august948 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 6 hours ago, Ross said: Everyone knows that you don't own the parking in front of your house. However, on a street like Pecore, eliminating street parking completely means you can't even park a car for 2 minutes while moving cars around. Nor can a truck park to move your belongings. Will people survive? Sure, but at great inconvenience. Yet another BS strawman. Pecore isn't clogged, and never will be. People will just do this... How often is parking in a bike lane actually ticketed? Probably not often. Especially if you're just moving your cars around for a few minutes. Bicyclists might be annoyed for a moment or two, but if the road doesn't have bumper to bumper traffic, they'll just go around the parked car and be on their merry way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 If that's a bike lane pictured, it's a death trap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 1 hour ago, gmac said: If that's a bike lane pictured, it's a death trap. It's Polk. I road it this weekend and it really really is. It's also scheduled for proper bike lane infrastructure soon and the Lanier bike gutters will be replaced. The quality of the concrete is absolutely atrocious, so not sure what they plan on doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 8 hours ago, Ross said: Everyone knows that you don't own the parking in front of your house. However, on a street like Pecore, eliminating street parking completely means you can't even park a car for 2 minutes while moving cars around. Nor can a truck park to move your belongings. Will people survive? Sure, but at great inconvenience. Shouldn't be a problem with a household full of drivers for all of those cars, right? 😁 Even if you didn't momentarily park in the bike lane like the other commenter suggested, the furthest house from a side street intersection is about 400 feet. We're not exactly talking about parking pandemonia like Philadelphia or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3mh Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 10 hours ago, Ross said: Everyone knows that you don't own the parking in front of your house. However, on a street like Pecore, eliminating street parking completely means you can't even park a car for 2 minutes while moving cars around. Nor can a truck park to move your belongings. Will people survive? Sure, but at great inconvenience. Yet another BS strawman. Pecore isn't clogged, and never will be. It is not a strawman argument when you are using a hypothetical to point out hypocrisy. People who are raising the issue of residents losing street parking are really just against making any sort of accommodation for bicycles and pedestrians that causes inconvenience to cars. So, it doesn't matter what street it is or whether there actually is a traffic issue or not. The hypothetical rings true. If the the issue was improving traffic flow by taking away onstreet parking, the same people who are raising concerns about losing onstreet parking would be making all kinds of arguments that people living on the street need to take one for the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 5 hours ago, gmac said: If that's a bike lane pictured, it's a death trap. A lot that I've seen are. Not just the bad concrete job but, on the west side of town at least, they've just restriped roads like Richmond and Briar Forest, shrinking the existing lanes to accommodate the new bike lane. The result is traffic going 40mph+ right beside you in the narrower lanes while you try to navigate the less-than-stellar conditions near the gutters. I've seen enough swerving into the bike lanes that I don't even use them. I stay on the sidewalks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Those are old bike lanes. If you look at the new Bike Plan, they're not considered part of the city's "high comfort" bike network. Now, it remains to be seen to what standard the new lanes will be consistently (or not) built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 6 hours ago, s3mh said: It is not a strawman argument when you are using a hypothetical to point out hypocrisy. People who are raising the issue of residents losing street parking are really just against making any sort of accommodation for bicycles and pedestrians that causes inconvenience to cars. So, it doesn't matter what street it is or whether there actually is a traffic issue or not. The hypothetical rings true. If the the issue was improving traffic flow by taking away onstreet parking, the same people who are raising concerns about losing onstreet parking would be making all kinds of arguments that people living on the street need to take one for the team. I would be happy to make accommodations for bikes and pedestrians, but I always want to minimize the impact on current property owners and residents. Fortunately, the City employees at the meeting tonight said Pecore was out of scope for the moment, as there's not enough traffic to really require striping modifications, and the traffic issues are almost non-existent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 9 hours ago, Ross said: I would be happy to make accommodations for bikes and pedestrians, but I always want to minimize the impact on current property owners and residents. Fortunately, the City employees at the meeting tonight said Pecore was out of scope for the moment, as there's not enough traffic to really require striping modifications, and the traffic issues are almost non-existent. I wasn't able to go last night. Can you give us any other comments/info from the meeting? I'm surprised that they said Pecore didn't trigger on-street due to traffic count, but the numbers are the numbers. Basically, they want to paint sharrows there? Did they want to split the bike lane across the median on the west side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 