Lawton committee opposes plan to subtract traffic lanes from Northwest Ferris

A City Council study committee wants to drop the idea of changing a segment of Northwest Ferris Avenue into a three-lane road with on-street bicycle lanes.

Members of the Streets and Bridges Committee will make that recommendation to the full council in December, after discussing a plan to relocate a section of the Elmer Thomas Park Connector. That designation is given to a dedicated bike path that stretches from the park north of downtown Lawton into Greer Park/Kid’s Zone on Northwest 38th Street at Meadowbrook.

Relocation is necessary because of plans by Lawton Public Schools to fence in Central Middle School and Lawton High School, as part of a district wide plan to enclose campuses for security reasons. Now, the Elmer Thomas Park Connector passes through a dedicated public easement between Central and Shoemaker Education Center, but fencing around Central will close that access point to the general public — or will, after the City Council holds a public hearing on the proposal Dec. 12.

Community Services Director Charlotte Brown said her staff wanted a decision on a new route around the schools complex before the existing public easement is closed, so riders won’t be left with “a dead stop” after they cross Fort Sill Boulevard at Cherry Avenue to continue into Elmer Thomas Park from its west side.

That’s why city planners support a plan to redirect the Elmer Thomas Park Connector to Northwest Ferris Street, when west on Northwest Ferris Avenue. Part of that plan includes re-marking Ferris traffic lanes between Fort Sill Boulevard and North Sheridan Road, turning what is now four travel lanes into two travel lanes and a center turn lane, then marking dedicated bicycle lanes on the road.

Kameron Good, a city planner, said while a traffic flow study conducted in 2015 showed that segment of Northwest Ferris Avenue carried 11,300 vehicles a day, an updated county in 2021 showed average traffic flow of 6,200 vehicles. Three-lane minor arterials can carry 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles a day, Good said (city planners say that segment of Ferris is classified as a minor arterial).

Some city staff members and council members don’t like the idea.

City Engineer Joe Painter said the city’s traffic engineer does not support the idea of a three-lane road, saying a better option would be using residential streets or ensuring that sidewalk projects already planned for pedestrians are wide enough to carry bicycles “without putting them (bicycle riders) on roads.” Ward 2 Councilman Kelly Harris said two residential streets in that area already are wide enough for designated bike lanes: Elm Avenue stretches between North Sheridan Road and Fort Sill Boulevard, while Cherry Avenue (which already holds the bike path) stretches most of that distance.

Harris, Ward 4 Councilman George Gill and Ward 5 Councilman Allan Hampton ultimately voted for the access plan suggested by CDBL, the local contractor doing the fencing for Lawton Public Schools. CDBL suggests taking riders north on Fort Sill Boulevard along Central Middle School’s western boundary to Cache Road, then east on Cache Road along the school’s northern boundary to link to a bike trail access that already exists near the armory.

Good said that option means adding 270 feet of new sidewalk and widening 190 feet of existing sidewalk, a cost CDBL estimated at $34,492.50.

“No one wants that to be a three-lane road,” Gill said of Northwest Ferris, adding he has received numerous calls opposing the idea.

Hampton, whose ward includes parts of Northwest Ferris, cited the high volume of traffic sometimes carried by that road when major activities occur in Elmer Thomas Park.

“We’ve put so much down there, the (traffic) numbers will have to increase,” Hampton said, of existing park amenities and future plans.