INTERIM STREET DESIGN Okmulgee, Oklahoma February 2016
Okmulgee Main Street OU Institute for Quality Communities 1
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Contents Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Tactical Urbanism to Interim Design �����������������������������������������������6 Street Design Priorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Overview Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Improving Crosswalks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Mid-Block Crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Bicycle Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Interim Design Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Interim Design Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Collaborators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 1
Summary Working with Okmulgee Main Street, the OU Institute for Quality Communities made three visits to Okmulgee to tour the new investment and learn about future plans in this exciting community. Downtown Okmulgee is growing with new housing, new businesses, and new university investments. These new investments can be continually encouraged with additional improvements to public space like streets and sidewalks. Many of these concepts were included as recommendations in a report by consultant Scott Day. Some key locations like the council house square, and particularly the corner of 6th and Morton, are a priority for long-term investments. Other locations may need quick and inexpensive improvements today and permanent investments later. The method of inexpensive street improvements described in this report is interim design, which uses temporary materials to implement and test new street designs without a huge budget. Interim design techniques can be used to improve safety and create attractive places for people to spend time on Okmulgee’s downtown streets.
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can remake your streets quickly, “ You inexpensively, it can provide immediate benefits, and it can be quite popular. You just need to look at them a little differently.�
Janette Sadik-Khan at TEDCity 2.0 3
Okmulgee has lively sidewalks and businesses often interact with the street outdoors.
Many storefronts in Okmulgee have attractive landscaping, seating, and signage that make for a very pleasant walk.
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Important streets like 6th Street have some extra space to try new ideas like bike lanes.
There are already many improvements to streets, sidewalks, and crosswalks downtown.
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Tactical Urbanism to Interim Design Interim design is an inexpensive, temporary installation of proposed improvements.
Tactical urbanism is the name for a set of citizen-initiated interventions aimed at improving neighborhoods. From ‘guerrilla crosswalks’ painted in the middle of the night by concerned citizens to light poles wrapped in yarn for playful public art, tactical urbanism allows people to address problems in their neighborhood faster than a bureaucratic government. Many tactical urbanism strategies address street design, especially with enhanced crosswalks, sidewalks, and bicycle infrastructure. Better Block events have transformed neighborhoods around the country with temporary streetscapes that show the potential of upgraded street designs. Local governments have begun to realize these temporary interventions could be a part of their toolkit to implement and test ideas for improving streets. For example, former New York City transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan tested her vision of Times Square as a pedestrian plaza by closing the street to traffic and using paint and lawn chairs to test the idea. The idea stuck, and several years later, Times Square is a fully transformed pedestrian plaza. As cities began adopting tactical urbanism’s street design techniques, the name “interim design” emerged. Interim design is an inexpensive, temporary installation of proposed improvements that allows planners and engineers to evaluate effectiveness and refine final designs before dedicating more substantial funding to a permanent solution. Interim design strategies are recommended by the National Association of City Transportation Officials, and frequently used in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, and other major cities. Because interim design strategies are inexpensive and simple to install, they are also perfect for smaller communities with limited resources.
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Tactical Urbanism A scene from the first Oklahoma City Better Block in 2012. Citizens used old tires, paint, and potted plants to make curb extensions for an improved crosswalk. Shipping pallets became benches and bicycle parking.
Interim Design In 2015 the Chicago Department of Transportation used paint, planters, and reflective plastic posts to create curb extensions, improve safety, and calm traffic at this intersection.
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Street Design Priorities Calm traffic in the heart of downtown. Making cars move more slowly through the heart of downtown is important for both safety and commerce. A speed of 20 miles per hour is ideal for ensuring pedestrian safety, keeping noise levels down, and making downtown businesses most visible to drivers and passengers. Narrow lanes of 10 or 11 feet can help with traffic calming. Replacing stop lights with stop signs can also encourage the right speed for drivers.
Make more space for people on sidewalks. Downtown Okmulgee has great outdoor spaces like the pocket park on 6th Street and the Council Square. The sidewalk is also an important place to have lots of activity. Extra sidewalk space for people can be used for displaying merchandise, cafe dining, or just stopping to sit down and people watch. Curb extensions and curbside parklets can provide the space needed for these sidewalk activities.
Create shorter and easier pedestrian crossings. Crossing the street should be quick, safe, and easy. Curb extensions can shorten the distance of crossing the street. Boldly striped crosswalks offer the best visibility.
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Maintain or increase on-street parking. On-street parking is an important asset for retail business in downtown. Maximizing on-street parking can also allow surface parking lots to be redeveloped with productive buildings. Parked cars can also provide protection for the sidewalk or bike lane. To maximize on-street parking, angled or parallel parking spaces should be clearly marked wherever possible.
