Don't Let Scary Roads Stop You!

When the weather is nice, who doesn't enjoy a walk or a bike ride to get around town? But what do you do when your town makes it close to impossible to do so? Some of you may already be aware, but I recently heard that Oklahoma City was voted #5 in a list titled the Top Ten Least Walkable Cities. Yikes!

On the bright side, word on the street is that we are slowly but surely on our way to becoming more pedestrian friendly. So, what do we do in the meantime? Heaven knows most of us who live in the OKC metro area wouldn’t dare get out on roller blades. I know that there are several parks in my neighborhood, but on the trek to or from the park you might be crossing several busy streets with no cross walk or signal. I love riding my bike, but again, if I want to go very far I’m seriously running the risk of being hit and I have come close a time or two.

So, rather than sit here and huff about it, I thought I would come up with some solutions to this.

Lake Hefner. No, this isn’t in keeping with “going green” because you would be driving there, but you are guaranteed to have lots of smooth sidewalk to walk, ride your bike or whatever else WITH the kids or the dogs and not run such a risk of being hit.

Shartel. This is the only stretch in the OKC metro area within the neighborhood that I’m aware of with pedestrian lanes. It starts at NW 30^th and goes up to 50^th street. This is near my home, so usually I end up going here to exercise. This is a very pretty area as well with a few parks nearby.

Find a Trail. The following link from The City of Oklahoma City provides info on pedestrian trails located in Oklahoma City as well as detailed maps on their locations. http://www.okc.gov/trails/n_canadian.html

Be an Early Bird. I imagine that getting out around 5 A.M. or so would be a much safer alternative to getting out after work during rush hour. Plus, you would be getting your workout in first thing so it’s out of the way. Gosh, I wish I were a morning person!

Or, you could just say “forget it” and sit down in front of the air conditioner with a juicy burger and a soda. Ok, that was a joke so please don't do it!

If you know of any other trails, parks or areas that offer pedestrian friendly roads, I would love to hear about them so please share! Otherwise, get out there and enjoy the lovely weather we have had lately and be safe!