new bike paths around town

[Luminare]

On 5/30/2020 at 4:47 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

The city needs to put parking signs up to show people where to park. I almost got hit dead on twice last night from people driving on the bike lanes. BUT this is beautiful urban-ism. Continuing to improve and build upon on our city. Think about how much better of a presence The Park Shops will have when they renovate.

 

My hope is in the next round of street redo's that Downtown will get they will actually build in all this infrastructure. We have to remember that this is a stop gap until then. You are correct though that until all this new infrastructure is literally baked into the design of upgraded roads they need to better delineate one thing from another. I've just been surprised at how quickly they have been rolling out these new protected bike ways. It seemed like it took them forever to put in the bikeway from Buffalo Bayou to Discovery Green, but these have been going in lightning quick. Its like a new protected bikeway every couple of weeks.

[JBTX]

On 5/30/2020 at 5:56 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

That lane over I-10 is getting destroyed by cars because of stupid drivers. 

 

Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of the warehouse with a giant "BIKE LANE" sign in front of it.

 

Really sad how little people pay attention to the obvious bike paths...

[j_cuevas713]

I mean the long term affect of driving with no responsibility to others in this city because of poor infrastructure and a lack of creating more pedestrian oriented development has allowed people to drive recklessly and ignore very common sense rules of the road.

[samagon]

well, it's just like metrorail.

 

people will learn over time how to interact with these new ideas.

 

on the one hand, as cyclists, it sucks that we have to remain on guard even in a protected lane.

 

on the other hand, we can focus our attention to our personal safety to a few specific areas.

 

with all the new cyclists out there, I am so hopeful that we are in a bit of a turning point, and that more people will want more areas for safe cycling.

[j_cuevas713]

20 hours ago, samagon said:

well, it's just like metrorail.

 

people will learn over time how to interact with these new ideas.

 

on the one hand, as cyclists, it sucks that we have to remain on guard even in a protected lane.

 

on the other hand, we can focus our attention to our personal safety to a few specific areas.

 

with all the new cyclists out there, I am so hopeful that we are in a bit of a turning point, and that more people will want more areas for safe cycling.

I agree. This city is def making a turn in to a much more bike friendly city. The ton's of new bike lanes, the bike trails which is basically a highway system for cyclists, and the bike share program are forcing people to pay attention more. We can def become a gold level bike city in just a couple of years if we keep moving forward.

[samagon]

saw this today on my afternoon ride:

 

quick google and I found this:

https://www.constructionbidsource.com/archives/leeland-bike-lane-construction-project-houston-tx

 

Quote

Project consists of a long-term retrofit for High Comfort (Buffered) Bike Lanes along both sides of Leeland Street from Velasco Street (Columbia Tap Trail) to Cullen Blvd. (3,500 FT) and on both sides of Cullen Boulevard from Leeland Street to Polk Street (1,000 FT)

 

wish they were carrying it farther down leeland, at least all the way to lawndale, but I guess in time...

[cspwal]

This will be awesome for my commute - literally the whole thing can now be on bike lanes

[skooljunkie]

Improvements to Heights Blvd. and some MKT trail intersections are now being planned by TIRZ 5. Construction planned for 2021 according to budget. Here are some highlights from the June Board meeting:

 

Project No. T-0527 Heights Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety:

TASK A: Final Design for Bicycle Safety Improvements on Heights Boulevard
Addition of Shared Use Trail along Heights Boulevard: The overall work at this location involves striping of new bike lines on existing pavement along Heights Boulevard between IH 10 Frontage Road and Center Street, and adding concrete shared use trail behind the curb between Center Street and Washington Avenue. We understand that the existing sidewalk will be replaced with shared use trail. [Includes design of buffered bike lanes on either side of Heights Boulevard].

 

TASK B: Analysis and Final Design of HAWK Signal at Heights Boulevard and the MKT Trail

 

TASK C  Final Design of Safety Improvements along the MKT Trail

 

MKT Trail at Heights Boulevard: Improvements at this location includes construction of raised crosswalk across Heights Boulevard and installation of new traffic signal.

 

MKT Trail at Houston Avenue and Sawyer Street: Improvements at these locations includes construction of raised crosswalk across Houston Avenue and Sawyer Street.

