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j_cuevas713

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Posts posted by j_cuevas713

  1. My barber has some pics of Houston when all of these smaller buildings were still around and it makes we wonder how much nicer Downtown could have been had developers and the city been more considerate of it's history. Downtown was littered with small little brick buildings with ornate features. While a lot has been saved since then, there is still so much that has been lost.  This one along with the old original city hall were absolute gems. 

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  2. On 8/3/2023 at 7:00 AM, 004n063 said:

    A little disappointed by the limited scope, especially on the west side. Unprotected on-street from the Harrisburg bike trail to Velasco feels like a missed opportunity, but it's still a pretty comfortable section, I'd say. St. Charles to Austin (or especially Bagby), not so much.

    Would love to see a full corridor from the Navigation bend to Westcott along Sherman, HBT, Commerce, and Washington.

    It's a very nearsighted approach from the city. Bike Houston is trying to get the city to connect this to the Harrisburg H&B Trail even if it's just temporary. Precinct 2 has much more ambitious plans to connect this properly. 

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  3. 20 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

    Drivers are people too.  ;-)     Where did you see Metro's explanation for the change?

    Maybe so but transit agencies need to focus on moving people outside of a car and 3 lanes on a city street each direction is poor city infrastructure no matter where you live. It was from recent feedback. I need to go find it. 

  4. 50 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

    You told us Metro was adding a car lane.  I merely pointed out that is not the plan. Metro proposes keeping three lanes for cars (and all other vehicles- general purpose lanes) and adding a BRT lane.

    I expressed no opinion as to whether Hillcroft needs 3 general purpose lanes.  But to that point, that is not a matter Metro gets to decide. That is a city of Houston matter.  If you want fewer general purposes lanes on Hillcroft, you need to direct your thoughts to the City of Houston, not to Metro.

    Ok then maybe I worded that wrong. What I meant was they're going to maintain 3 lanes on Hillcroft by removing the bike lanes. The original plan was to keep the bike lanes and shift Hillcroft to 2 lanes but drivers gave feedback that they didn't want that. So Metro proposed the shared path which is nonsense because it's catering to what drivers want. The power starts with what the people want, and unless you tell Metro no we want to keep the bike lanes, they're going to keep Hillcroft a mini highway with 3 lanes each direction. 

  5. 4 minutes ago, 004n063 said:

    I empathize with all of this, but preserving the current thousand feet of onstreet "protected" lanes isn't going to fix Hillcroft. It's a stroad, and a bad one at that (in terms of urban road design; obviously it's phenomenal as a food and culture hub). 

    But a transit lane, done right, would be valuable for the neighborhood not because it would turn Hillcroft into a street (though we shouldn't rule out boulevardification in the long run), but because it would allow the neighborhood streets to lean into being (much more pedestrian-friendly) streets long term.

    Will that actually happen? Not without a lot of advocacy. But could it happen? Only with functional higher-order transit on Hillcroft, if you ask me.

    My bigger issue here is the triangle between 59 amd Westpark. There are a ton of destinations there, the pedestrian access is crappy, and the biking is death zone stuff. A connector branch up to the University Line and pedestrian/bike improvements (even a shared use path) would be welcome there.

    That doesn't mean we can't change that. By keeping it a 3 lane road each direction, we aren't improving much. 

  6. 1 hour ago, editor said:

    Is it better to share a lane with pedestrians, or with cars?

    Cars. And you're talking to someone who rides on street with traffic. You aren't going to change the car culture in this city by continuing to make exceptions for drivers. A sidewalk is just that, a SIDE WALK. Some streets benefit from a shared path like Bagby, but in this case we're talking about a mini highway in the middle of the city. 

    1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

    Yes, what I told you is what the plan shows. —there are currently three general traffic lanes used by all cars, buses and trucks.  The plan provides 3 general purpose lanes plus a new lane for BRT buses only.  The new lane is for BRT buses only, not cars.

    I'm completely aware of how BRT works. So you're ok with 3 lanes of traffic? That's my point, Hillcroft doesn't need 3 lanes each direction. This is about pedestrians feeling safe, and 3 car lanes isn't safe for people of all ages or for cyclists. The reason we have so many pedestrian fatalities in this city is we keep feeling bad for drivers. This city doesn't have to cater to drivers if it doesn't want to. It's all a choice. And if 2 car lanes isn't enough for drivers, then too bad. They'll have options to take BRT or walk/bike. Crossing a 6 lane road is ridiculous. That's not hard to understand. I see kids try to cross Kirby here in UK in the mornings to go to school. It's a disaster, and all it's doing is pushing those kids to want to leave Houston when they get older for cities that provide very basic needs for people. 

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  7. 14 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

    They aren't adding a lane for cars; they are adding a lane for BRT buses. And from Gulfton to Bellaire they are removing a car lane (and adding very wide shared use sidewalk/bike lanes, as proposed for the rest of the Hillcroft BRT route).

     And the sidewalk/path with which they propose to replace the existing sidewalk and bike track is VERY wide and will easily accommodate bicycles and pedestrians.  PLUS Hillcroft currently has bike track only from Westward/Highstar to Bellaire Blvd?  4/10 of one mile. Metro is proposing the very wide sidewalk/bake track from Gulfton to Bissonet  1 1/2 miles.  Looks like greatly improved conditions for all involved. Bicylists give up 4/10 of a mile of exclusive bike track in exchange for 1 1/2 miles of nice wide shared path.

    That's not what the plan shows and this idea that shared paths are somehow better is a joke. Crossing 3 lanes of traffic as a pedestrian is ridiculous, and cyclists and pedestrians get the consolation prize of a "shared path." Make Hillcroft 2 lanes each direction, simple. 

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  8. It's important that anyone who frequents this forum gives feedback on METRO's plan to remove the bike lane on Hillcroft and replace it with a car lane. This would return Hillcroft to a 3 lane road each way and defeats the whole idea of making Hillcroft a multimodal street and slowing down drivers. To top it off, METRO thinks providing a path for both pedestrians and bicycles to share is a better idea. How dumb is this agency? We might have the dumbest transit agency in the nation. I've given my feedback about how absolutely stupid this is. 

    Here is a link to the Metro site about the project: https://www.ridemetro.org/about/metronext/metrorapid/metrorapid-gulfton-corridor-project

    And here is the link to give feedback: https://ridemetro.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bae54Sl6MgcIIlw

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