors do not require every form of transportation on every major street. Rather, the corridor taken broadly provides access for all modes of transportation to destinations along the way. For example, service roads, local streets, trails, or other paths parallel to arterials can accommodate local transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists comfortably. The concept of multi-modal corridors also requires that projects that change or expand the motor vehicle capacity of major streets and roads accommodate transit and active modes in the final design and during the construction process.

We will work to establish a regional authority for financing and operating transit in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Providing a quality public transportation service requires a reliable funding source. The need for and benefits of public transportation do not stop at the borders of Oklahoma City. Effective transit benefits the region in several ways, including providing direct services in and to surrounding cities and opening street and highway capacity for suburban commuters who do not use transit. A metropolitan authority can coordinate current regional services and expand into areas like commuter rail. Most importantly, it can provide a dedicated and stable source of funding – necessary for fully realizing transit initiatives recommended by the Fixed Guideway and Transit Analysis studies.

We will implement the general recommendations of the Transportation Service Analysis (TSA) and the Fixed Guideway Study (FGS). These two studies together define a transit future for Oklahoma City. The Service Analysis addresses enhancements of the existing bus system while the FGS provides a long-term direction that introduces new transit technologies. We have begun implementing elements of both studies. The restructured EMBARK system has made the substantial short-term route adjustments and re-imaging recommended by the TSA. The MAPS 3 program, approved by the voters, includes capital funding for a modern streetcar serving the Downtown area, a major recommendation of the FGS. Both projects will change the image and visibility of transit in the city.

The TSA established basic principles to guide short-term adjustments and longer-term system design. These guiding principles include simplicity of service, directness of routes, minimized transfer waits, operation along arterials, route symmetry in both directions, and service to rider destinations. Key long-term recommendations include weekend service expanded evening hours, and more frequent service on routes with high ridership potential. These service expansions are vital to expanding the relevance of transit to more people. The analysis also recommends new routes with available funds, including a direct service to the airport. New service should also serve destinations of special interest to both residents and visitors, using routes that will appeal to specific markets.

The FGS proposes a future system utilizing four technologies:

1. Enhanced bus on the basic system, using conventional buses with more frequent service, longer operating hours, rider amenities such as shelters and schedule information at stops, less frequent stops, and faster operating speeds.
2. Bus rapid transit (BRT) on four corridors: Reno Avenue, Northwest Expressway, 59th Street, and Meridian Avenue.
3. Modern streetcar, to be implemented on a starter basis through MAPS 3 as noted earlier.
4. Commuter rail on two corridors: the primary north-south route from Edmond to Norman via Downtown Oklahoma City and Downtown to Midwest City/Tinker Air Force Base.

Scheduling and funding for this 2008 study must be re-evaluated, but the basic long-term system concept remains sound.

We will develop facilities that encourage people to use other means of transportation to travel to transit stops and stations. The traditional service area around a transit route is a 1/4 mile walking distance. We should maintain clear and continuous pedestrian routes within that service area to transit stops or stations. Safe, comfortable, and attractive shelters and waiting areas should be located at strategic points along routes. Providing features that encourage people to bike or drive to stops and stations can extend these service areas and increase the number of potential riders. These features can include:

• Connections from trails to transit stops.
• Bike parking, lockers, and potentially rental stations at major transit stops and hubs.
• Park and ride facilities such as lots and structures, integrated into transit-oriented developments or at appropriate commuter sites.

We will incorporate transit access into street design standards and projects on appropriate corridors. As streets that carry transit routes are improved or modified, their design should include features that specifically encourage amenities, pedestrian access, and smoother operations. These features may include enhanced pedestrian access and street crossings at transit stops; signal cycles that give pedestrians time to cross streets; space for shelters; signal controls; and reserved lanes or “JUMP” lanes for bus rapid transit. In addition, street typology standards that include transit-friendly features should be implemented.

