Oklahoma City About to Abandon Chance for Excellent Mass Transit System

No, this is not Urban Review Oklahoma City. But I do return to my hometown a few times a year and keep tabs on what is happening there. Besides, we can learn from looking at other city’s successes or, in this case, mistakes.

At right is the remains of a once great rail system serving central Oklahoma. Like most cities of any size, Oklahoma City had streetcars to serve urban transportation needs. Back in the day a number of municipalities dotted the countryside around OKC and these were served by the “Interurban” rail service.

Behind OKC’s Union Station are these twelve tracks. Yes, twelve. Three long platforms, like the one shown in the foreground, served six of the twelve lines. Passengers entered the Union Station and took underground tunnels beneath the tracks and then came up through stairways to get to their platform.

The platforms had long canopies protecting passengers from the sun and bad weather. It appears to have been a great system, capable of serving many passengers. These platforms and tracks will soon be gone.

At left is OKC’s Union Station, a building I’ve admired since I was very young. It is located at 300 SW 7th (google map), just behind the main post office. This magnificent building, dating to 1930, is not in any danger. Well, it is not going to be destroyed. What will be destroyed is the reason it exists — to serve the passenger transportation needs for greater Oklahoma City.

It was the rise of the private automobile, and GM conspiring to replace streetcar lines with buses, that brought rail service to an end in Oklahoma City and nearly every other city across the country. Cheap gas, flashy cars and sprawling subdivisions dotted with ranch houses was all the rage.

Some in OKC have been advocating to use the existing rights of way to bring back mass transit to Oklahoma City and to re-connect to suburbs such as Norman, location of the University of Oklahoma. But it will not be.

The lure of the private auto will kill future prospects for this once booming passenger rail hub. A short section of Interstate 40 (I-40), known as the “crosstown expressway” will be relocated through the rail line. Once complete, only one rail line will remain (for freight service).

A group fighting the highway project destroying the rail lines has a pretty lame website. Their website is not effective but some of the links and editorials do provide some valuable information.

Planning officials say the existing highway is over capacity, was not designed properly and is in need of replacement. So $360 million later about 5 miles of highway will be completely relocated. I have to admit that removing a two-level highway immediately next to downtown is probably good but I’m not fond of wide trenches with even more lanes. OKC is the very definition of sprawl so I think it would do wise to consider adopting a good mass transit system before it is too late ($5/gallon gas from peak oil).

One last bit of information.

Since 1990 the old Union Station building has been used as offices for COTPA: The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority, aka Metro Transit. The metropolitan bus company! Strangely, the same authority that handles bus service is also responsible for managing downtown parking. Seems like a conflict of interest to me.

Here is the best part, they are conducting a “fixed guideway study” for a possible combination of express buses, HOV lanes, light rail and modern streetcars. Most of their proposed corridors already have a rail right of way connecting behind their own offices.

– Steve