Includes design of landing condition on Northeast corner of Sawyer and crosswalk improvements.

Includes design of pedestrian signal improvements at the Northeast corner of Sawyer.
Includes signage improvements along the trail.

 

Project No. T-0529 Yale and Center Intersection - Reconstruct intersection, replace signal and improve pedestrian crossing at Yale Street at Center Street.

Edited June 30, 2020 by skooljunkie
spelling

[Texasota]

The intersection of White Oak and Houston is really disappointing. The northbound buffered bike lane becomes an unbuffered lane sandwiched between the through lane and the right turn lane. Bad bad bad. Don't they understand that intersections are the *most* dangerous places and need more protection, not less? And they had so much room to play with; it's not like this is due to space constraints. 

 

The description of the planned work sounds good though.

[j_cuevas713]

The city is “considering” an ordinance lol

Edited July 20, 2020 by j_cuevas713

[cspwal]

They've started work on the Leeland bike lane.  Looks like it's going from Scott to the Columbia Tap trail

(Columbia Tap trail is right behind the sign)

 

Curb work

[cspwal]

Starting on the bike lane intersection with the columbia tap trail (with Leeland)

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by cspwal

[hindesky]

I had to ride around this heading northbound. It wasn't to bad for me but anyone heading south had to backtrack 1/2 block or jump the cable straddling the bike path.

Edited August 23, 2020 by hindesky

[cspwal]

City still doesn't do great on bike detours ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[TacoDog]

14 hours ago, cspwal said:

City still doesn't do great on bike detours ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

I make my own detours 🤠

[EaDo Lou]

Work has started on extending the bike trail further east of McKee just south of Buffalo Bayou.  Just a short extension to the existing trails at James Bute Park will allow the trails on the south banks of Buffalo Bayou east of HWY 59 to be connected to the rest of the Buffalo Bayou/White Oak Bayou trails.

Edited August 28, 2020 by EaDo Lou

[Sunstar]

20 hours ago, EaDo Lou said:

Work has started on extending the bike trail further east of McKee just south of Buffalo Bayou.  Just a short extension to the existing trails at James Bute Park will allow the trails on the south banks of Buffalo Bayou east of HWY 59 to be connected to the rest of the Buffalo Bayou/White Oak Bayou trails.

I wonder if BBP managed to acquire the old Gable Street Power plant property from Centerpoint? Would be great to turn that into a recreational area. 

[tigereye]

On 8/28/2020 at 5:40 PM, EaDo Lou said:

Work has started on extending the bike trail further east of McKee just south of Buffalo Bayou.  Just a short extension to the existing trails at James Bute Park will allow the trails on the south banks of Buffalo Bayou east of HWY 59 to be connected to the rest of the Buffalo Bayou/White Oak Bayou trails.

And this project should tie in with work extending the Buffalo Bayou trails eastward from Allen’s Landing to McKee St. Also, the new east trails will have a promenade at Austin St that connects to its bike lane. 
 

 

[Triton]

When are they ever going to fix the collapsed section near Travis St. from Harvey (or from that thunderstorm shortly after Harvey)?

[EaDo Lou]

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/09-04-20-buffalo-bayou-new-park-trail-fannin-street-mckee-street-austin-street-bikeway/

[hindesky]

From Bike Houston........

What does the new administration mean for people who bike in Houston?

President Biden’s nomination of former South Bend, Indiana mayor and erstwhile presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary signals a dramatic change at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Compared to the previous administration, which was decidedly more invested in rural infrastructure, Buttigieg and his team will have a considerably more city-focused agenda.

We don’t know how Buttigieg’s leadership will impact Houston, but there are plenty of positive signs:

• When he was mayor of South Bend, Buttigieg used bonds and tax increment financing to fund a downtown street redesign program, and it paid off: in 2018, South Bend was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Silver-Level Bicycle Friendly Community. 
• As a presidential candidate, Buttigieg called for doubling funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program, which pays for things like sidewalks and bike lanes, and was the only candidate whose platform made any mention of Vision Zero. 
• And since his nomination, he’s bemoaned “auto-centric” transportation planning and vowed to dismantle racist freeways (I-45, anyone?). 

