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Brays Bayou Master Plan


MontroseNeighborhoodCafe

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Yes, my understanding is that it will be just another bridge across the bayou. Well, not just another one. This one is somehow supposed to be fancy or something.

I think I'll ride by this weekend too.

FYI - Cambridge Bridge site is here http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=11403

Cool. I'll try not to run you over.

Umm...Mods?

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There's also a new hike and bike bridge over the Brays right next to the Ardmore St. bridge. It runs when the old Columbia Tap RR bridge was. They placed the bridge deck on top of the columns just a few days ago.

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This new bridge should have been created decades ago. That intersection becomes jammed during peak hours. Now traffic can head forward instead of being forced to turn left or right onto Holcombe, etc.

This specific intersection becomes quite dark at night. Check it out. However, the good part is this should all be a thing of the past (me hopes). Hopefully all of that unkept brush will be replaced with color ie; Oleander, azaleas, etc. :P

Isn't everyone just dying to see what the final appearance of this bridge will be?

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I caught a peek at the span structure the other day. It's a traditional bridge deck, from the look of the architecture and the little engravings on the pillars, it looks like TxDOT might give the bridge the old "Gulf Coast Colors" combo. Though I could be wrong. This is the color scheme I'm talking about.

nasa1_20071223_IMG_0085.jpg

This new bridge should have been created decades ago. That intersection becomes jammed during peak hours. Now traffic can head forward instead of being forced to turn left or right onto Holcombe, etc.

This specific intersection becomes quite dark at night. Check it out. However, the good part is this should all be a thing of the past (me hopes). Hopefully all of that unkept brush will be replaced with color ie; Oleander, azaleas, etc. :P

Isn't everyone just dying to see what the final appearance of this bridge will be?

Edited by JLWM8609
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  • 1 month later...

Take a slow drive East on Holcombe as you pass Almeda and start approaching this bridge wait until you see how grand the entry looks!

There are 4 very tall granite obelisks rising in to the very heavens! Look similar to this one below:

050607-f05.jpg

Would be neat if they put this guy right in the middle! Cool.

Luxor_Temple_Sitting_Colossus.jpg

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  • 4 months later...
  • 8 months later...

Sunday, I passed by and saw a truck from the Aztec company parked on the bridge setting up a tent. I guess there was some ceremony for the completion of the bridge. Today, I passed by and noticed some workers doing final touches to the bridge. The road closed signs were still up. I suspect it will be open soon. I haven't seen any traffic lights put up at the MacGregor side of the bridge. There's one traffic light there, but it's not really positioned to be intended for bridge traffic as it's just a temporary setup for the realignment of MacGregor. I suspect it'll be open later this week or sometime next week.

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Sunday, I passed by and saw a truck from the Aztec company parked on the bridge setting up a tent. I guess there was some ceremony for the completion of the bridge. Today, I passed by and noticed some workers doing final touches to the bridge. The road closed signs were still up. I suspect it will be open soon. I haven't seen any traffic lights put up at the MacGregor side of the bridge. There's one traffic light there, but it's not really positioned to be intended for bridge traffic as it's just a temporary setup for the realignment of MacGregor. I suspect it'll be open later this week or sometime next week.

They had a few signs up for "Bridge Event Parking" on Monday, at the bridge and on Harvin Blvd. I thought there was supposed to be some sort of event on Monday, but I couldn't find any listing about it from the city, and there were heavy thunderstorms all day Monday. Apparently there was an event Tuesday? But the bridge won't be open until "fall" which isn't too helpful.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/bellaire/news/6631528.html

Funny, I remember the grand opening of the Westpark Tollway being rained out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The bridge has been open to traffic since last week, though not all turn movements are allowed on the TMC side. Pedestrian trails haven't been connected, but they may be waiting for whatever Project Brays work is imminent before doing that.

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I used the bridge this morning too!

I regularly use Cambridge to get to the Krogers on OST/Cambridge...I've never before used Cambridge between OST and Holcombe. That's a nice piece of road. It's night and day compared to Cambridge between the South Loop and OST (the stretch I usually drive).

I think there are some serious sinkhole issues happening on Cambridge south of OST. It's a hell of a roller coaster ride, with lots of "birdbaths" in the street holding water for many days after a rain. I hope the City replaces Cambridge before it swallows up a car!

