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JLWM8609

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Everything posted by JLWM8609

  1. Country a** Union Pacific trains help move and make this city. I guess we ought to keep freight trucks off of pretty Westheimer too?
  2. The purpose was to untangle the backup and eliminate weaving caused by traffic entering at Scott and getting off at 59/288 and to eliminate the left lane exit to 59/288. It succeeded in eliminating the left lane exit and weaving, but like you said, there's still a backup caused by 45 NB going from 3 to 2 lanes, and I think Scott St. traffic entering so close to the Downtown exit may be a culprit, too. Perhaps eliminating the Scott St. onramp and directing I-45 NB traffic from Scott to the Cullen onramp or through downtown along St. Joseph Pkwy or Pease would help along with making both lanes of the downtown exit from 45NB exit only so it whittles down to 2 lanes without that taper after the exit. I think the project at 610 is complete. Both new flyover ramps are open.
  3. IIRC from dealing with HCFCD during the Ardmore St bridge project, the ROW extends 16 1/2 ft from the back edge of the curb.
  4. Maybe we can get a cable stayed bridge that'll be known as a signature landmark!
  5. I wonder if the freeze had something to do with it? I've heard of potholes getting worse from the cycle of freezing and thawing. Could it have destabilized the soil underneath? There's also buckling in the retaining wall and embankment slope.
  6. A major pavement failure on 288 SB has shut down all lanes just south of 610. I've been watching the fissure slowly get worse over the last few months. It started as a crack which they filled with tar. When it got worse, they started an asphalt overlay. Then you could see the crack getting worse underneath the overlay over the past week or so. I'd started driving in the left lane to avoid it. Traffic is being detoured to the toll lanes with tolls waived between Southmore and Beltway 8. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Damaged-pavement-shuts-down-part-of-Texas-288-16110760.php
  7. Starting at $12,500/day. Truly a rich man's toy.😔 I've always wanted to take a train trip, so I'll settle for an Amtrak trip to New Orleans instead.
  8. I didn't know it's taken that long. The Atchafalaya Basin bridges didn't take this long to be built, seems like this project should've been completed at least a year ago.
  9. The big construction sign on Almeda and MacGregor says the Almeda Rd. bridge is closing on April 16th.
  10. They didn't replace any bridges at Hillcroft. It's been one big bridge since the 60s. They raised the current Hillcroft bridge.
  11. Legendary Houston Chronicle and former Houston Post columnist Leon Hale has passed away at age 99, just about 2 months shy of reaching age 100. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/Beloved-Houston-Chronicle-columnist-Leon-Hale-dies-16058091.php
  12. One thing about this project is how a lot of this work benefits Midtown more than any other area. While other areas are going to see properties taken for new ROW, Midtown will actually see infrastructure removed for their benefit. In addition to the obvious removal of the Pierce Elevated, they're removing the entrance and exit ramps to 288 from Chenevert and Jackson. Initially, those ramps were going to be converted into ramps for the toll lanes on 288. 40 years ago when the area was mostly black, putting those ramps there was a part of "progress". Now that the demographics have changed drastically, TxDOT is being more sensitive to that area and restoring the street grid and not catering wholly to commuters from Pearland. It's interesting.
  13. I remember that. It was mostly downtown and Midtown and it was kind hard to pull off at the time since some of the traffic light control cabinets were the old electromechanical type from the 50s and 60s and couldn't communicate with the new cabinets. I imagine the addition of the east-west light rail lines has made it a bit harder to synchronize traffic light timing too in later years.
  14. That might work if they can produce a self driving hoverbus in the next 10 years! That area didn't start becoming affluent until about 15-20 years ago and the freeway was routed through there over 50 years ago, so it's not as well insulated against big road expansion like areas that have been continuously affluent from the start like River Oaks.
  15. The new bridges will be longer, but I think the new length will come from the other side where more ROW will be taken.
  16. Is that a typo or will they really rename Rothwell/Nance between N. Main and McKee to Lyons Ave.? Why not call it Nance all the way to N. Main for consistency? I don't think Lyons ever historically ran to N. Main in that location if at all in the pre-freeway days.
  17. Tony Gullo has one in his personal collection in Magnolia. I was afraid to look at it the wrong way lest it fall apart!
  18. That was back when their fleet was comprised of a lot of older MD-80s. They've all been replaced with newer Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.
  19. There are plans for an eventual W. Airport overpass. It was seen here in the schematics for the US90A freeway in the early 2000s: http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/schematics/90a/images/90a_7_west_airport.jpg You can see the stubouts for the eventual connection on the EB feeder https://goo.gl/maps/f4NH56ebsgQg58Fy8
  20. It sounds like they're completing the gaps in the feeders between S. Main and W. Orem going by the description, but those gaps are less than 1/2 mi, and should be WAY less than $350m.
  21. That's correct about the toll road extension, but the viaduct replacement is a TxDOT project.
  22. It already runs below the freeway. But, if you mean trenching it below the feeder roads, that would be neat. That whole intersection can become a mess even outside of rush hour.
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