We will implement standards that provide good transit access and user connections to major projects on transit routes. The length and nature of the path between a transit stop and the entrance to a major destination determines whether a project really has adequate transit service. For example, a stop should not require people to find their way across a large parking lot to enter the development. New design standards for large projects with transit potential should provide safe and comfortable links from the transit stop, or provide routes into the project for transit use.

We will implement appropriate transit service to Will Rogers World Airport. Airport transit services address two markets: airport employees and airline passengers. Many cities, including Oklahoma City, attempt to serve their airports by extending a local line, a technique which serves neither market effectively. The Transit Service Analysis recommends a direct bus service to the airport in its long-term, unconstrained resources scenario. The proposed route would serve the transit hub, Convention Center , and hotels, with typical weekday headways of 30 minutes.

We will identify major obstacles to completion of important system connections and implement projects that bridge these barriers. Most interstate crossings are arterial streets, often with interchanges, creating conditions that many cyclists find hazardous. The city has previously developed projects to address these barriers such as the SkyDance Bridge over I-40 and the Woodson Park Bridge over I-44. Other barriers persist, such as the lack of safe crossings over I-44 between May Avenue and I-235, a high intensity area with many important destinations. Options for these projects include dedicated pathway bridges or retrofit of existing interchanges and arterial crossings for better pedestrian and bicycle accommodation.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

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.

We will develop and implement new land development regulations that support the Land Use Typology Area system of integrated uses and greater flexibility and efficiency. Our current development ordinances date from a time when we valued low density and separation of different land uses higher than city life. The fact that low density increases the cost of services and infrastructure gives us pause. That, combined with our successes at building places that people want to experience has moved us in new directions. The zoning code, which divides the city into 26 single-use “base” districts, 7 special districts, and 16 overlay districts, discourages the trends toward new development forms. We must modernize these codes to implement the LUTA concept and provide both the flexibility and protection that benefit contemporary developers and their neighbors alike.

Despite its large number of specific districts, our zoning ordinance does not provide adequate protections for neighborhoods or guarantees to approving agencies on actual performance or design of projects. This forces the Planning Commission and City Council to use Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), tying developers to a specific project and building design. PUDs are actually intended for a different purpose – to encourage innovative, comprehensively planned developments– and are overly rigid when applied to more routine projects.

Revisions to Oklahoma City’s land development regulations could move in several directions, from modifying existing zoning districts with new performance and design standards to establishing a new structure that uses the Land Use Typology Areas as the basic development districts for the city. The LUTAs, as presented in Chapter Two, permit a variety of uses, but establish permitted ranges of development intensity. The LUTA system achieves compatibility between different types or intensities of uses by implementing performance standards, design guidelines, and transitional methods. These techniques give specific and predictable guidance to builders and developers, and address such areas as operating effects, traffic, parking, design, scale, and safety, avoiding the unnecessary overuse of PUDs. A LUTA-based system would incorporate the criteria for locations and supporting transportation and infrastructure established by this plan for individual land uses.

We will execute a smooth transition between the existing zoning code and new land development ordinances. Development ordinances are complicated and difficult to change because people have become accustomed to them, rough spots and all. Migrating to an alternative concept will take time and care. In the meantime, the City will evaluate using a hybrid approach, mixing the existing zoning districts with the LUTA/mixed use concept. One way of accomplishing this is to group the zoning districts that are consistent with the intensity and use ranges of LUTAs, and apply compatibility policies and design standards to developments within them. The existing zoning ordinance could then be modified to include these compatibility standards. New rezoning requests would be evaluated for consistency with the LUTA in which they are located. If the new project is adjacent to a different land use, the compatibility policies and standards would apply to the design of that project.

We will continue the process of creating a mixed-use, intensively developed, human-scaled, and experience-rich downtown. American downtowns declined as the number of reasons that brought people downtown decreased. Recently, downtowns have achieved success as places to live and visit as well as work. This evolution in Oklahoma City began in Bricktown and surrounding areas, where the canal and ballpark anchored adaptive reuse of historic buildings and the addition of new restaurants, entertainment venues, hotels, offices, and homes. This transformation continued with the addition of one of the National Basketball Association’s premier franchises, the Civic Center restoration, major office projects, and new housing. While the growth and development of downtown will always be ongoing, these accomplishments provide the foundation for building a great 21st century downtown.

Land use and development targets and policies will be instrumental in guiding this future. Major land use focuses will include a range of housing types and costs to serve a complete cross-section of the Oklahoma City market; services and retailing that support a larger resident population, including child care, educational facilities, and neighborhood commercial uses like a grocery store; integration of multiple uses into new and existing buildings; and public parks and open spaces for both programmed and informal activity. Much of this future development will occur on currently under-used sites such as the Core to Shore redevelopment area, the future Boulevard on the former I-40 right-of-way; existing surface parking lots, and vacant sites. Initial steps in meeting these needs include revisions of regulations to accelerate desirable uses and market research to demonstrate and quantify markets for specific project types.

As Downtown continues to develop, it must also evolve as a great urban place that offers a superb experience to its residents, workers, and visitors. The history of the urban renewal era in Oklahoma City tells us that investment dollars and big projects alone do not create a living and vibrant city center. A secure, populated, human-scaled environment requires family-friendly amenities, windows on the street, buildings with details scaled to people, pedestrian environments that engage the eye and mind, and an overall sense of welcoming and even festivity. These features have the power to attract the life that is characteristic of great downtowns.

We will design and implement a bicycle route system based on getting people to priority destinations. The current Bicycle Transportation Plan provides a two-phased network of potential bike routes. This network is based on evaluating various streets for bicycle suitability, and provides a solid foundation for implementation. The system should now be refined by considering destinations and designing routes that assemble on-street segments and trails into an entire network that serves multiple destinations.

We will incorporate appropriate support features such as bike parking and wayfinding signage into the system. On and off-street facilities function best with relatively inexpensive support facilities like parking and information graphics. Zoning ordinances and cost-sharing programs can both require, and encourage through incentives, bike parking for appropriate land uses, like major commercial, multi-family, and mixed use development. Desirable city actions include installing bike parking in public parking structures and business districts and encouraging bike “corrals” in which one parking space is dedicated to bike parking in neighborhood business districts.

We will identify major obstacles to completion of important system connections and implement projects that bridge these barriers. Most interstate crossings are arterial streets, often with interchanges, creating conditions that many cyclists find hazardous. The city has previously developed projects to address these barriers such as the SkyDance Bridge over I-40 and the Woodson Park Bridge over I-44. Other barriers persist, such as the lack of safe crossings over I-44 between May Avenue and I-235, a high intensity area with many important destinations. Options for these projects include dedicated pathway bridges or retrofit of existing interchanges and arterial crossings for better pedestrian and bicycle accommodation.

We will work as a community to create a supportive environment based on the principles of engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. The “5 E’s” which the League of American Bicyclists views as the measures of a bicycle friendly community recognize that engineering (bicycle infrastructure) alone does not create a successful bicycle culture. The other components include:

• Education, making cyclists and motorists aware of the rules and practices of safety and etiquette and their mutual rights and responsibilities as road users.
• Enforcement, helping to ensure safety by enforcing rules that pertain to all users.
• Encouragement, executing events and programs that promote bicycling and its many benefits.
• Evaluation, establishing benchmarks and measurements to gauge the effectiveness of bicycling initiatives.

We will update the Trails Master Plan to be consistent with planokc policies, funding availability, and progress made since 1997. This visionary master plan, completed in 1997, called for completion of 208 miles of trails by 2020. We have made significant progress since then, and MAPS 3 will complete major parts of the proposed system by that date. We now should update this document in view of these accomplishments, new thinking about coordinating off- and on-street systems, increased community support for trails and active transportation, and resource availability.

