Sunday, June 25, 2006

INCOG TIP

Excerpts from today's Tulsa World:


You can get there from here

By JANET PEARSON World Editorial Writer
6/25/2006

Transportation plans evolve

With apologies to Andy Rooney, did you ever wonder where all those lines on these highway maps come from?

Most citizens probably don't give transportation planning much thought. Sometimes, they wish they had; just ask those folks living around the proposed Arkansas River Bridge site at South Yale Avenue.

Believe it or not, citizens can influence transportation planning, but the sooner they get involved, the better their chances.

Two stages of this area's transportation planning process are under way, one nearing the end and one just starting.

The mother of all transportation plans is the Regional Transportation Plan, which is about to undergo a regular five-year update. This update will be greatly different from previous planning efforts, explained INCOG transportation manager Tim Armer, because it will be joined with another huge planning process about to start soon: the overhaul of the city's Comprehensive Plan, a massive land-use and zoning document that guides development in Tulsa.

The more immediate activity is the finalizing of the next Transportation Improvement Program, which includes projects that have already gone through
the five-year planning process and for which funding has been identified. This TIP includes a work schedule for the years 2007 through 2010.

"The TIP is kind of the connection between the five-year plan and where the rubber hits the road, so to speak," said Armer.

Notable elements of this TIP include expansion of Interstate 44 to six lanes from Yale Avenue to 41st Street; reconstruction of the interchange of 193rd East Avenue, Oklahoma 66 and I-44; acquisition of right of way for I-44 improvements at Harvard Avenue; expansion of U.S. 169 northward from Interstate 244 to Oklahoma 266, and expansion of US 64 (Memorial Drive) from the Creek Turnpike south to 111th Street South.

The INCOG board is scheduled to take action on TIP on July 13. Area citizens can still offer input up until that date.

Comments can be sent by fax at (918) 583-7526, by phone at (918) 584-7526, by e-mail at incog@incog.org, or by mail at 201 West Fifth St., Suite 600, Tulsa, 74103.

More specifics on the TIP can be obtained from the INCOG office and the entire TIP plan, including funding and scheduling details on all projects, is posted online on the INCOG Web site, www.incog.org.

...citizens have a better chance at getting their ideas accepted if they join the process early. The Regional Transportation Plan update offers that opportunity.

This plan is the guiding transportation document for urban areas required by the federal government for all transportation projects that receive any federal funding, including airports, trails, railways and roads. The Federal Highway Administration provides an easily understood explanation of the whole process and how citizens can become involved in it on its Web site, www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/citizen/ .

The latest plan update has been dubbed Connections 2035, and follows the last five-year plan update which was known as Destination 2030, parts of which already are in construction and design phases.

More information on the new planning effort can be found on the INCOG Web site at www.incog.org/transportation/connections2035.

This effort will consider any transportation system improvements that might be needed by the year 2035. In the first phase, to end this December, surveying of area residents and organizations about their transportation habits and views will occur.

...One major aim is to learn how Tulsans want their city to look and feel years from now. Do they want more mixed-use developments where they can live, work and play? Do they want some limited light rail lines serving activity centers, or even a commuter rail line to the suburbs? Do they want more high-intensity development?

"We are on the cusp here in Tulsa of so many wonderful things," Armer said. "People are expressing more and more interest in different things, and we need to seize the opportunity with all those ideas out there and all the planning going on and marry all those efforts."

Janet Pearson 581-8328
janet.pearson@tulsaworld.com

From the FFY2007-2010TIP.pdf

Alternative Transportation – Projects that promote alternatives to Single Occupant
Vehicle (SOV) usage. Sample projects include, but are not limited to:

Transit capital, research, safety improvements, and/or
management systems costs
Carpool/vanpool projects
Sidewalk modifications and/or walkway projects
Bicycle transportation projects
Multimodal connections (park & ride lots)

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