Council Meeting: Wheeler District permit, bike ordinance and MAPS3 trail

The owners of the proposed Wheeler District urbanism development were granted a permit to create a public plaza between the Downtown Airpark and the Oklahoma River. The permit, approved by the Oklahoma City council Tuesday, allows the new neighborhood to have true riverfront status. It also provides a location for a Ferris Wheel, expected to open later this year.

"We continue to move forward with our vision for Wheeler and the Ferris Wheel will make its first turn this summer,” said Blair Humphreys, a developer with The Humphreys Company. “We are excited to provide a new vantage point — from the south bank of the Oklahoma River — to view the ever-evolving Oklahoma City skyline."

Multiuse trail update

The MAPS 3 multiuse trail is expected to be complete in the summer of 2016, the Oklahoma City council was told during Tuesday's meeting.

Engineers gave a presentation on the MAPS 3 trail that will link Lake Hefner with the Oklahoma River. When the entire system is complete it will offer a dedicated trail for biking, walking and in-line skating through the city’s west side, near I-44.

Construction is expected to begin this fall.

In addition to concrete trails, construction will include work on the 16th Street bridge over Interstate 44 and revisions to the Northwest Expressway and Meridian intersection to allow for more time to cross the busy expressway.

“I think this trail project really helps open up people to our trails system,” Mayor Mick Cornett said Tuesday.

You can view a the trail presentation and route here.

Councilman offers another bike ordinance

Councilman Pat Ryan proposed another change to the city’s bicycle ordinance, this time adding language that would mirror the state’s bicycle law.

The proposed addition, introduced during Tuesday’s meeting, would prohibit cyclists from passing vehicles between lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction. The proposal is set for a March 10 vote.

“The ordinance change would allow police officers to issue violators a traffic ticket,” Ryan said in a statement. “Right now, officers can only try to enforce a violation by asking a prosecutor to pursue a criminal misdemeanor charge. That is a burden on law enforcement and too serious of a charge for violators.”

 

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