The updated plan should include:

• Design of a new trail network coordinated with multi-modal streets, on-street bicycle/pedestrian routes, and potential greenbelts and green infrastructure.
• Updated trail design standards, using new documents such as the 2012 edition of the AASHTO Guide to the Design of Bicycle Facilities and other contemporary standards.
• Consistent identification and wayfinding graphics, unifying the trail system while allowing identification of individual trails.
• Public safety standards and measures, including design, view corridors, lighting, and communications.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

We will provide good street connections within and between neighborhoods to provide a choice of routes and separate local traffic from major arterials. Good street connectivity has many benefits. By providing alternative routes for short distance trips, it indirectly increases the capacity of arterial streets. It also provides better quiet street opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improves the efficiency of delivering emergency access and city services.

We will incorporate all appropriate forms of transportation into major street and land use corridors. Major corridors provide access to important community destinations, including shopping centers, civic institutions, and employment centers. Multi-modal corridors do not require every form of transportation on every major street. Rather, the corridor taken broadly provides access for all modes of transportation to destinations along the way. For example, service roads, local streets, trails, or other paths parallel to arterials can accommodate local transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists comfortably. The concept of multi-modal corridors also requires that projects that change or expand the motor vehicle capacity of major streets and roads accommodate transit and active modes in the final design and during the construction process.

We will design and implement a bicycle route system based on getting people to priority destinations. The current Bicycle Transportation Plan provides a two-phased network of potential bike routes. This network is based on evaluating various streets for bicycle suitability, and provides a solid foundation for implementation. The system should now be refined by considering destinations and designing routes that assemble on-street segments and trails into an entire network that serves multiple destinations.

We will incorporate appropriate support features such as bike parking and wayfinding signage into the system. On and off-street facilities function best with relatively inexpensive support facilities like parking and information graphics. Zoning ordinances and cost-sharing programs can both require, and encourage through incentives, bike parking for appropriate land uses, like major commercial, multi-family, and mixed use development. Desirable city actions include installing bike parking in public parking structures and business districts and encouraging bike “corrals” in which one parking space is dedicated to bike parking in neighborhood business districts.

We will establish and execute annual goals for completion of new bicycle infrastructure. Annual installation commitments ensure that new facilities are installed in a systematic way. These goals may be established for specific destination-based routes or for miles of such new facilities as shared use lanes or bike lanes. The annual performance goals also include incorporating bicycle facilities into resurfacing or construction projects of streets on the bicycle network.

We will identify major obstacles to completion of important system connections and implement projects that bridge these barriers. Most interstate crossings are arterial streets, often with interchanges, creating conditions that many cyclists find hazardous. The city has previously developed projects to address these barriers such as the SkyDance Bridge over I-40 and the Woodson Park Bridge over I-44. Other barriers persist, such as the lack of safe crossings over I-44 between May Avenue and I-235, a high intensity area with many important destinations. Options for these projects include dedicated pathway bridges or retrofit of existing interchanges and arterial crossings for better pedestrian and bicycle accommodation.

We will work as a community to create a supportive environment based on the principles of engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. The “5 E’s” which the League of American Bicyclists views as the measures of a bicycle friendly community recognize that engineering (bicycle infrastructure) alone does not create a successful bicycle culture. The other components include:

• Education, making cyclists and motorists aware of the rules and practices of safety and etiquette and their mutual rights and responsibilities as road users.
• Enforcement, helping to ensure safety by enforcing rules that pertain to all users.
• Encouragement, executing events and programs that promote bicycling and its many benefits.
• Evaluation, establishing benchmarks and measurements to gauge the effectiveness of bicycling initiatives.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

We will design and implement a bicycle route system based on getting people to priority destinations. The current Bicycle Transportation Plan provides a two-phased network of potential bike routes. This network is based on evaluating various streets for bicycle suitability, and provides a solid foundation for implementation. The system should now be refined by considering destinations and designing routes that assemble on-street segments and trails into an entire network that serves multiple destinations.

