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They finally caught some of them....

 

Some recent articles about the crime on the trail:

 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/thieves-targeting-bike-riders-on-columbia-tap-bike-trail/-/1735978/21393656/-/ee72jm/-/index.html

 

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Bikers-beware-Gangs-of-thieves-target-riders-of-expensive-bicycles-218917611.html

 

From twitter today, @HoustonPolice announced the arrest of 9 juveniles in a 2 month long investigation...

 

 

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Good work HPD, and good riddance to the punks. Hopefully, they'll be off the street for a long time. The trail runs behind my house and I won't go on the trail, even in daylight, unless I'm in a large group or have some self defense with me. It's not uncommon see little old ladies walking on the trails along N. and S. MacGregor with a Louisville Slugger in their hand, and no, they're not going down to the baseball field at MacGregor Park to sock a few balls over the fence. I wonder what will be done for crime prevention in the future. More officers on bike patrols along the Columbia Tap? Wider access points from the street so patrol cars can get on the trail if needed? Cameras? Call boxes? Riverside residents armed with shotguns sitting on the benches on the trail?

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Good work HPD, and good riddance to the punks. Hopefully, they'll be off the street for a long time. The trail runs behind my house and I won't go on the trail, even in daylight, unless I'm in a large group or have some self defense with me. It's not uncommon see little old ladies walking on the trails along N. and S. MacGregor with a Louisville Slugger in their hand, and no, they're not going down to the baseball field at MacGregor Park to sock a few balls over the fence. I wonder what will be done for crime prevention in the future. More officers on bike patrols along the Columbia Tap? Wider access points from the street so patrol cars can get on the trail if needed? Cameras? Call boxes? Riverside residents armed with shotguns sitting on the benches on the trail?

The twitter comments from HoustonPolice said they have officers riding the trail in uniform and undercover -- and have had for the last 2 months.....

 

I ride the trail several times a week and didn't know all this was going on until a couple weeks ago when I saw one of the articles about the attacks...I am definitely more aware of my surroundings now -- takes some of the fun out of a leisurely ride when you have to worry about this crap...

 

Made the news tonight...

 

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=9253254

Edited by HoustonMidtown
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Seems like a large proportion of the crimes I have been hearing of lately are being committed by 12 - 14 year old kids. Most of the recent uptick in midtown crimes were apparently 13 year old kids.  A pair of them tried to wave me down which is when I actually realized how young a 12 year old kid really is.  It must be really crappy to get robbed by a child.  To be honest there is much more of a chance I get shot if a 12 year old rolls up on me with a gun.  I would be quick to hand over a cell phone or whatever to anybody holding a gun in my face, but I would be much more inclined to punch said robber in the face if he weighed 95 pounds.  I will let you all know soon how a bullet to the ribs feels. Architecture.

Edited by kbates2
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Seems like a large proportion of the crimes I have been hearing of lately are being committed by 12 - 14 year old kids. Most of the recent uptick in midtown crimes were apparently 13 year old kids. A pair of them tried to wave me down which is when I actually realized how young a 12 year old kid really is. It must be really crappy to get robbed by a child. To be honest there is much more of a chance I get shot if a 12 year old rolls up on me with a gun. I would be quick to hand over a cell phone or whatever to anybody holding a gun in my face, but I would be much more inclined to punch said robber in the face if he weighed 95 pounds. I will let you all know soon how a bullet to the ribs feels. Architecture.

Lol!
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  • 1 year later...

So the post on the Lamar bike lanes got me reading about the Columbia Tap bike trail, which inevitably turned up the comments and news stories about numerous muggings on the trail in mid-2013. It also turned up news items (and a thread in the HAIF Crime and Punishment subforum) about some juveniles getting arrested for the muggings in September 2013.

 

So question to local cyclists -- did the arrests fix the problem? Anyone heard of any new issues since September 2013?

 

Any experiences would be helpful.

