(Update: On Tuesday, Dec. 30, the OKC City Council voted 7-2 in favor of a resolution indefinitely prohibiting the construction of additional bike lanes along Classen Boulevard. The motion was opposed by Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon and Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper. The following article remains in its original form.)
The future development of additional bike lanes on Classen Boulevard likely hinges on the OKC City Council’s final meeting of the year, where members are set to consider a resolution that, if approved, would indefinitely pause bike lane expansion along the well-traveled corridor. Cyclists who use Classen’s existing lanes for transportation and recreational purposes, however, believe such a move would prioritize traffic flow over their safety.
The issue has stirred controversy, passion and anger on both sides. Bike lanes were added to Classen Boulevard between Northwest 10th and Northwest 16th streets two years ago, and the city’s BikeWalkOKC plan calls for extending those lanes south to Sheridan Avenue, a major east-west road that spans downtown OKC and already has its own bike lanes.
But that may not happen depending how the OKC City Council votes Tuesday on agenda item IV B, a resolution requested by Ward 8 Councilman Mark K. Stonecipher, Ward 1 Councilman Bradley Carter, Ward 4 Councilman Todd Stone and Ward 5 Councilman Matt Hinkle.
While their proposed resolution would say that the council “supports the expansion and use of bike lanes” and “multimodal transportation infrastructure,” it would “direct that no new north-south bike lanes that entail removing a lane or lanes of traffic along Classen Boulevard, via paint/partitions/delineators, should be installed at any point along said Boulevard; and that, in lieu of such lanes, bike crossings that are painted and do not require reducing traffic lanes should be installed at the intersections running east and west.”
Because adding bicyclist protections on Classen Boulevard has reduced vehicle lanes from six to four, the councilmen proposing the resolution argue that exacerbating traffic congestion by extending Classen’s bike lanes from Northwest 10th Street to Sheridan Avenue would outweigh the benefits for riders in the area. Western Avenue, one block to the west, already has protected bike lanes from Sheridan Avenue to just shy of 10th Street, and Shartel Avenue — two blocks east of Classen — also has protected bike lanes from just south of 10th Street to just north of Sheridan.
“You’ve got to look at them individually, and I’m not anti-bike lane,” Stone said. “We’ve had similar issues in my ward when we put in bike lanes. I think they’re a great thing for the most part, but then you come across a segment of road and think, ‘Oh no, it’s going to create a nightmare.’”
When the council convenes at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to consider the resolution, there is bound to be interest.
During the Dec. 16 OKC City Council meeting, more than a half-dozen residents signed up to speak on the topic, even though the day’s agenda included no item related to bike lanes. Residents like Jacob Keen, who was severely injured while riding his bicycle in April 2024, see the proposed moratorium for Classen Boulevard as an impediment to public safety.
“I was riding my bicycle to work on a bike lane that suddenly stopped,” Keen said told members of the council. “A few blocks later, I was struck by a truck, resulting in the loss of my right leg. Classen offers an uninterrupted way to get to downtown very quickly. I’ve been using it since 2020, and it can be very dangerous. The lane that exists now offers a safe corridor.”
When bike lanes were installed, Classen was narrowed down from three lanes to two in each direction to make room. Those who oppose the development of more bike lanes believe the existing lanes have created unnecessary congestion.
Jimmy Durant, the director of government affairs for St. Anthony Hospital, told the council Dec. 16 that he travels Classen Boulevard “twice a day every day, Monday through Friday.”
“Traffic has not decreased on Classen because of the bike lanes,” Durant said. “If anything, it has gotten much worse, because we’ve gone from the three lanes and down to the two lanes between 10th and 23rd Street, if you will, along with the rapid bus lane being involved in that as well.”
Durant said hospital leaders would prefer that the OKC City Council consider bike lanes along roads like Shartel Avenue that run parallel to Classen, arguing they would be “much safer for the bikers and the drivers on that corridor.”
“We at St. Anthony are also concerned about expanding those bike lanes (on Classen) because of the confusion that it could cause to our out-of-city residents, our patients and their families,” Durant said. “We also have a good [amount] of traffic related to ambulances that travel 10th Street, and additional bike lanes on that road and congesting traffic there would also cause some further delays in people receiving emergency care.”
Ben Ilaraza, who also spoke to the council Dec. 16, said the councilmen worrying about traffic congestion should be worried about breaking the city’s past promises.
“I’m deeply concerned by the attempt to cancel this funded bike infrastructure for this area,” he said. “I frequently use the bike lanes on Classen to get to work. The city council voted for a safer Classen Boulevard, and I’m worried it is on the cusp of breaking that promise of safety to me and to other urban residents for vaguely stated concerns about traffic.”
Death spurred bike lane development
Safety for cyclists on Classen Boulevard has been a community conversation for the past decade. In March 2019, cyclist Chad Epley was killed at the intersection of Northwest 16th Street and Classen Boulevard. The 31-year-old’s death became one reason Classen’s initial bike lanes were installed.
Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon questioned OKC planning director Geoff Butler on the balance of safety and convenience in a meeting Nov. 18.
“I think, for me, there’s always this tension of the traffic counts that is a little bit like a self-fulfilling loop where we’re thinking the traffic counts are too high, so we can’t do X, but then the traffic counts are so high people don’t feel safe traversing that area,” Hamon said. “How do we thread that needle of prioritizing safety over how fast an automobile can get through an intersection or through a particular part of the city?”
Butler told council members that deciding where bike lanes belong and where they don’t requires discretion.
“It’s a balancing act, and a lot of it comes down to, ‘Is this the right place to put a bike lane when you factor all of those considerations?’ Or, you know, cyclist safety. Would it have a traffic-calming influence? The answer is almost always, ‘Yes,’ but what’s the risk to the cyclist? Is there a risk, and what can we do to mitigate that through design so, if it is a busier street, it still may be appropriate to add a bike lane as long as the design is appropriate, so long as it’s highly visible and it’s got the appropriate buffer.”
Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper said he opposes the bike lane moratorium. Cooper, who played a role in getting a tax increment finance district approved for an area along Classen Boulevard, said the TIF was passed with an understanding that bike and pedestrian traffic would remain vital to the area.
“We invited the public to a meeting, and we had 100 people there,” Cooper said. “And those 100 people, after they learned what a TIF is, were like, ‘OK, that sounds cool. But where’s the affordable housing component? We want to see affordable housing on Classen. And we want it walkable. We want it bikeable. We want it to reflect the Asian District’s history on Classen.’ And we (as the city council) passed that TIF.”
Cooper, who helped lead a massive 2019 bike ride in support of safety infrastructure, said those living along Classen Boulevard are more likely to bike or walk to work than many others in the city.
“Who do they think is going to be living in those spaces?” Cooper said of those pushing the resolution. “They don’t understand that those people will be walking out their front doors and hopping on a bike to go to work or school or for recreation. That’s why it has to be an all-of-the-above approach.”
Cooper said pausing bike lanes goes against the ideals behind the new Classen-area TIF.
“What are we going to do? Are we going to abandon that idea and turn it into another I-40?” he said. “It’s just wild to me.”
Cooper also described the traffic congestion concerns behind the proposed pause as thin at best.
“I’m just very confused by some of the things I’ve heard,” he said. “I haven’t heard data. I haven’t heard the statistics. I haven’t heard sources referenced. What I have heard is a lot of anecdotal.”
Some council members support bike lane moratorium
While Cooper advocates for the further development of bike lanes on Classen, Ward 5 Councilman Matt Hinkle is just as passionate, but on the other side of the street.
Often one of the more blunt members of the council, Hinkle remained true to form when asked about the bike lane issue on Classen Boulevard.
“The businesses downtown don’t want Classen from 10th Street to Sheridan to be a bike lane, especially since there’s already one built on Western that is just a rock stroll away,” Hinkle said. “And Western is a much-less-traveled street. It’s a block to the west, so you’re on a bike exercising anyway. What difference does it make if you ride an extra block?”
To Hinkle, alternate north-south bike lane options make more sense in the area’s overall transportation considerations.
“You can throw a rock and hit a bike lane anywhere you want to from Classen, but the only thing you can’t hit with a rock is a cyclist because nobody uses the fucking bike lane,” Hinkle said. “And you’re more than welcome to print that. I’m serious.”
Hinkle said he has not had a single constituent or member of the public at large reach out to him requesting more bike lanes on Classen. He said he is not opposed to bike lanes, but he doesn’t believe they fit everywhere.
“I’m not the least bit against bike lanes as long as we do them smartly and don’t just say that we’ve got to have a bike lane somewhere,” Hinkle said.
Cooper said that, in many cases, those using bike lanes are not doing so solely for exercise or recreation. The lanes serve as a path to a job or to school, he said.
“I just administered a final exam for my students, and how did I get there? I rode a bike,” Cooper said. “I just can’t stress this enough: there are many of us who bike to work, bike to school, bike to recreation. And I own a car. There are some days I drive to city council meetings, and some days I bike to city council. And that’s what I mean when I say it’s an all-of-the-above approach. We should all have these options.”
Stone, the Ward 4 councilman, said he has traffic congestion concerns about Classen. He also said he would like to see more data about how much the boulevard’s existing bike lanes are being used and what, if any, impact they have had on traffic flow.
“We’ve had discussions about this on council, but I would like to see a bike count,” Stone said. “You see that with the traffic count, but I think it would be good for us to have more information. I don’t think this time, in the middle of winter, is the time to do it, but I would hope that during the spring and summer, we could see the quality of traffic flow through there and see how people are using it.”