We will incorporate appropriate support features such as bike parking and wayfinding signage into the system. On and off-street facilities function best with relatively inexpensive support facilities like parking and information graphics. Zoning ordinances and cost-sharing programs can both require, and encourage through incentives, bike parking for appropriate land uses, like major commercial, multi-family, and mixed use development. Desirable city actions include installing bike parking in public parking structures and business districts and encouraging bike “corrals” in which one parking space is dedicated to bike parking in neighborhood business districts.

We will establish and execute annual goals for completion of new bicycle infrastructure. Annual installation commitments ensure that new facilities are installed in a systematic way. These goals may be established for specific destination-based routes or for miles of such new facilities as shared use lanes or bike lanes. The annual performance goals also include incorporating bicycle facilities into resurfacing or construction projects of streets on the bicycle network.

We will identify major obstacles to completion of important system connections and implement projects that bridge these barriers. Most interstate crossings are arterial streets, often with interchanges, creating conditions that many cyclists find hazardous. The city has previously developed projects to address these barriers such as the SkyDance Bridge over I-40 and the Woodson Park Bridge over I-44. Other barriers persist, such as the lack of safe crossings over I-44 between May Avenue and I-235, a high intensity area with many important destinations. Options for these projects include dedicated pathway bridges or retrofit of existing interchanges and arterial crossings for better pedestrian and bicycle accommodation.

We will update the Trails Master Plan to be consistent with planokc policies, funding availability, and progress made since 1997. This visionary master plan, completed in 1997, called for completion of 208 miles of trails by 2020. We have made significant progress since then, and MAPS 3 will complete major parts of the proposed system by that date. We now should update this document in view of these accomplishments, new thinking about coordinating off- and on-street systems, increased community support for trails and active transportation, and resource availability.

The updated plan should include:

• Design of a new trail network coordinated with multi-modal streets, on-street bicycle/pedestrian routes, and potential greenbelts and green infrastructure.
• Updated trail design standards, using new documents such as the 2012 edition of the AASHTO Guide to the Design of Bicycle Facilities and other contemporary standards.
• Consistent identification and wayfinding graphics, unifying the trail system while allowing identification of individual trails.
• Public safety standards and measures, including design, view corridors, lighting, and communications.

We will develop a reliable and innovative funding program for the development and maintenance of trails. MAPS 3 will invest almost $40 million into trail construction between 2014 and 2020, completing three very difficult but critical trail links. This critical funding will create three excellent facilities and vastly increase the utility of existing trails. A more regular funding source needs to be established for building neighborhood connections, additional linkages between existing trails, greenways, and extensions of the core trail system. The traditional method of trail funding, the federal Transportation Alternatives program, faces challenges with every reauthorization of transportation bills and must compete for declining funds with a wider variety of projects. In addition, good trail maintenance is important, and total costs will increase as the system expands. Because trails are both transportation and recreation facilities (and sometime transportation to recreation), funding from the capital and operating budgets of both the Parks and Public Works Departments is both necessary and appropriate. But these funds are stretched thinly, and other sources should be explored. Private developments should build trails within their boundaries identified by the Trails Master Plan and connecting paths to nearby regional trails. Costs may be shared based on the level of local versus general benefit. We must explore these and other techniques to ensure that our trail system continues to both grow and be properly maintained.

We will design or retrofit trails to provide convenient and barrier-free access to adjacent streets and major destinations. A trail that provides miles but does not connect to its surroundings may provide benefits to people seeking workouts, but it fails in its transportation mission to move people to places. In addition, poor access or visibility to and from surroundings can create public safety problems as well. We must design new trails and retrofit existing trails to provide frequent and comfortable access to wayside destinations and streets, with clear signage that helps orient users to their location.

