West Alabama Reconstruction

[trymahjong 463]

from Cohen's enewsletter

 

 

Public Meeting: W. Alabama Reconstruction

Council Member Cohen and the Public Works and Engineering Department will host a public meeting seeking community input on the upcoming reconstruction of W. Alabama St, from Weslayan St to Main St. This project will be completed in segments, in partnership with the Upper Kirby TIRZ and the Midtown TIRZ.

PUBLIC MEETING: W. ALABAMA ST RECONSTRUCTION
Thursday, July 30, 2015
6PM – 8PM
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
1805 W. Alabama St, 77098

For preliminary details on the project, please visit www.ReBuildHouston.org.

[Luminare 5879]

Wow. This would be great! W. Alabama has been a mess for a long time.

[samagon 3018]

wish they would remove the suicide lane that's sometimes one way and go for complete streets by adding separated bike lanes. I know they won't though, it's a 2 lane road that is considered a 'major arterial road'.

[rsb320 128]

wish they would remove the suicide lane that's sometimes one way and go for complete streets by adding separated bike lanes. I know they won't though, it's a 2 lane road that is considered a 'major arterial road'.

 

They put that reversible lane in when 59 was under construction.  They were supposed to take it out after construction, but never did.

 

W. Alabama sunk during the drought, leaving the manholes sticking up.  For a while they were major obstacles.

[skwatra 441]

wish they would remove the suicide lane that's sometimes one way and go for complete streets by adding separated bike lanes. I know they won't though, it's a 2 lane road that is considered a 'major arterial road'.

 

I love the "suicide lane". I take it outbound often around 5:30pm, and love playing chicken with people who try to use it (knowingly or out of confusion) to take illegal lefts that are coming the other way. I always have an out for myself of course.

[BigFootsSocks 3105]

Living life on the edge, I see.

[LarryDierker 3384]

I often see people on weekends use the suicide lane as a fast lane to pass all the cars in front of them.

[mollusk 2259]

I often see people on weekends use the suicide lane as a fast lane to pass all the cars in front of them.

 

That's a common use of suicide lanes, regardless of where they are or the day of the week.  I notice that most of the a**hats pulling that stunt are also driving stereotypical Vehicles Of The Entitled - brodozers, European SUVs, black Escalades/Suburbans, and the like.

[skwatra 441]

I only use it when its designated as an actual lane. on the weekends I will pull in to it to avoid hitting the brakes for a right turner in front of me, if there is no oncoming traffic.

 

anyways, back on topic: did anyone here attend the public meetings? Any plans or minutes released?

[cspwal 3549]

Found an article from yesterday with a write up

 

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/west_university/news/city-seeks-public-input-on-w-alabama-reconstruction/article_788bbced-1f77-579e-b29f-4b0d3a4af283.html

 

 

The proposed project has two options which differentiate based on the usage of right-of-way. In Option 1, has two lanes of one 11 ft continuous turn lane and two 11 ft. travel lanes that include a five ft. bicycle lane on each side as well as two five ft. sidewalks on both sides of the streets. This option allows for less conflict between bicyclists and drivers, but may require the acquisition of more right-of-way.

The second option creates a 10 ft off-street shared sidewalk for both pedestrians and bicyclists on the north side of the street and a five ft. sidewalk on the south side. This option allows for less right-of-way acquisition and the preservation of trees.

 

[ADCS 392]

The off-street option is by far the better of the two.

[Luminare 5879]

The off-street option is by far the better of the two.

 

I actually like both options!

 

I do like the off-street options simply because they would actually put in a 10' sidewalk. That's pretty much unheard of in this town lol. Its great though. I really like the fact that they will be realigning the intersection of Timmons and W. Alabama. That really needs to be fixed.

 

I would be more for option 1 if they did the bike lines on each side similar to downtown where there was a clear separate between car traffic and bicycle traffic with the lanes painted.

[cspwal 3549]

Posted in the bike sub-forum

 

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Riders-hopeful-for-bike-friendly-West-Alabama-6581498.php

[curbur 94]

Option 2 would be amazing! I'm not getting my hopes up lol..

[BeerNut 2324]

When will a decision be made?

[j_cuevas713 2685]

On 12/4/2015 at 3:03 PM, BeerNut said:

When will a decision be made?

Never because crap like this takes forever in this city. 

[j_cuevas713 2685]

Any word on this??? I also noticed orange pylons along the Richmond median. Are they repaving Richmond?

[Highrise Tower 26987]

On 2/7/2017 at 8:01 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

Any word on this??? I also noticed orange pylons along the Richmond median. Are they repaving Richmond?

 

Improvements are coming to West Alabama Street in River Oaks area in 2021

https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/transportation/2020/07/07/improvements-are-coming-to-west-alabama-street-in-river-oaks-area-in-2021/

 

Quote

 

As part of a bigger four-phase effort, the Houston has been responsible for two segments of improvements to West Alabama.

The Weslayan Street to Buffalo Speedway segment is scheduled for construction in 2021 and calls for new concrete streets with storm drainage, sidewalks, driveways, street lighting with water and wastewater updates. The project is scheduled for bids later this month. Construction is slated for spring 2021.

The segment from Buffalo Speedway to Shepherd is the responsibility of the Upper Kirby TIRZ, while the segment from Spur 527 to Chenevert is the responsibility of the Midtown TIRZ.

 

Timeline: spring 2021-TBD

Cost: $15.87 million

 

 

[Blue Dogs 86]

What could possibly go wrong ? 🤔

[Texasota 2462]

Huh? With what?

[j_cuevas713 2685]

1 of 4 segments moving forward. No surprise RO is ahead of the game. 

[Montrose1100 3444]

How is the Kirby portion of the segments not a part of "Upper Kirby" TIRZ?

[Houston19514 4132]

2 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

How is the Kirby portion of the segments not a part of "Upper Kirby" TIRZ?

 

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but I think KIrby is between Buffalo Speedway and Shepherd (and therefore included in the Upper Kirby TIRZ segment).

[Montrose1100 3444]

10 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but I think KIrby is between Buffalo Speedway and Shepherd (and therefore included in the Upper Kirby TIRZ segment).

Lol dammit Houston19514. My symptoms are done with so I can’t blame the Covid. Just stupidity.

[Highrise Tower 26987]

Buffalo Speedway & West Alabama.

 

 

[j_cuevas713 2685]

On 7/18/2020 at 8:32 PM, Highrise Tower said:

Buffalo Speedway & West Alabama.

 

 

Is this the section the city is responsible for or Upper Kirby TIRZ? I feel like Upper Kirby is a good example of what the COH wants to accomplish city wide. 

[Highrise Tower 26987]

[Highrise Tower 26987]

 

[cspwal 3549]

What is the hole for?

[thedistrict84 421]

9 hours ago, cspwal said:

What is the hole for?

Since you had to ask, now they’re going to throw you down there.