Buttigieg’s boss rides a bike (a Trek FX) and he mentions hiking and biking trails in his clean energy plan. But more importantly, the president has already begun filling out the team with leading urban transportation experts like former New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, who built more than 120 miles of protected bike lanes during her seven years at NYC DOT, who will be deputy secretary, and Dani Simons, who has held senior roles at Citi Bike and the Regional Plan Association (and is a fellow Transportation Alternatives alum!), who will be assistant to the secretary and director of public affairs.

There will be hoops to jump through and murky political waters to navigate before we see any results from Mayor Pete’s DOT. But a city like ours, which has lofty goals but limited means, stands to benefit from a bigger pot of federal money for things like bike lanes and sidewalks. For now we’ll remain optimistic, but stay tuned for ways to take action when the time comes. Buttigieg calls this moment a “generational opportunity.” Let’s make sure Houston doesn’t miss out. 

Onward,

Joe Cutrufo
Executive Director

[hindesky]

2020 was the year Houstonians stayed out of their cars and grabbed a bike. A record 34 of them died.

 

 

Dug Begley, Staff writer

Jan. 12, 2021Updated: Jan. 17, 2021 4:52 p.m.

The coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge in bike sales and bike riding across the Houston region at a time when pedaling — and driving — area streets is deadlier than ever.

A sharp drop in driving could not stop road fatalities from reaching a record high based on data compiled by the Texas Department of Transportation.

That lack of safety was especially true in 2020 for bicyclists, who represent a fraction of road users but 5 percent of those killed. Last year 31 men and three women died on area roads. The annual total of 34 exceeds that of 2019, which also was a record at 27 for the region in a single year.

Based on a preliminary analysis — reports can take weeks to enter the state’s crash database maintained by TxDOT — crashes involving bicycles are down 15 percent while deaths are up 26 percent from 2019.

Safety researchers and cycling advocates, however, were reluctant to draw too many conclusions from the early numbers or begin laying blame for the jump on any single cause. In fact, where crashes occurred and who died does not align with the noticeable increase in recreational cycling but, rather, the same factors present before the pandemic: a lack of safe space for bicycles, inadequate or absent lighting, and street design choices that enable drivers to speed.

“These aren’t accidents,” said Joe Cutrufo, executive director of BikeHouston, a local advocacy group. “Our streets were intentionally designed to accommodate one mode and only one mode.”

 

It is something Nicole Rees, 34, said she never noticed behind the wheel but is unmistakable on a bike. Rees dug her bike out of her Oak Forest garage last summer so she and her husband could ride around their neighborhood.

“My god, the people not paying attention,” she said as she rested along White Oak Trail north of 43rd Street. “You see people doing everything but looking at the road.

 

The combination of inattention and speed can be compounded by streets where drivers are not expecting to see cyclists, where there are few amenities for riding a bike safely and where in some cases drivers cannot see cyclists at all because of lighting.

Yet despite bicycle use for recreation and commuting being higher in neighborhoods within and around Loop 610, that is not where fatalities are happening. Deaths of bicyclists within Loop 610 dropped from seven in 2019 to one last year.

Instead, it is suburban areas where crashes are happening in larger numbers, such as in Houston along U.S. 90 and major streets nearby within the Sam Houston Tollway and along FM 1960 near Bush Intercontinental Airport, which were not built with bicycles in mind.

The number of fatalities always has fallen off the farther from central Houston one gets, but last year some suburban counties logged increases, notably in Brazoria County where five bicyclists lost their lives. The county’s previous high was three in 2011.

 

Busy intersections also are a problem spot, something that has carried into 2021. The city’s first bicycle fatality of the year occurred Jan. 5 when a man cycling on the sidewalk was struck as he tried to cross Westheimer at Fondren. An SUV driver turning onto Westheimer mowed the rider down and kept going. The hit-and-run remains under investigation, officials said.

“If we wanted to design an intersection intended to repel bicyclists and maximize fatal crashes, it would look something like Westheimer and Fondren, where there are 16 lanes for cars and trucks and zero for people on bikes,” Cutrufo said.