13 hours ago, Texasota said: Those are old bike lanes. If you look at the new Bike Plan, they're not considered part of the city's "high comfort" bike network. Now, it remains to be seen to what standard the new lanes will be consistently (or not) built. What do they consider "high comfort"? To me that would be a grade separated hike and bike trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 What happened at the meeting last night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 1 hour ago, august948 said: What do they consider "high comfort"? To me that would be a grade separated hike and bike trail. I believe high comfort is anything with separation between the bike lane and regular lanes. That can be paint-only. Also, this project is listed as a CIP, not a Rodney Ellis $10 million project (like the Patterson bikeway). This means that it probably doesn't have the ultra-rapid implementation like the county-funded projects. When the presentation does appear online, it should appear on this page: http://houstonbikeplan.org/11th-street/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 The meeting was mostly uneventful. It started with a statement that for now, Pecore and West of Shepherd are out of scope. Pecore is a different type of street with far fewer safety issues than 11th, as the street is narrower, has speed bumps, and has on street parking, all of which mitigate against speeding. West of Shepherd has the median issues to deal with, trees on both sides and in the middle, and a completely different traffic pattern due to the esplanade and traffic turning left from Shepherd and right from Durham. A count of accidents since 2010 for each intersection was shown, with Shepherd/Durham leading the way. However, there were no details on whether the accidents were caused by North/South traffic or 11th traffic. Funding is from the bike funds, and Mayor Turner wants something done right now, as lots of folks have complained about the Nicholson trail intersection. The City says there's no way to put a light there that conforms to the standards. Lots of time spent extolling the virtues of the road diet plan, and by the way we might put bike lanes in to justify using the bikeway funding. The presentation is supposed to be up by the end of the week. Pretty awful presentation due to a red background that apparently appeared by magic and refused to leave. Some of the slides ended up with red on red text. Public comments were mostly OK. First speaker spent most of an hour(not really, but it seemed overly long) talking about her family and her daily activities before getting to the point that she felt endangered every time she tied to cross 11th with her child. I mostly was thinking "get to the point, please, I'm begging you". After that things improved, and folks were quick to say their piece. Lots of complaints about no real plans at Nicholson, other than it looks like a good place to put a pedestrian refuge(what we used to call an island). The picture had the island completely blocking Nicholson, which would likely annoy a few folks, but that was probably a mistake. A few bike riders railed against the general state of Houston driving, with the implication that Mogadishu has better drivers who are far more polite. A Pecore resident stated that there are 97 houses, 19 garage apartments, and 10 businesses on the 6/10 of a mile stretch. The garage apartments and many of the business properties have no off street parking. Another Pecore resident suggested dead ending Pecore before Main, claiming that was how it used to be. A quick perusal of Google Earth doesn't show any dead ending on my PC. I bailed at 8, so don't have any idea what went on after that. My general impression is that the restriping will happen from Shepherd to Michaux. Heights Blvd is an issue, and there may not be a center lane there due to a lack of space between the North and South bound lanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 12 hours ago, wilcal said: I believe high comfort is anything with separation between the bike lane and regular lanes. That can be paint-only. Also, this project is listed as a CIP, not a Rodney Ellis $10 million project (like the Patterson bikeway). This means that it probably doesn't have the ultra-rapid implementation like the county-funded projects. When the presentation does appear online, it should appear on this page: http://houstonbikeplan.org/11th-street/ Lol on the paint-only. I've seen too many lawn service trailers swerving in and out of the bike lane on Richmond (a paint-only bike lane) to consider that any kind of comfort, much less high comfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skwatra Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I would take paint-only in a heartbeat on Weslayan. That and some street sweeping for debris removal. Obviously some sort of barrier separation would be great, but paint and a little maintenance would go a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 9 hours ago, august948 said: Lol on the paint-only. I've seen too many lawn service trailers swerving in and out of the bike lane on Richmond (a paint-only bike lane) to consider that any kind of comfort, much less high comfort. 8 minutes ago, skwatra said: I would take paint-only in a heartbeat on Weslayan. That and some street sweeping for debris removal. Obviously some sort of barrier separation would be great, but paint and a little maintenance would go a long way. They have been typically using painted separation/addition of armadillos of a few feet on higher traffic streets. So a little better, but not wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 22 hours ago, wilcal said: I believe high comfort is anything with separation between the bike lane and regular lanes. That can be paint-only. Also, this project is listed as a CIP, not a Rodney Ellis $10 million project (like the Patterson bikeway). This means that it probably doesn't have the ultra-rapid implementation like the county-funded projects. When the presentation does appear online, it should appear on this page: http://houstonbikeplan.org/11th-street/ If implemented, the bike plan could lead many more people to opt for biking. BikeHouston Advocacy Director Jessica Wiggins says that by next April, the city should build out 50 miles of “high comfort” bikeways, meaning either trails at least 10 feet wide or bike lanes with a three-foot buffer or some physical barrier. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/04/25/houstons-getting-ready-for-a-flurry-of-bike-lane-expansion/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 48 minutes ago, Houston19514 said: If implemented, the bike plan could lead many more people to opt for biking. BikeHouston Advocacy Director Jessica Wiggins says that by next April, the city should build out 50 miles of “high comfort” bikeways, meaning either trails at least 10 feet wide or bike lanes with a three-foot buffer or some physical barrier. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/04/25/houstons-getting-ready-for-a-flurry-of-bike-lane-expansion/ So, does anyone know how they're doing on the 50 mile plan? April is next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Developer Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 has anybody looked at the plan? it doesn't appear that pecore is included in this. it is proposed to run from shepherd to Michaux... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I wonder if any thought has been given to making Pecore one-way. That way everybody wins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 9 hours ago, Evil Developer said: has anybody looked at the plan? it doesn't appear that pecore is included in this. it is proposed to run from shepherd to Michaux... Haven't seen it yet. And yes, they said no pecore and nothing west of shepherd at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angostura Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Powerpoint and updated info at the original link: http://houstonbikeplan.org/implementation/infrastructure/11th-street/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 I'm really not coming at this in a form of poor taste, but you have to wonder how the bike fatality just a few blocks away from here will affect thinking of residents. Even people with right of way in bike paths are getting killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 WilCal, I dont think its in bad taste. I was pretty upset by that fatality on 8th street as I ride on heights blvd quite a bit. My personal opinion is that the 11th street bike path is a good infrastructure development. My personal way of advocating for additional biking infrastructure is to remind my fellow neighbors that cyclists are people too and building things like protected bike lines might be a way to mitigate fatalities and injuries for pedestrians and cyclists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angostura Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 When you're not used to seeing pedestrians and cyclists, it's easy to forget they exist. A lot of people are used to making right turns by only looking left waiting for vehicle traffic to clear, and moving before looking right (for pedestrians in the cross walk). Usually this works out fine, since pedestrians are uncommon in most places in Houston. As certain areas increase density with more and more infill development, and the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure improves, one hopes drivers will get used to sharing the space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 When would construction likely start? If it's on the Houston Bike Plan site or here in this thread, I am missing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Triton said: When would construction likely start? If it's on the Houston Bike Plan site or here in this thread, I am missing it. It's a CIP project so I'm assuming it would be similar to the Patterson bikeway, which would mean almost immediately. Pretty sure they would have to spend the funds this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angostura Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Two pedestrian fatalities on Shepherd near 11th over the weekend. Shepherd/Durham is essentially an 8-lane highway running through what is rapidly converting to a high-density mixed-use neighborhood with an increasing amount of pedestrian traffic. Some sort of traffic calming can't come soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Would more lights help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3mh Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Apparently, the victim was trying to help someone in a wheelchair who was struggling to get across the street at W 10th and North Shepherd. There actually is a painted crosswalk at 10th and Shepherd because there is a bus stop at the SE corner of Shepherd and 10th. There should be a light at that crosswalk as it is insane to expect people to cross 4 lanes of Shepherd with people flying down the bridge over the bayou going 45-50 mph. But I would assume that the same reason the city won't put a light at the bike path at 11th and Nicholson would prevent a light at the crossing at 10th and Shep. I believe it is something to do with traffic control design and the transportation code. Houston and the State of Texas need to seriously update the laws and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. We keep pouring more and more people into urban areas with street grids that were designed for a city about a fourth of the size of Houston and with inner loop density closer to that of the suburbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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