We will develop and implement a strategic plan for the city’s pedestrian network, building on the foundation of the 2013 Sidewalk Master Plan for MAPS 3. The 2013 Sidewalk Master Plan was a significant step forward, including an analysis of pedestrian demand in different parts of the city. However, its primary purpose was to identify priority projects for a specific sidewalk construction category of MAPS 3. Many of these projects supply new sidewalks along major corridors with high demand, based on a systematic rating system. These are extremely important, but many other problems remain, including:

• Neighborhood sidewalks on local streets that provide access to destinations such as schools and transit stops.
• Barriers to pedestrian travel such as major intersections, long arterial street crossings, and signal timing.
• Relationship of sidewalks to other parts of the active transportation network, including multi-modal streets, bicycle facilities, transit, connections to adjacent development, and trail access.

These issues require an expanded pedestrian system plan that:

• Identifies a Complete Streets Network prioritizing pedestrian corridors that should be developed and funded as part of the city’s transportation program. The MAPS 3 and previous bond issue study provide a starting point for this network.
• Establishes standards for local sidewalk coverage and a process to evaluate pedestrian service on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. An example of such a standard would be provision of a complete and well-maintained web of sidewalks within a 1/2 mile walking radius of elementary and middle schools.
• Identifies key pedestrian barriers that obstruct access for important user groups, including children and older adults. This effort should include standards and techniques to minimize these barriers.
• Relates other active modes or facilities to the sidewalk network.
• Provides a phased implementation program that may include individual categories of funding, such as neighborhood target areas and major network investments.

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.

We will provide good street connections within and between neighborhoods to provide a choice of routes and separate local traffic from major arterials. Good street connectivity has many benefits. By providing alternative routes for short distance trips, it indirectly increases the capacity of arterial streets. It also provides better quiet street opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improves the efficiency of delivering emergency access and city services.

We will incorporate all appropriate forms of transportation into major street and land use corridors. Major corridors provide access to important community destinations, including shopping centers, civic institutions, and employment centers. Multi-modal corridors do not require every form of transportation on every major street. Rather, the corridor taken broadly provides access for all modes of transportation to destinations along the way. For example, service roads, local streets, trails, or other paths parallel to arterials can accommodate local transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists comfortably. The concept of multi-modal corridors also requires that projects that change or expand the motor vehicle capacity of major streets and roads accommodate transit and active modes in the final design and during the construction process.

We will develop facilities that encourage people to use other means of transportation to travel to transit stops and stations. The traditional service area around a transit route is a 1/4 mile walking distance. We should maintain clear and continuous pedestrian routes within that service area to transit stops or stations. Safe, comfortable, and attractive shelters and waiting areas should be located at strategic points along routes. Providing features that encourage people to bike or drive to stops and stations can extend these service areas and increase the number of potential riders. These features can include:

• Connections from trails to transit stops.
• Bike parking, lockers, and potentially rental stations at major transit stops and hubs.
• Park and ride facilities such as lots and structures, integrated into transit-oriented developments or at appropriate commuter sites.

We will incorporate transit access into street design standards and projects on appropriate corridors. As streets that carry transit routes are improved or modified, their design should include features that specifically encourage amenities, pedestrian access, and smoother operations. These features may include enhanced pedestrian access and street crossings at transit stops; signal cycles that give pedestrians time to cross streets; space for shelters; signal controls; and reserved lanes or “JUMP” lanes for bus rapid transit. In addition, street typology standards that include transit-friendly features should be implemented.

We will implement standards that provide good transit access and user connections to major projects on transit routes. The length and nature of the path between a transit stop and the entrance to a major destination determines whether a project really has adequate transit service. For example, a stop should not require people to find their way across a large parking lot to enter the development. New design standards for large projects with transit potential should provide safe and comfortable links from the transit stop, or provide routes into the project for transit use.

