OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to block any new construction of bike lanes on Classen Boulevard that would remove existing lanes of car traffic, capping off weeks of council consideration and uproar from the city’s cycling community.
The vote comes despite longstanding plans for new dedicated north-south bike lanes on Classen from Sheridan Ave. to NW 10th Street that were scheduled to see construction beginning as soon as February.
A resolution backed by some Councilmembers aimed to halt that plan – which would reduce car traffic lanes on Classen from six lanes to four – citing concerns over the possibility of bottlenecking traffic along the corridor during peak hours, concerns shared by some local business leaders in attendance Tuesday.
A large number of local cycling advocates also turned out to speak before the vote, touting the proposed Classen bike lane plan as beneficial for strengthening biking safety along one of the city’s major thoroughfares.
Following nearly two hours of City Council debate and public comments that saw emotions running high and a spontaneous vote unsuccessfully attempting to table the issue, the resolution to block the new lanes passed by a vote of 7 to 2, with only Councilmembers James Cooper and JoBeth Hamon voting against.
Traffic and safety claims
The proposed plan for new bike lanes on Classen from Sheridan Ave. to NW 10th was added to the City’s BikeWalkOKC master plan and was expected to be funded by existing “street enhancement” provisions in the 2019 Better Streets, Safer City bond package.
But at the November 18th City Council meeting, Councilmembers Stone and Stonecipher began expressing concerns about the plan’s potential effect on car traffic along the Classen corridor, as Free Press reported earlier:
Both councilors reiterated those concerns Tuesday, as did Councilmen Carter and Hinkle – both co-sponsors of the resolution – even as Planning Department officials presented data reconfirming their belief that Classen could support a reduction of car lanes from six lanes to four.
But supporters of this resolution also cited biker safety as a concern, claiming that it would be in the best interests of city cyclists to dissuade them from riding on Classen at all.
“This is about safety,” Stonecipher said. “It is about safety when you have interaction with automobiles. We’re all for biking. It’s a good health thing. It’s a good environment thing.”
Former Devon Energy CEO Larry Nichols was on hand representing the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, and he echoed these same sentiments in supporting the resolution to prevent any new dedicated bike lanes on Classen.
“That does not mean that we’re against bike lanes,” Nichols said in addressing the council. “We do not support them on major thoroughfares for obvious reasons. One is traffic congestion…and second, of course, is safety. And I think bikers recognize that, too, which is why you see so few bikers on Classen.”
Biking community pushback
But the majority of speakers Tuesday came from the city’s cycling community, who were unified in their conviction that the best safety for bikers is dedicated infrastructure where cyclists already ride, not direction toward other designated cycling areas.
Many also pointed to the City’s own Planning Department analysis that determined dedicated bike lanes on Classen would likely not significantly impede car traffic.
“I’m gravely concerned about this resolution that is so averse to revising lanes on Classen and replacing engineering analysis with anecdote,” said Tony Carfang, a local cycling advocate and the Ward 2 representative for the Better Streets, Safer City advisory board.
Like many of the speakers opposing the resolution, Carfang invoked chef Chad Epley, an avid cyclist that was struck and killed by a car while riding across Classen in 2019.
“How do you tell your daughter that a man your age biking home from work along the same street we take daily was struck by a driver, dragged for a mile, and killed?” Carfang asked. “I used to tell her that I’ve seen how our city planners and engineers understand the data and solutions and are implementing them as fast as budget allows. I thought that meant that we prioritize life over car convenience.”
Before the final vote on the resolution, Councilman Cooper played a video of Epley’s sister Chelsea’s tearful remarks to City Council in 2019, shortly after his death, during the outpouring of support and cycling advocacy that led City planners to add the proposed Classen bike lanes to the BikeWalkOKC plan.
“The reason why I am so adamant in support of them is because of Chelsea,” Cooper said. “And I suspect we will unfortunately…lose this battle, but we will not lose the war.”
Two votes
During council discussion, Ward 7 Councilman Camal Pennington suggested more meetings with members of the biking community and more direct input from community members in developing a compromise plan, leading Hamon to make a motion for a snap vote to table the resolution until those meetings have happened.
That vote failed to pass.
Pennington then reiterated the resolution’s order that City officials will provide a new plan for enhancements to surrounding bike infrastructure on Western Ave. and Shartel Ave. and new crossings on Classen within 60 days and asked City Manager Craig Freeman if he would commit to holding those community meetings in developing that plan.
Without hesitation, Freeman responded “yes.”
Pennington then voted in favor of the resolution in the final vote, leaving Cooper and Hamon as the only two votes against.
‘An overwhelming response’
Though this resolution passed overwhelmingly, opponents to the bike lane ban on Classen said that they’ll continue working to overturn it through community and business outreach.
“Obviously we think it’s disappointing,” Ben Ilarraza, a leader of OKC biking advocacy group The Wheels Project, told OKC Free Press following the vote. “We don’t think this is best for Classen and we don’t think it’s best for the city.”
In his remarks to City Council Tuesday, Ilarraza read a list of 40 local businesses on or around the Classen corridor that have offered their support to the proposed bike lanes.
After the vote, he told Free Press that he hopes to work alongside those businesses to change this outcome.
“We’ve seen from community members and business owners,” Ilarraza said. “As Classen starts redeveloping, we’re going to continue to be in conversation with business owners about ways that we can reverse this ban, because this is completely against the will of the Central OKC community.”
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