Look at possibilities for citywide bicycle routes. Cycling is a great way to be active and get around town, especially with short trips of one or two miles. Bicycle lanes encourage cycling for daily needs. A network of bicycle lanes and safe slow speed streets will let people get around by bike. 6th Street and 8th Street both have space to accommodate bicycle lanes that provide access across town by bike.
These street design priorities are based on conversations with stakeholders in Okmulgee thinking about downtown streets. Each of these priorities helped shape the recommendations in the report.
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1 Paint and curb stops can formalize parking and sidewalk space in this block. 2 Painted curb extensions and bold crosswalks can improve 5th Street crossings, benefiting future student housing and municipal office employees who are walking to lunch. 3 6th and Morton is a prime intersection in Okmulgee. Quality permanent curb extensions are worth the price here. 4 6th Street has space for a bike lane or parking-protected bike lane to help people move across town by bicycle. 5 On this block of Grand, parallel parking on both sides of the street can provide the most parking and a traffic calming effect. 6 Striping angled parking along Central will maximize efficiency of parking on this wide street.
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Improving Crosswalks The graphic to the right shows an example of painting curb extensions to shorten the crossing distance at a crosswalk. The crossing distance should be minimized to equal the width of the travel lanes. Paint could be a significant local color like orange for OSU-IT, or red for the Okmulgee Bulldogs. Colors and patterns could also be selected for an aesthetic reason. In this example, planters are used to provide a vertical element protecting the curb extension space from automobile traffic. Space in the curb extension can be used for additional seating, bicycle parking, or landscaping. For low traffic streets, a four-way stop is preferred to a stop light. Stop lights require pedestrians to press a button to request permission to cross the street. Stop signs let pedestrians cross at any time.
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Mid-Block Crossings When two connected places are across the street from each other, people are likely to cross the street at the most convenient location instead of going out of their way to the nearest intersection.
Such a mid-block crossing would be even more useful if Okmulgee leaders pursue further development of the parking lot on the corner of 6th and Morton as recommended by Scott Day.
6th Morton
In these cases, a mid-block crosswalk might be needed. For example, between the 6th Street pocket park and public restrooms, a mid-block crossing might make sense to connect the related destinations.
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Bicycle Network The existing curb-to-curb width of 6th Street through downtown has enough space for bicycle lanes of at least 5 feet in width. Traditional bicycle lanes are on the outside of the travel lane. Buffered lanes add a 1-2’ painted buffer between cars and cyclists. Protected bicycle lanes are also an option, with bicycle lanes adjacent to the sidewalk, protected from travel lanes by the parked cars. Curb extensions and protected bicycle lanes can work well together, as shown in the graphic by Nick Falbo on the lower right. The bike lane can pass directly through the curb extension and proceed through the intersection alongside the crosswalk. 8th Street is also identified as a street with excess capacity, where a road diet could remove a travel lane in favor of bike lanes. Decisions about the bicycle network should also focus on making a safe crossing of US-75.
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This event in Akron, Ohio, demonstrated a parking-protected bicycle lane as a road diet. Photo: Tim Fitzwater.
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Interim Design Materials Typical materials for interim design applications are selected for both their appearance and safety benefits. White and colorful paints are used to identify crosswalks and expanded sidewalk areas or curb extensions. Planters and landscape rocks are used as physical barriers and to create an attractive appearance. Reflective tape, plastic reflectors, and flexible plastic posts add additional visibility for vehicles interacting with the intersections. A variety of styles are possible and these can vary with the personality of the town or neighborhood. Some neighborhoods choose bright, colorful polka-dot patterns. Others might choose neutral earth tones to blend with existing landscaping.
Planters
Landscape Rock
Reflective Tape
Regardless of style, safety features like a double white line border and reflective elements are recommended. Photo: University City District, Philadelphia
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Heavy Planters
Flexible Posts
Decorative Stencils
Photo: Chicago Department of Transportation
Double White Border
Photo: Dongho Chang, Seattle
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Interim Design Installation
Painting bold zebra-stripe crosswalk.
Outlining curb extension with white paint.
Painting decorative pattern in curb extension.
Installing flexible plastic posts for visibility and safety.
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Completed intersection. Photos by the Austin, Texas Department of Transportation.
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Collaborators Okmulgee Main Street and Board Heather Sumner John McConnell Debbie Haynes Mary Lewellen Rusty Milroy Valerie Rice Margaret Hess Chris Azbell Kim Priegel Terri Dillsaver Dana Sigmon Dr. Bill Path Billie Been Justin Giles Mark Mabrey
OU Institute for Quality Communities Hope Mander Jared Hopkins Kylie Dixon Matt Crownover Ron Frantz Shane Hampton
Ron Drake Consulting Ron Drake
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Report Prepared By: The University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities College of Architecture 830 Van Vleet Oval, Suite 165 Norman, Oklahoma 73019-6141 iqc.ou.edu 22