We will implement sidewalk requirements for both land use typology areas (LUTAs) and street typology standards in city development ordinances and standard practice. Different LUTAs will have different levels of pedestrian activity. Thus, different solutions may be applied to achieve the overall goal of providing appropriate pedestrian service. For example, a loop of local streets in an Urban-Low Intensity LUTA and a street grid in an Urban High-Intensity area will require different approaches to achieve areawide service. Different types of streets also have different sidewalk requirements based on their function and context. City design standards and implementing ordinances should reflect these differences in width, setback, connection, density, and presence of alternatives like trails or other off-street paths.

We will establish clear private and public funding mechanisms for sidewalk construction and repair, and define and enforce maintenance responsibilities for property owners. Several issues complicate funding and maintenance requirements. First, sidewalks are a community responsibility at both citywide and local levels – failure to comply with requirements by one or two property owners can deprive many people of access. Second, in many cases, people with the least ability to build, repair, or maintain sidewalks have the greatest need for them. Third, funding for sidewalks has often been collected through special assessments, often leading to opposition from adjacent property owners. We must develop alternatives that encourage sidewalk connectivity and maintenance. Neighborhoods may be more engaged in sidewalk development or maintenance when owners are unable to meet these responsibilities, and sidewalk networks in local areas may require some level of public funding to be developed fully.

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.

We will develop and implement new land development regulations that support the Land Use Typology Area system of integrated uses and greater flexibility and efficiency. Our current development ordinances date from a time when we valued low density and separation of different land uses higher than city life. The fact that low density increases the cost of services and infrastructure gives us pause. That, combined with our successes at building places that people want to experience has moved us in new directions. The zoning code, which divides the city into 26 single-use “base” districts, 7 special districts, and 16 overlay districts, discourages the trends toward new development forms. We must modernize these codes to implement the LUTA concept and provide both the flexibility and protection that benefit contemporary developers and their neighbors alike.

Despite its large number of specific districts, our zoning ordinance does not provide adequate protections for neighborhoods or guarantees to approving agencies on actual performance or design of projects. This forces the Planning Commission and City Council to use Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), tying developers to a specific project and building design. PUDs are actually intended for a different purpose – to encourage innovative, comprehensively planned developments– and are overly rigid when applied to more routine projects.

Revisions to Oklahoma City’s land development regulations could move in several directions, from modifying existing zoning districts with new performance and design standards to establishing a new structure that uses the Land Use Typology Areas as the basic development districts for the city. The LUTAs, as presented in Chapter Two, permit a variety of uses, but establish permitted ranges of development intensity. The LUTA system achieves compatibility between different types or intensities of uses by implementing performance standards, design guidelines, and transitional methods. These techniques give specific and predictable guidance to builders and developers, and address such areas as operating effects, traffic, parking, design, scale, and safety, avoiding the unnecessary overuse of PUDs. A LUTA-based system would incorporate the criteria for locations and supporting transportation and infrastructure established by this plan for individual land uses.

We will execute a smooth transition between the existing zoning code and new land development ordinances. Development ordinances are complicated and difficult to change because people have become accustomed to them, rough spots and all. Migrating to an alternative concept will take time and care. In the meantime, the City will evaluate using a hybrid approach, mixing the existing zoning districts with the LUTA/mixed use concept. One way of accomplishing this is to group the zoning districts that are consistent with the intensity and use ranges of LUTAs, and apply compatibility policies and design standards to developments within them. The existing zoning ordinance could then be modified to include these compatibility standards. New rezoning requests would be evaluated for consistency with the LUTA in which they are located. If the new project is adjacent to a different land use, the compatibility policies and standards would apply to the design of that project.

We will implement the general recommendations of the Transportation Service Analysis (TSA) and the Fixed Guideway Study (FGS). These two studies together define a transit future for Oklahoma City. The Service Analysis addresses enhancements of the existing bus system while the FGS provides a long-term direction that introduces new transit technologies. We have begun implementing elements of both studies. The restructured EMBARK system has made the substantial short-term route adjustments and re-imaging recommended by the TSA. The MAPS 3 program, approved by the voters, includes capital funding for a modern streetcar serving the Downtown area, a major recommendation of the FGS. Both projects will change the image and visibility of transit in the city.

The TSA established basic principles to guide short-term adjustments and longer-term system design. These guiding principles include simplicity of service, directness of routes, minimized transfer waits, operation along arterials, route symmetry in both directions, and service to rider destinations. Key long-term recommendations include weekend service expanded evening hours, and more frequent service on routes with high ridership potential. These service expansions are vital to expanding the relevance of transit to more people. The analysis also recommends new routes with available funds, including a direct service to the airport. New service should also serve destinations of special interest to both residents and visitors, using routes that will appeal to specific markets.

The FGS proposes a future system utilizing four technologies:

1. Enhanced bus on the basic system, using conventional buses with more frequent service, longer operating hours, rider amenities such as shelters and schedule information at stops, less frequent stops, and faster operating speeds.
2. Bus rapid transit (BRT) on four corridors: Reno Avenue, Northwest Expressway, 59th Street, and Meridian Avenue.
3. Modern streetcar, to be implemented on a starter basis through MAPS 3 as noted earlier.
4. Commuter rail on two corridors: the primary north-south route from Edmond to Norman via Downtown Oklahoma City and Downtown to Midwest City/Tinker Air Force Base.

Scheduling and funding for this 2008 study must be re-evaluated, but the basic long-term system concept remains sound.

We will develop facilities that encourage people to use other means of transportation to travel to transit stops and stations. The traditional service area around a transit route is a 1/4 mile walking distance. We should maintain clear and continuous pedestrian routes within that service area to transit stops or stations. Safe, comfortable, and attractive shelters and waiting areas should be located at strategic points along routes. Providing features that encourage people to bike or drive to stops and stations can extend these service areas and increase the number of potential riders. These features can include:

• Connections from trails to transit stops.
• Bike parking, lockers, and potentially rental stations at major transit stops and hubs.
• Park and ride facilities such as lots and structures, integrated into transit-oriented developments or at appropriate commuter sites.

We will implement appropriate transit service to Will Rogers World Airport. Airport transit services address two markets: airport employees and airline passengers. Many cities, including Oklahoma City, attempt to serve their airports by extending a local line, a technique which serves neither market effectively. The Transit Service Analysis recommends a direct bus service to the airport in its long-term, unconstrained resources scenario. The proposed route would serve the transit hub, Convention Center , and hotels, with typical weekday headways of 30 minutes.

We will begin a cooperative study with the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway and other involved railroads to expand freight and passenger capacity in the north-south corridor. In view of increased freight traffic projections on the BNSF, it will be important to develop a plan to increase capacity in this service corridor. The public has a significant stake in addition to increasing Oklahoma City’s ability to position itself as a freight transportation hub. Increased length and frequency of trains can degrade traffic flow at this line’s relatively frequent grade crossings. Also, from a regional transportation perspective, increased freight traffic on this single line may make commuter rail or additional Amtrak service impossible. A study will examine alternatives that could include an additional track, improved technology, or a freight bypass.

We will work to establish Oklahoma City as a principal intermodal center, beginning with a study to consider the demand, feasibility, and measures necessary to develop such a facility. Oklahoma City, at the intersection of major road, railroad, and air facilities, appears well-positioned to expand its role as a major focus for intermodal freight and distribution. The impact of such a center can be very beneficial in terms of new jobs, investment, and even redevelopment of brownfields industrial sites. One of the newest intermodal facilities, the BNSF’s Kansas City Intermodal Facility and the associated Logistics Park, is opening with about one million square feet of warehousing space and is projected to attract up to 15 million square feet of warehousing, distribution, and associated industry, with employment in excess of 2,000 people. The private and public sectors of our community should examine the feasibility of such a facility, potential sites, potential developers, and steps necessary to execute the concept.