Last year’s rise in bicyclist deaths mirrors the increase in overall road deaths despite the pandemic-induced economic slowdown that has resulted in fewer vehicles on freeways and streets.

In the 11-county Houston area, 718 roadway deaths were reported by police in 2020, with almost 60 percent being drivers or passengers in cars and trucks. Despite efforts at the state, regional and local levels to curtail crashes and a pandemic that at times cut vehicle use in half, wrecks continued to claim more lives, including a record 489 in Harris County, 267 of which occurred in Houston. Final totals could increase slightly as crashes late in the year are filed.

The conclusion of researchers — who caution that 2020 information is preliminary — is that fewer miles of automotive travel is leading to fewer wrecks, but the resulting collisions and catastrophes occurring are more severe. As a result, few can say roads are any safer.

 

“It is not better and it is not better despite our diminished travel,” said Robert Wunderlich, director of the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

While advocates for safer streets have scored promises of more action from local officials — Mayor Sylvester Turner last month cheered the city’s recently completed Vision Zero action plan for eliminating roadway deaths — many of the improvements are months and years away. Even then, some of those efforts will never make every mile of Houston-area streets safe.

Streets are not the only issue. Lighting often is a consideration in the deadly bike crashes around Houston. Of the 34 fatal incidents last year, 22 happened when it was dark, including 15 where there was no lighting whatsoever and seven in which some lighting was present. Of the 200 fatalities involving cyclists since 2011, 124 happened at night, making darkness more common where deaths occur than drugs or alcohol. In the decade, 74 of the 200 deaths were confirmed to have either the cyclist or the driver test positive for drugs and alcohol — though the presence of drugs does not mean for certain the person was impaired at the time.

Change, Wunderlich said, must come from improvements in the infrastructure but also improvements in how cyclists and drivers alike use the space they are offered.

“People are out there doing this thing, and as a motorist it is incumbent on you to know that situations are changing,” he said. “But I’ve got to say that the cyclists, if they do not start wearing reflective stuff or carrying lights, they are going to keep dying.”

Texas law requires cyclists riding at night to have a front light and either a light or a reflector on the rear of the bike. Riders are urged but not required to wear reflective clothing and do what’s practical to be seen.

“Of course cyclists have a duty to themselves and their family to be seen and follow the laws,” Cutrufo said, noting the difference in a car and a bicycle. “The greater burden of responsibility is on the drivers — that’s where the risk of harm is.”

dug.begley@chron.com

twitter.com/dugbegley

 

I Knew one of the cyclists killed during 2020, Mark Brooker a mechanical engineer was a snow skiing buddy I met while we were both members of the Space City Cycling Club in the Clear Lake area. He was always talking about his ski trips and asked him to invite me sometime. From then he invited me on his annual ski trips for the next 11 yrs. He was an avid cyclist and did multiple Iron Man events all around the world. He loved racing and would bike to work to stay in racing shape. I too raced and also rode to work to stay in shape and would often see him heading eastbound to the chemical plant he worked at  while I was commuting to work heading westbound to my job. He was killed in Independence Heights while on a training ride back in June of 2020. RIP Mark. 

Hindesky

[samagon]

thanks for the really good article.

22 hours ago, hindesky said:

it is suburban areas where crashes are happening in larger numbers, such as in Houston along U.S. 90 and major streets nearby within the Sam Houston Tollway and along FM 1960 near Bush Intercontinental Airport, which were not built with bicycles in mind.

Busy intersections also are a problem spot, something that has carried into 2021. The city’s first bicycle fatality of the year occurred Jan. 5 when a man cycling on the sidewalk was struck as he tried to cross Westheimer at Fondren. An SUV driver turning onto Westheimer mowed the rider down and kept going. The hit-and-run remains under investigation, officials said.

“If we wanted to design an intersection intended to repel bicyclists and maximize fatal crashes, it would look something like Westheimer and Fondren, where there are 16 lanes for cars and trucks and zero for people on bikes,” Cutrufo said.

the above is part of the reason I stopped participating in critical mass. what good is it to keep riding around downtown, east end, montrose, and other close in neighborhoods that are already filled with people who have a vague idea of how to interact with cyclists, and the roads are more conditioned to a shared use just by being smaller.

have critical mass meet out in sugarland, or meet in clear lake, or out in copperfield. that would make a statement. as it is, it's just a huge ride around downtown and the surrounding areas and is more of a ginormous social ride rather than any actual activism.

