OKC gets $2 million grant to improve sidewalks

Submit Comment for Recirculated Portions of the Draft Environmental Impact  Report for the Sidewalk Repair Program - Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council

 

The City of Oklahoma was recently awarded nearly $2 million in Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grants from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to fund pedestrian improvements near five elementary schools.

The grants will, in part, fund sidewalks around the following Oklahoma City schools.

  • Bodine Elementary (and Metrotech Bryant Campus).
    • Bryant Avenue from SE 45th Street to south of SE 56th Street.
  • Fisher Elementary School.
    • Southwood Drive and along the southwest and northwest side of the
      school.
  • James L. Dennis Elementary (and Putnam City North High School).
    • NW 117th Street, south and east of the school.
  • Rockwood Elementary School (and Lorraine Thomas Park).
    • Independence Avenue from SW 24th Street to Lorraine Thomas Park.
    • SW 24th Street from Independence Avenue to the west of Grand Boulevard.
    • SW 23rd Street from Independence Avenue to Grand Boulevard.
  • Rollingwood Elementary School.
    • NW 63rd Street from Grove Avenue to Ann Arbor Avenue.
    • Ann Arbor Avenue from NW 62nd Street to NW 63rd Street.
    • Grove Avenue from NW 62nd Street to NE 63rd Street.

The schools listed above are marked as the highest priority for sidewalks in bikewalkokc and are in Wards 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8.

“Our recent update to bikewalkokc identified several schools across the city where sidewalks are needed, and this grant, with the MAPS 4 sidewalk funding, will reach more schools,” Transportation Program Planner Justin Henry said. “We will continue to find opportunities to fund this kind of important safety infrastructure around the city, and we are thankful to ODOT for selecting these projects.”

The TAP funding is an 80/20 program requiring a minimum 20% match of local funds. MAPS 4 will provide the remaining 20% of construction costs.

In 2019, OKC voters approved MAPS 4, which included $61 million earmarked for the construction of sidewalks and sidewalk amenities to improve the pedestrian experience in key areas.

About bikewalkokc

The bike lane is included in the City’s comprehensive cycling and pedestrian masterplan, bikewalkokc. Since its adoption in 2018, bikewalkokc has been used as a tool to direct the City’s capital investment programs such as Better Street, Safer City, MAPS 3 and MAPS 4.