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I used the bridge this morning too!

I regularly use Cambridge to get to the Krogers on OST/Cambridge...I've never before used Cambridge between OST and Holcombe. That's a nice piece of road. It's night and day compared to Cambridge between the South Loop and OST (the stretch I usually drive).

I think there are some serious sinkhole issues happening on Cambridge south of OST. It's a hell of a roller coaster ride, with lots of "birdbaths" in the street holding water for many days after a rain. I hope the City replaces Cambridge before it swallows up a car!

Don't hold your breath. They'll probably cheap out and do a standard asphalt overlay like TxDOT did to OST to hide the poor condition of the concrete.

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I drove by the new bridge at night for the first time tonight. It's got colored lights on it to enhance it, but they leave something to be desired. There's a few blue dotlike lights on those columns at each end of the bridge and some lights to light up the trails going underneath.

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Will the next bridge also have decorative columns? Will they be bigger or strangely different? Will there be a theme for all bridges in Houston? What do the columns do? As costly as the non-functional columns are; I would hope that responsible city planners and designers use those funds for completion of bicycle lanes, street repair, or toward greater human locomotion instead of auto locomotion. Alaska has the "Bridge to Nowhere." Wainerdi Bridge has the "Sidewalks to Nowhere."

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Rode my bike towards the bridge today. So far it's a nightmare trying to find a bike path underneath the bridge that's actually connected to the asphalt MacGregor bike trail since they left a lot of mud everywhere. Kind of made me upset that it took me 25 mins just to find a route that went through since the bike detour takes you in circles.

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Is anything going to change with North MacGregor Way/South MacGregor Drive from Almeda to Cambridge?

I wouldn't think so since it just continues as N/S Braeswood south/west of Holcombe..

Something's going to change on S MacGregor between Almeda and Cambridge...but I'm not smart enough to figure it out yet.

Looks to me like S MacGregor will become a 2-way divided street? That's based on the paving they've built, along with a piece of pavement they're building to connect N MacGregor to S MacGregor (in front of the Hermann Park GC/just west of where Brays Bayou crosses MacGregor).

They're building a bridge right now for what will become the new eastbound lanes of S MacGregor. I believe what is currently being used as eastbound lanes will be converted to westbound lanes soon.

Anyone know what the plans are there? Am I close to being right? I don't know that I've ever driven MacGregor west of Cambridge, so I don't know what goes on over there......

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Looks to me like S MacGregor will become a 2-way divided street? That's based on the paving they've built, along with a piece of pavement they're building to connect N MacGregor to S MacGregor (in front of the Hermann Park GC/just west of where Brays Bayou crosses MacGregor).

They're building a bridge right now for what will become the new eastbound lanes of S MacGregor. I believe what is currently being used as eastbound lanes will be converted to westbound lanes soon.

Anyone know what the plans are there? Am I close to being right? I don't know that I've ever driven MacGregor west of Cambridge, so I don't know what goes on over there......

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! :D

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  • 9 months later...

I've been complaining about the way Brays Bayou looks for some time, and now it seems that they are going to try to make it look nicer, as well as accommodate more water. I noticed yesterday that the bike path was closed from Almeda to the "Columbia Tap" trail bridge to the east (near Ardmore street). I found this info online about the construction at this bart of the bayou which started on June 21.

http://www.projectbrays.org/news/2010-0708.html

When construction crews reach Hermann Park, they will be working within a narrow area to limit the amount of disruption to the 445-acre park. Not only will the bayou be wider through the park, but it will appear more natural when the work is complete, Farid said. Rather than remain in its current trapezoidal shape with steep banks, the newly-widened bayou will have scalloped edges and gentler slopes above the concrete lining, and it will be more visible from North and South MacGregor drives. “Not only will this project improve the capacity of the bayou, it will be an aesthetic enhancement to the park,” Farid said. “It’s a win-win situation.”

I always complained about the fact that Brays had so few trees along its banks compared with Buffalo Bayou, but hopefully they are going to fix that.

When construction is complete, the District plans to plant 1,400 trees and shrubs along the newly-widened banks.

Edited by Jax
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