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  • 5 months later...

They extended a bike lane down walker to st Emmanuel from the end of Columbia tap trail. Of course it's not a no parking zone, so you get to dodge cars, but it's two way, has decent width for each lane and has a nice buffer between it and main lanes.

It's only 2 blocks, but it's a solid addition to our slowly expanding network!

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I wonder if they plan to connect it to Discovery Green? To do that they would have to go under 59 and around the convention center. But from there riders to can pick up the downtown bike lane all the way to Buffalo Bayou, assuming it isn't being used as a parking lane. 

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Isnt that obviously the plan..?

 

I don't know. I would assume so, but they would have to go under the 59 overpass and around the convention center. They may say "we go you this close, you figure out the rest." It's typically these small connections that are the tricky part. The MKT trail is only a stones throw away from the Buffalo Bayou trail north of downtown, but as of today they don't connect. You can make the cut over with some effort, but I assume they want to make a proper connection at some point. 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 years later...
On 2/27/2021 at 7:10 PM, hindesky said:

This bugs me so much and it's been like this for a long time. I had it my mind that the company rebuilding the Ardmore bridge would fix this but they didn't. It's about 10' long but always has water/mud in it. Columbia Tap northbound at S.McGregor Way.

qz5h6E1.jpg

 

I would file a 311 report and then contact whoever the rep is for that district. What is the exact location? I'd be happy to help. 

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Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if you can get in trouble if you decide to fix this sort of thing on a public trail/sidewalk?  Would there be an issue if a concerned citizen decided to spread a few bags of gravel on a low spot like this?

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24 minutes ago, august948 said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if you can get in trouble if you decide to fix this sort of thing on a public trail/sidewalk?  Would there be an issue if a concerned citizen decided to spread a few bags of gravel on a low spot like this?

I've thought the same thing about other small issues around the city. 

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1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I've thought the same thing about other small issues around the city. 

I often contemplate forming a volunteer group devoted to shoveling the 55 years of silt out of the damn streets, removing pieces of busted curb that broke off in 1979, and cutting the rebar that’s sticking out of sidewalks everywhere cause god knows the city won’t ever do it. But then I think about getting killed doing it, sued somehow, or how I am too busy...so I just delicate flower about it instead. 

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3 hours ago, skooljunkie said:

I often contemplate forming a volunteer group devoted to shoveling the 55 years of silt out of the damn streets, removing pieces of busted curb that broke off in 1979, and cutting the rebar that’s sticking out of sidewalks everywhere cause god knows the city won’t ever do it. But then I think about getting killed doing it, sued somehow, or how I am too busy...so I just delicate flower about it instead. 

I've seriously considered taking a weedwhacker to some areas of sidewalk that get overgrown along the routes I bike.

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I know it's mostly a rhetorical question, but I think you have to pull permits, and again, legally, the work would have to be done by someone bonded and insured, and probably approved by whatever committee at the city level, so legally you could be accountable to whatever rules are in place for not following those things, but they'd have to catch you first.

permitting guys don't work Sunday, and I doubt a police officer is going to consider it a good use of their time to question your doings.

heck, on this particular bike path (and the bayou path on Brays) I regularly see 4 wheelers, and gas powered scooters being used, so yeah cops definitely don't care. displace the dirt with a few bags of whatever, I don't think anyone would stop you, especially on a Sunday.

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14 hours ago, skooljunkie said:

I often contemplate forming a volunteer group devoted to shoveling the 55 years of silt out of the damn streets, removing pieces of busted curb that broke off in 1979, and cutting the rebar that’s sticking out of sidewalks everywhere cause god knows the city won’t ever do it. But then I think about getting killed doing it, sued somehow, or how I am too busy...so I just delicate flower about it instead. 

I’m down. Lmk

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • The title was changed to Columbia Tap Bike Trail crime- Police arrest 9 juveniles
  • 2 months later...

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