Tulsa Comprehensive Plan - PLANiTULSA

Appendix
Appendix
Transportation II
Urban Corridors
FIGUre 1: TrAnsporTATIon LIFe CyCLe
UrBAn CorrIDor pLAnnInG
Corridors are transportation pathways that provide
for the movement of people and goods between and
within activity centers. A corridor encompasses a
single or multiple transportation routes or facilities
(such as thoroughfares, public transit, railroads,
highways, bikeways, etc.), the adjacent land uses and
the connecting network of streets.
Traditionally, corridors were analyzed by identifying
high automobile congestion locations through traffc
counts and travel demand models. Then congestion
was addressed by building automobile capacity
improvements with added lanes or building new
roads in a parallel corridor to diffuse the traffc.
This traditional process leads to a perpetual need for
improvements to the roadways system as depicted in
Figure 1. The cycle of making roadway improvements
without considering potential land use changes has
resulted in a land development pattern that is autocentric
and costly in terms of quality of life and
maintenance.
PLANiTULSA identifies a new process to guide the
decision-making for urban corridors. The process
comprehensively addresses future transportation
needs and recommends a series of physical
improvements and operational and management
strategies within a corridor. Using this process,
corridor planning fills the gap between long-range
transportation planning and project development. It
identifies and provides a link between neighborhood
planning and corridor transportation planning and
provides an opportunity to direct future development
within the corridor to meet Our Vision for Tulsa’s
growth and economic development goals.
Integrating Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) in
urban corridor thoroughfare planning requires
stakeholders to consider the economic, social, and
environmental consequences of alternatives. The
outcome of CSS in urban corridor thoroughfare
planning goes beyond street improvements. It defines
the short-term and long-term needs of the corridor,
JULy 2010
AP
APPeNDIx – TULsA CompreHensIve pLAn 29