About the Project
The City of Tahlequah is exploring a concept involving enhancement and revitalization of the East Downing Street Commercial District to benefit existing and future business growth. The goal is to create a desirable “Point of Destination,” which will ultimately benefit the entire Tahlequah Community. These enhancements can be achieved with the support of our community and through the use of grant funds for this potential project. “Re-Brand” Downing Street to Downing Boulevard, and designate the East Downing business area as the “Boulevard District” for common promotional business purposes.
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Street Re-Configuration known as COMPLETE STREET design to enhance more efficient & higher traffic flow, better accessibility to businesses, provide vehicle & pedestrian safety, and stimulate economic growth for the Boulevard District.
Create a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district to promote economic development by earmarking property tax revenue from increases in property values in order to provide an incentive for new businesses and a basis for current businesses to have the ability to enhance their existing properties in the Boulevard District. |
Establish a Pedestrian Environment
which is bicycle & pet-friendly, by creating dedicated “safe” crossings at Oak Avenue & Oklahoma Avenue providing easy accessibility from green-way areas along Downing Boulevard to the university campus, historical sites, downtown business corridor, city parks, and walking trails. |
About “COMPLETE STREET” Design ...
A modern design technique in transportation planning, known as COMPLETE STREET Design involves a reduction in the number of travel lanes to create a dedicated center turn lane to achieve systemic improvements for the benefit of revitalization of economic development, traffic & pedestrian safety, and promote better accessibility to commercial businesses, collectively. The modern complete street design, with some possible variations, may be previously known as road re-channelization, lane reduction, road diet, or street re-configuration, and have proven successful in many communities in reduction of vehicle crashes by up to 50%. |
The Federal Highway Administration has determined that:
A roadway’s effective capacity can be maintained and even enhanced to allow increased traffic volume. A common misconception is that reducing the number of through lanes by installing a dedicated center turn lane will cause traffic to become more congested. When a corridor contains a large number of access points (driveways) the majority of through traffic will tend to utilize the outside lanes to avoid being delayed by left-turning vehicles slowing and stopping in the inside lanes. These four-lane corridors essentially already behave like a three-lane road, and backup traffic in the absence of a dedicated turn lane.
Traffic will not backup if a travel lane is removed. Typically travel times are not affected; rather, clearing clogged travel lanes of left-turning traffic improves operations & decreases congestion.
Road Re-channelization will not divert traffic from the current area. It can drastically improve a corridor’s quality and the appeal of an area providing better traffic flow and safer streets to promote further economic development.
Success can be achieved for a broad range of traffic volumes. Streets having less than 20,000 ADT may be excellent candidates for COMPLETE STREET design, resulting in better efficiency, safety, and improved basis for economic development. Guidelines for selecting candidates for the reduction of existing four lane undivided roadways to three lanes with a dedicated center turn lane are:
A roadway’s effective capacity can be maintained and even enhanced to allow increased traffic volume. A common misconception is that reducing the number of through lanes by installing a dedicated center turn lane will cause traffic to become more congested. When a corridor contains a large number of access points (driveways) the majority of through traffic will tend to utilize the outside lanes to avoid being delayed by left-turning vehicles slowing and stopping in the inside lanes. These four-lane corridors essentially already behave like a three-lane road, and backup traffic in the absence of a dedicated turn lane.
Traffic will not backup if a travel lane is removed. Typically travel times are not affected; rather, clearing clogged travel lanes of left-turning traffic improves operations & decreases congestion.
Road Re-channelization will not divert traffic from the current area. It can drastically improve a corridor’s quality and the appeal of an area providing better traffic flow and safer streets to promote further economic development.
Success can be achieved for a broad range of traffic volumes. Streets having less than 20,000 ADT may be excellent candidates for COMPLETE STREET design, resulting in better efficiency, safety, and improved basis for economic development. Guidelines for selecting candidates for the reduction of existing four lane undivided roadways to three lanes with a dedicated center turn lane are: