MaxConcrete

The building is gone. The surrounding area smelled like a lumber yard today. The cleanup remains.

Demolition was proceeding at full speed today. Tear-down is in progress on the Westcreek (east) side and also on the southwest side.

Air India is a mess and the Indian government is trying to sell it, but analysts say it will difficult to privatize due to all its troubles. So I would be cautious about being excited about the possibility for new service. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-11/air-india-s-salvador-dali-ashtrays-and-surreal-debt-cloud-sale

It looks like the interior of the main factory building is being gutted with numerous broken/removed exterior windows. It appears demolition is imminent. Some of the mature trees on the property have been chopped down, some are protected with fencing (presumably to be preserved), and some are intact without fencing. The warehouses on the eastern edge of the property are complete and appear to be occupied.

I admit that I'm somewhat biased because I lived on Roseland Street (near (Richmond @ Montrose) once upon a time, and I'm thinking in terms of people who live west and south of Midtown. The San Jacinto on-ramp and Fannin off-ramp are the access points for a large area to the south and west, and population is increasing due to the large apartment buildings being built. But yes, your point that there are plenty of alternate options for people in east and north Midtown is valid. In terms of people making the weave from the 45-northbound-to-69-southbound ramp to the Almeda exit, I'm speaking in terms of northbound traffic on Interstate 45. The 45 downtown Spur is not a reasonable option for those folks.

I just posted my updated analysis of the project using the May 2017 schematics. http://houstonfreeways.com/analysis I still have 12 concerns, varying from minor issues to larger concerns which could impact operations. While TxDOT made numerous improvements in the latest schematics, some of my concerns are unchanged since the last version, so prospects for fixing the issues may not be good.

Taken Friday 5/5/2017. Construction appears to be around floor 29.

That's an obsolete schematic. See the most recent (which was posted a year ago) at http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs5/20160428_NHHIP_Seg3_Project_Updates.pdf The latest version still has the entrance/exit ramp configuration that you are concerned about. However, it is impossible to eliminate all weave and merge situations from a highway project of this scope. The designers had to accept some non-ideal situations.

Taken Friday 3/17/2017 5:30PM.The construction appears to be on floor 25.

I remember going to the "Back from the Beach" events on Sunday in the 1984-1986 time period. I was underage until 1986, so I'm thinking they may have allowed all ages on Suindays. KLOL publicized the event and one of the personalities (Dane Steele, I think) sometimes made an appearance. I seem to remember light attendance at the back from the beach events. Unfortunately I don't recall ever visiting during prime time. After reading these reflections, I wish I had!

Tunnel options were studied as alternatives early in the process, around 5 to 6 years ago. You can find details of the tunnel alignments in the meeting documents on the official project web site. The tunnels would not have replaced existing freeways, but provided additional capacity, presumably toll/HOV.. These documents provide a good overview http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs/Universe_of_Alts_Seg_3.pdf http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs/IH45_Universe_of_Alts_Summary.pdf The cost figure they reported was $700 million per mile for a four-lane bored tunnel with two lanes on each of two levels (i.e. a double-deck tunnel). Costs have surely risen since then, so $800 million per mile would probably be a rough estimate.

That's very interesting that the Houston Beachcomber restaurant served as a model for the Monterrey restaurant. The interior views of the Monterrey restaurant are similar to my recollections of the Houston restaurant.

Yes you are definitely correct about the round polynesian restaurant, along Gessner just north of Westheimer. As a kid in the 1970s I was always intrigued by the restaurant and especially liked the polynesian style torches that were normally lit near the entrance. I remember eating there once for a buffet, and there were plenty of tropical plants inside. As best as I can recall, Don the Beachcomber was the name of the restaurant. Google earth historical imagery shows the polynesian restaurant in a 1978 image but was gone in 1989, so the site was redeveloped sometime in the 1980s. The restaurant adjacent to the polynesian restaurant also had a distinctive theme and design. I'm thinking that was the Hungry Tiger.

I updated my analysis of the project design based on the new schematics for the inner loop section which TxDOT posted on the official project web site in May. http://houstonfreeways.com/Home/analysis The good news is that TxDOT has fixed several serious issues with the new update. My list of design concerns is now only four items, and TxDOT says it is studying the problems to identify changes to address three of the four remaining concerns.

I went to a public meeting about a year ago and spoke to a person who was well-informed about the project, and he said there was an intensive and expensive study in progress to determine if it was feasible to run the train along IH-10. The IH-10 alignment study was launched at the request of Mayor Parker due to inner loop opposition. Well, I never heard anything about how that study turned out. I'm thinking that if it was found to be feasible, it would have warranted additional study or the downtown extension may not have been dropped so quickly. So I'm inclined to think that an IH-10 alignment had engineering or cost issues. One Texas Central engineer told me they needed to keep any grades at a maximum of 1%. (I don't know if that strictly applies in a low-speed zone). Since the structure would be above overpasses at Heights, Yale and Studemont, it would have to stay at the superelevation continuously. I also think there is difficulty between downtown and Studemont with limited right-of-way, and TxDOT's long-term plans for a total rebuild of that area uses all available right-of-way and makes column placement for a train structure on TxDOT right-of-way impossible.

I don't like the connection between the Post Oak bus lanes and the West Loop bus lane structure. The connection underneath the overpass at Post Oak road will slow down buses and preclude future options, like opening up the West Loop structure to vanpools or HOV. The proposed design is also more disruptive to the main lanes during construction. http://houstonfreeways.com/Home/west-loop-bus-lanes I attached an image of my suggested better design. TxDOTs public meeting is Tuesday

Yes, TxDOT-Houston does seem to have switched to longitudinal grooving. The first signs of the switch came at a public info meeting for US 290 just before construction began, where they announced it would be used for noise reduction. Now it is appearing in all projects. I agree, the Grand Parkway is almost as quiet as asphalt, even though the grooves are quite deep. (You can easily see the grooves in many of the photos in the driving tour I posted.)

Driving tour of the full 24-mile length from US 290 to I-45 http://houstonfreeways.com/photos/grand-parkway-section-f

Photos taken Saturday Looking east at FM 2920. Crews were installing lane striping at this location. Looking east with the Hardy Toll road interchange ahead. This is section G, which will not be ready for opening on Feb. 8. There's still a lot of work to do, such as installing guardrails and the wire rope barrier. I'm thinking that all effort is focused on section F-2 right now, and they'll resume on section G when section F-2 is ready. Interchange at the Hardy Toll Road. The Hardy Toll Road was completely closed this weekend for work at the interchange. Looking east along the Grand Parkway

Years ago there was a report that HBU was going to build some kind of basketball arena on this property. But I don't know what is currently planned. At this point it is not clear if only the front part of the shopping center is being demolished, or if they will continue to demolish everything. The contractor, U.S. Builders, is mainly a construction firm so that suggests that something is going to be built and this is not just a tear-down. Until recently the demolished building housed a Libreria Christiana. Once upon a time (1980s into 1990s), the main structure of this shopping center housed a Mervyn's. Recently there was a Fallas Paredes in the main building. Photos taken today.

I grew up in west Sharpstown in the 1970s, so I had some exposure to that area. Beechnut stopped at Pella street when I moved to Sharpstown in 1971, but there was at least one section in existence in Alief. I think it was from Boone to Kirkwood. It was a big event when the missing link was opened. I remember those original sections of Beechnut in Alief were very cheaply built to low standards, and that section was totally rebuilt maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I remember when Club Creek drive was first built and there was nothing out there. There was a lot of erosion of topsoil onto the road, and my father took me out there to load the back of a truck with soil for our flower beds. I also remember some kind of major golf event at Westwood Country Club around that time. I think it was an LPGA event. Cars were parked on Club Creek for a long distance away from the Westwood CC entrance, most of the way to Beechnut. The apartments on Beechnut just west of the Breas Bayou crossing were somewhat trendy when first built. The bayou was different back then - there was a flat, dry area at the bottom and a narrow water channel. I remember a lot of folks running up the side of the bayou for exercise, and there were rumors that Houston Oilers players were among those who would sprint up the slope for exercise. I have no idea if those rumors were true, but I recall seeing numerous athletic-looking black guys at that site, and that was definitely consistent with the rumor. I passed by the bayou crossing because it was on the way to the Eagle supermarket in the shopping center at Club Creek. Eagle was somewhat expensive, I seem to remember, and it was gone as soon as the area started to become low income. Of course, Roark Road was on the alignment of the present-day northbound BW8 frontage road. I remember driving my bicycle out there, wondering when the beltway would be built. Further north along Roark, closer to Bellaire, there where numerous relics of the old R.E. "Bob" Smith Ranch. Some of those relics lasted a long time, maybe into the 1990s. I remember riding my bicycle out to Corporate Drive and watching work crews pour the pavement. Corporate was obviously built to low standards since it has been in bad shape for a long time. Going further west along Beechnut, there was not anything memorable. Boone was a two-lane country-style road until around the early 1980s when it was paved with concrete to have four lanes. There was the Charlie Club hotel and fitness club near Bissonnet. In 1983, the first year I could drive, I paid $100 for a three-month summer membership to use the gym. That's about $238 in today's money! But that seemed to be the going rate back then, and as a 16-year-old I thought it was cool to hang out in the weight room. I remember Akeem Olajuwon was there at least once when I was working out. Further west near Kirkwood, in the 1980s people began converting those mini-storage units facing Beechnut into storefronts. That seemed to last for a long time, but I don't remember seeing any storefronts on a recent drive-through. One interesting historical tidbit that I remember is that homebuilding was still active in Alief in the 1970s, especially between Alief-Clodine and Westheimer. I remember that builders touted "Alief Schools" to attract buyers, both with signs at the subdivisions and in the newspapers. That ended very quickly when Alief became a low-income school district seemingly overnight. There was a weekly Alief newspaper called the Advertiser Advocate, which was also distributed in Sharpstown west of Gessner. I was a delivery boy in Sharpstown. I remember reading the newspaper, and it had reports for and all the neighborhoods and schools in Alief. Of course, Alief was a different world in the 1970s, overwhelmingly white and community-focused. I don't know when the Advocate ceased operation, but it seems like it was gone by the 1990s. As another observation, there was a lot of drugs being distributed at Sharpstown High School in my first year there, 1981-1982. In fact, at my table in homeroom I sat with a drug dealer. Every day he would spread out numerous baggies and foil wrappers on the table, and every day he would say the same thing, "At the end of the day this will all be gone." (Our homeroom teacher was an old lady who was half-senile.) However, by then end of my first year there was a drug crackdown, and one day that kid was gone, never to return. The next year the smoking area at Sharpstown was closed. I think a lot of that drug activity shifted to Alief. My neighbor two houses over was a major stoner, and he transferred to Alief Elsik because he said there were more drugs available. (His mother worked for AISD, so he could transfer.) He could have been exaggerating, but I think there was plenty of drugs moving through Alief in the early 1980s. Huntington Village near Bissonnet and Dairy Ashford was a good area when first built. The tennis center was especially active, and since my parents were avid tennis players, I was there often. Others may have commented about Great Skate on Bellaire near Boone. It was the skate rink closest to Sharpstown, and I remember a few birthday parties there. But it never seemed crowded, and I think it was gone by the early 1980s. As far as Alief has fallen, I must say it seems to have rebounded in recent years, mainly due to the Vietnamese influence. On a recent drive-through, it was not nearly as trashed out as I expected. Beechnut Street between BW8 and Boone has been repaired, and is no longer horrendous, but still needs a complete rebuild. That's enough recollections. :-)

At tonight's public meeting I spoke with a team member who was very knowledgeable on the project. He appeared to be the lead consultant for the alignment. For the alignment along Hempstead, they are still working toward a fully elevated structure along Hempstead road, generally on the south side of the road and on the north side of the existing freight railroad. This type of design is depicted in one or more of the documents on the Texas Central web site. The alignment would dip to ground level only at Beltway 8 to go underneath the highway lanes. In general, Texas Central wants the HSR project to be independent of TxDOT plans and anything the Gulf Coast Rail District may plan for the future. The independence will reduce or eliminate the risk of bureaucratic delays or snafus. So this rules out any cooperation with TxDOT to design the facility to be friendly to TxDOT's plans for the Hempstead toll road. The GCRD appeared to have some concerns about leaving enough space for future commuter rail, but I did not get the details of specific issues of concern. It seems to me that the positioning of the elevated structure between the railroad and Hempstead Road may not be consistent with the Hempstead Toll Road plan. I'm thinking it would push the toll road corridor further north, requiring more right-of-way acquisition and possibly making it infeasible. As a practical matter, it could potentially preclude the Hempstead Toll Road from being built, although it is difficult to speculate without knowing exactly where the columns for the rail structure will be placed.

The connections between Loop 610 and SH 288 are being added to the project and the change is included in a public meeting at HGAC this week. http://www.h-gac.com/news/articles/2015-10-30.aspx The announcement is also in today's Chronicle.

I believe those schematics for the initial phase are out of date. However, information on the exact design planned by Blueridge Transportation Group (the winning bidder) are not readily available, and may still be subject to change since they are having trouble securing the funding. The presentation document which announced Blueridge Transportation Group as the winning bidder says there will be 8 direct connection ramps at BW8 and four toll lanes. See page 15 http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/commission/2015/0226/11b-presentation.pdf Here is more evidence that 8 connectors are still planned from the September HGAC meeting, see document page 14 ("page 4 of 7" at bottom of page) http://www.h-gac.com/taq/commitees/TPC/2015/09-sep/docs/ITEM-06A-1.Resolution-for-Approval-of-Amendments.pdf "Modify description as follows: Description: CONSTRUCT 8 DCs AT BW 8 INTERCHANGE" The October TIP update from yesterday's meeting mentions 4 toll lanes http://www.h-gac.com/taq/commitees/TPC/2015/10-oct/docs/ITEM-06A-TIP-Amendments.pdf Facility: SH 288 From: IH 610 To: BRAZORIA C/L Description: CONSTRUCT 4 TOLL LANES I also remember seeing a report that the interchange at Loop 610 will be fully or mostly rebuilt. However I cannot find that report and I don't know what is currently planned at Loop 610.

I agree with the Sparrow....the Grimes County station could have a big impact and a whole new city could eventually develop at that location, starting out as a commuter "exurb" and growing from there. if the site is near highway 105, it could benefit from the planned toll extension of SH 249. But initially that station will be in the middle of nowhere, not even convenient to Bryan-College Station. Which is why I'm somewhat perplexed about TCR's commitment to it. Maybe Texas Central is using potential development around the station to defuse political opposition in Grimes County. Does Grimes County have outsize political influence in Austin? Project opponent Senator Kolkhorst is potentially influential, but Grimes County is not in her district (but adjacent Washington and Waller counties are in her district). As for WestUDweller's suggestion of a transfer station to a connection to Austin, that seems possible but the location is far from ideal for service between DFW and central Texas. If TCR envisioned that approach, they should have gone due south from DFW to the west of B-CS with a split point somewhere to the west of B-CS. That kind of alignment was contemplated once upon a time in the 1990s.One of the reasons I like the utility alignment is that it lends itself to a westward extension toward Austin and San Antonio if HSR proves to be financially successful. On a separate topic, I spent some time looking around California's high speed rail web site (http://www.hsr.ca.gov/Newsroom/Multimedia/maps.html) and was very surprised to discover that the alignment is still under study for much of the route. Between Burbank and Palmdale there are 4 alignments under study, three of which include very long tunnels, and they're just about to start doing preliminary boring investigations. So that section has a long way to go and will be very expensive. In other places the general corridor is defined but exact alignments are still to be decided. It looks like the only section which is definitely final is the section which is under construction, 29 miles from Madera to Fresno. That section is surely among the least expensive since it is totally flat and mostly over greenfield. It appears to cost $1.37 billion (with a modest overrun expected http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article19654086.html), or $47 million per mile, which seems very reasonable considering the cost of light rail here in Houston, around $158 million per mile for the recent openings. But many sections of the California rail will be much more expensive, which is why the official cost estimate is $68 billion and many expect it to reach $100 billion before it is all done.