Terribly sorry for your loss Hindesky.

Edited January 29, 2021 by samagon

[j_cuevas713]

33 minutes ago, samagon said:

thanks for the really good article.

the above is part of the reason I stopped participating in critical mass. what good is it to keep riding around downtown, east end, montrose, and other close in neighborhoods that are already filled with people who have a vague idea of how to interact with cyclists, and the roads are more conditioned to a shared use just by being smaller.

have critical mass meet out in sugarland, or meet in clear lake, or out in copperfield. that would make a statement. as it is, it's just a huge ride around downtown and the surrounding areas and is more of a ginormous social ride rather than any actual activism.

Terribly sorry for your loss Hindesky.

I couldn't agree more. 

[wilcal]

Two things:

A list of the in design or under construction bikeways in the area as of Jan. 27.

This was put together by city planner Melissa who runs the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

52.3 miles is pretty impressive. There is a link to a map at the bottom of the page, but I don't think that the map has all of it on there. 

 

Additionally, I was complaining on Twitter about how slow my 311 ticket response time has been on tickets where I have submitted cars parking in bike lanes, and KPRC reached out to me and we did an in-person interview on Polk St near Navarro MS where I pretty regularly experience residents parking in the older bike lanes. The CoH's acceptable turnaround time on these tickets is currently 28 days lol. I was mad it has been taking a week!

KPRC reached out to ParkHouston to ask about how many tickets/citations they've written since the ordinance was changed in October and they've issued a total of 1 ticket and 14 warnings. The piece will be on tv on 2/16 👍

[TrainTrak]

On 5/14/2020 at 2:17 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah prob right. I've just noticed some small areas that could be patched up or cleaned up recently. I'd hate to have all these new bike lanes neglected over the years. 

@j_cuevas713 or anyone else for that matter, any luck on getting 311 to clean up the bike lanes?  Crossing White Oak Bayou and I-10 on Houston Ave, the bike lanes were so full of trash, glass and gravel that I ended up jumping on the road both ways.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having those bike lanes if you can't use them.

[j_cuevas713]

38 minutes ago, TrainTrak said:

@j_cuevas713 or anyone else for that matter, any luck on getting 311 to clean up the bike lanes?  Crossing White Oak Bayou and I-10 on Houston Ave, the bike lanes were so full of trash, glass and gravel that I ended up jumping on the road both ways.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having those bike lanes if you can't use them.

So I actually contacted my district rep about a month ago for the same issue. They responded pretty quick, but they still haven't made any repairs. So I'm going to keep bugging them until they do. I'd keep sending 311 reports and email your rep. I agree, there is no point in having these new bike lanes if they aren't going to be maintained. You should see the damage on W Cavalcade. 

[wilcal]

2 hours ago, TrainTrak said:

@j_cuevas713 or anyone else for that matter, any luck on getting 311 to clean up the bike lanes?  Crossing White Oak Bayou and I-10 on Houston Ave, the bike lanes were so full of trash, glass and gravel that I ended up jumping on the road both ways.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having those bike lanes if you can't use them.

 

2 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

So I actually contacted my district rep about a month ago for the same issue. They responded pretty quick, but they still haven't made any repairs. So I'm going to keep bugging them until they do. I'd keep sending 311 reports and email your rep. I agree, there is no point in having these new bike lanes if they aren't going to be maintained. You should see the damage on W Cavalcade. 

Bicycle Advisory Committee talked about formalizing a maintenance plan soonish. I think that they said that there would be an update at the next meeting. 

[j_cuevas713]

10 minutes ago, wilcal said:

 

Bicycle Advisory Committee talked about formalizing a maintenance plan soonish. I think that they said that there would be an update at the next meeting. 

Thank goodness! 

 

[j_cuevas713]

I emailed the BAC yesterday about the issues on W Cavalcade, Houston Ave, and Polk St. They responded pretty fast. So hopefully these issues get resolved asap. I think continued community input puts more pressure on the city because they realize this isn't just for show anymore. People want bike lanes.