Subdude Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 TxDOT Sets I-45 Expansion and Elysian Viaduct MeetingsPublic meetings are scheduled for two Texas Department of Transportation projects that will have significant impacts on historic neighborhoods north of downtown Houston.I-45 ExpansionTxDOT will present its Preferred Alternative Report for the proposed I-45 expansion at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, July 13, during the Technical Advisory Committee meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at H-GAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 awesome - thanks for the information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I did not read it, is this abou the tunnel? Or was that pretty much a joke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Thanks, Dude:Interesting reading...except for the yawningly unimaginative approach to solving a freeway transportation problem.Somebody needs to hit reboot on those cyborgs. Same crap day in and day out. Mind numbingly uninspired work product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I did not read it, is this abou the tunnel? Or was that pretty much a joke?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I did a search on the large one, and tunnel wasn't mentioned once.But some good news is that as alternatives light rail, BRT, commuter rail. But none of the plans listed included these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danax Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Somebody needs to hit reboot on those cyborgs. Same crap day in and day out. Mind numbingly uninspired work product. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, a chip replacement while they're at it. I was at one open house for the Viaduct that they sponsored last year and the whole thing seemed designed to steer the poor residents into thinking the 3 alternatives that they presented were the only ways (all involving freeway connectors to the Hardy Tollroad from I-10, even though the GHPA and some others had presented a plan to divert the connector east, drop the viaduct to at-grade and preserve the divided Hardy/Elysian boulevard in anticipation of the area being upgraded. Not what they wanted to hear, apparently. Sounded good to me but what do I know. I left feeling like there was little hope for anything but a big ol' butt-ugly freeway to rip the neighborhood apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Well, TxDOT can only offer the freeway solution. It can't offer rail and many other ingenious concepts. Those would have to come through a partnership with communities, Metro, HCTRA, City and County. Any alternative is performed through partnerships.The tunnel concept is just a concept and it something TxDOT would never back over here. It may work one I-635 in Dallas, but not here.I-45 from I-610 to I-10 will probably be widened a little, but not to add more free lanes. It seems the HOT lane concept of the Katy would be applied here and rightly so.The widening is also for safety reason. Some overpasses are too low and shoulders are minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 13, 2005 Author Share Posted July 13, 2005 The tunnel concept is just a concept and it something TxDOT would never back over here. It may work one I-635 in Dallas, but not here.Why is that? Are we not good enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 TxDOT wouldn't go the tunnel route unless somehow money started raining from the heavens. If they do build it, it would have to be in partnership with HCTRA and be tolled.The Dallas concept was their ADT (average daily traffic) numbers were getting to the point where future projections would have rush hour occur all day long. The tunnel was a concept to let through traffic bypass most of the exits for a portion of the freeway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Why is that? Are we not good enough?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>It's not that. There is too much corruption, pork, and now, gerrymandering going on in austin, politics, and texas districts. All of this affects our elected "representatives". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 I45 Expansion hearing results:TxDOT presents Preferred Alternative Report for I-45 CorridorDuring this morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxConcrete Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Why is that? Are we not good enough?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>The I-635 tunnels in Dallas are feasible because of geological conditions in Dallas. Just below the surface there is a chalky limestone which has excellent strength but is also very easy and predictable to cut. It is just about ideal for tunneling. In Houston we don't have such luck. I don't know exactly what is beneath I-45 but I would guess it is expansive clay with a high water table.The tunnels in Dallas won't be cheap, even though they're about as cheap as you can get for a tunnel. The entire project to add managed lanes to I-635 from US 75 to I-35E and I-35E south of I-635 to Loop 12 is estimated at $1.5 billion. I have not been able to determine the cost of the bored tunnels (which are 2 miles long), but it is surely in the hundreds of millions.In addition, the managed lanes will be tolled and privatized so Dallasites may end up paying big bucks to use the lanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chenevert Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Can someone enlighten me on the history of why the Elysian Viaduct was built in the first place....I dont know too much about that area of town, but it appears to connect a rather depressed area of town directly to downtown.While neat, I dont see why it was ever constructed??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Can someone enlighten me on the history of why the Elysian Viaduct was built in the first place....I dont know too much about that area of town, but it appears to connect a rather depressed area of town directly to downtown.While neat, I dont see why it was ever constructed???They had to clear the bayou with sufficient height and also a couple active railroad tracks. It does seem a little like overkill, but spatially, that's just how it worked out.It doesn't really matter that the area has a lot of poor people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chenevert Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 They had to clear the bayou with sufficient height and also a couple active railroad tracks. It does seem a little like overkill, but spatially, that's just how it worked out.It doesn't really matter that the area has a lot of poor people.I understand they needed an overpass over the bayou and railroad tracks, but the elevated road continues for some time into the neighborhood.Why was it elevated for so long and ends up going, seemingly nowhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I understand they needed an overpass over the bayou and railroad tracks, but the elevated road continues for some time into the neighborhood.Why was it elevated for so long and ends up going, seemingly nowhere?It also needed to clear I-10 and its feeder roads, which were built almost 15 years after the viaduct was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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