11th Street Bike Lanes

[hindesky]

Tweaks to 11th Street plan to be discussed at upcoming meeting

 

The 11th Street Bikeway, which figures to transform transportation on one of the busiest thoroughfares in the Heights, continues to inch toward fruition.

The City of Houston is scheduled to provide an update on the project, which first was unveiled to the public in March 2019, during a virtual meeting of the Greater Heights Super Neighborhood Council at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16. Community members wishing to participate can obtain a meeting link by emailing ghsnc.sn15@gmail.com.

The design phase is 60 percent complete and expected to approach 90 percent “within the next couple weeks,” said Lauren Grove, a senior staff analyst for Houston Public Works. She is spearheading the project, which calls for multimodal traffic reconfigurations on a 1.5-mile stretch of 11th Street between North Shepherd Drive to the west and Michaux Street to the east, along with managing engineer Ian Hlavacek.

 

“We are scheduled for construction in January of 2022,” Grove said Tuesday. “So it’s coming up quick.”

The plan for the bikeway, which is being funded by the Houston Bike Plan and aims to make the area safer and more accessible for cyclists, is largely unchanged since the city held its last public engagement meeting about it last December. Protected bicycle lanes will be installed on both sides of 11th throughout the entire stretch, with median refuge islands planned for the intersections of 11th and Nicholson Street – where the Heights Hike-and-Bike Trail crosses 11th – as well as Michaux and White Oak Drive to the south near Stude Park.

The project also calls for a “road diet” that will reduce the number of vehicle lanes along 11th, where there are now two lanes going in each direction. Instead, there will be one lane in each direction for vehicles, with a center, left-turn lane east of Yale Street and a solid concrete median west of Yale. Left turns will mostly be prohibited between Yale and Shepherd to the west, except at the intersections of Lawrence and Rutland streets, and they also will be eliminated at the intersection of 11th and Heights Boulevard to the east.

Grove said the recent changes to the plan are the extension of the bikeway all the way west to Shepherd – where it will link up with a broader infrastructure overhaul planned for Shepherd and Durham Drive – and a shared space for drivers and cyclists along Michaux from 11th to Stude Park. Dedicated bike lanes were previously earmarked for that stretch of Michaux, where Grove said comparatively low vehicle speeds and traffic volumes make them unnecessary.

She also said it was recently discovered that the 1,100-foot section of 11th between Michaux and Studewood Street to the west is too narrow to accommodate a center, left-turn lane. The city will seek input from community members as well as businesses on that stretch while coming up with another way to provide a barrier between lanes of traffic, Grove said, with a concrete barrier being an option.

The original plan called for a center, left-turn throughout the project area, but it was discovered last year that the stretch of 11th between Shepherd and Yale is too narrow for that. Greater Heights Super Neighborhood Council president Mark Williamson said he was disappointed in that development and also doesn’t like the idea of eliminating all left turns at the intersection of 11th and Heights Boulevard, where an esplanade with a jogging trail runs north and south.

“After that meeting (Nov. 16), the project may change again,” Grove said. “We don’t know yet.”

For more project details and to submit feedback to the city, visit https://www.letstalkhouston.org/11th-street-bikeway.

 

https://www.theleadernews.com/city_government/tweaks-to-11th-street-plan-to-be-discussed-at-upcoming-meeting/article_2cddadd6-4214-11ec-a529-6b9ae2946617.html?utm_source=The+Leader+News&utm_campaign=9536bc9e3d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_10_26_12_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_11b419d2fe-9536bc9e3d-362754594

[TacoDog]

So the project still stops at Shepherd instead of Durham?

[Arboosto]

Yes, the scope of this project ends at Shepherd. The section of 11th St between Shepherd and Durham falls under the scope of the Shepherd and Durham Major Investment Project.

[pokemonizepic]

yet another meeting for this redesign tomorrow at 6:30 PM. Hopefully this is the last one and construction actually starts soon, this thing has been in the design phase for years now  

 

https://www.letstalkhouston.org/11th-street-bikeway

zoom meeting link ---> Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85857117178?pwd=OWtzTVMxM0w2eGp0aDZKeGFhVW5WUT09

[wilcal]

4 hours ago, pokemonizepic said:

yet another meeting for this redesign tomorrow at 6:30 PM. Hopefully this is the last one and construction actually starts soon, this thing has been in the design phase for years now  

 

HPW rep was quoted in the Chronicle article about this that they are still open to changes to the design. 

[j_cuevas713]

On 2/6/2022 at 1:00 PM, pokemonizepic said:

yet another meeting for this redesign tomorrow at 6:30 PM. Hopefully this is the last one and construction actually starts soon, this thing has been in the design phase for years now  

 

https://www.letstalkhouston.org/11th-street-bikeway

zoom meeting link ---> Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85857117178?pwd=OWtzTVMxM0w2eGp0aDZKeGFhVW5WUT09

Yeah I believe this is it. It's been in design for 4 years now lol This tying in to the Shepherd/Durham redesign in going to be awesome for cycling in the Heights. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[pokemonizepic]

4 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah I believe this is it. It's been in design for 4 years now lol This tying in to the Shepherd/Durham redesign in going to be awesome for cycling in the Heights. 

Would love for them to eventually also make the bike lanes on 20th street actually usable, that way it would be a nice network going south/north and east/west everywhere in the heights 

[j_cuevas713]

3 minutes ago, pokemonizepic said:

Would love for them to eventually also make the bike lanes on 20th street actually usable, that way it would be a nice network going south/north and east/west everywhere in the heights 

I'm sure that will get discussed at some point as the bikeways continue to expand and grow. I mean we are about to get a massive flurry of bike lanes this year. 

[pokemonizepic]

1 minute ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I'm sure that will get discussed at some point as the bikeways continue to expand and grow. I mean we are about to get a massive flurry of bike lanes this year. 

yea they've got like 10 projects in the planning phase on the houstonbikeplan website so hopefully all them start being built soon

[Texasota]

10? Take a look at the Bicycle Advisory Committee's most recent meeting materials: PowerPoint Presentation (houstonbikeplan.org)

What's nice is that it collates *everything* currently underway, including stuff being implemented by the TIRZs, management districts, METRO, parks board, etc. 

City CIP: 18 projects in planning or early construction

Harris County: 28 projects (incl some outside the city) in planning or early construction

Parks Board: 20 projects

METRO: 4 projects

Westchase: 1 project

Memorial Heights: 8 projects

Montrose: 5 projects

TIRZ 17: 1 project

East End: 3 projects

Old Sixth Ward/Washington: 2 projects

TXDOT: 3 projects

 

[august948]

48 minutes ago, Texasota said:

10? Take a look at the Bicycle Advisory Committee's most recent meeting materials: PowerPoint Presentation (houstonbikeplan.org)

What's nice is that it collates *everything* currently underway, including stuff being implemented by the TIRZs, management districts, METRO, parks board, etc. 

City CIP: 18 projects in planning or early construction

Harris County: 28 projects (incl some outside the city) in planning or early construction

Parks Board: 20 projects

METRO: 4 projects

Westchase: 1 project

Memorial Heights: 8 projects

Montrose: 5 projects

TIRZ 17: 1 project

East End: 3 projects

Old Sixth Ward/Washington: 2 projects

TXDOT: 3 projects

 

That's one of the most informative posts I've seen in a long time...thank you.

They should lead with these presentations on the HoustonBikeways website instead of making you have to dig for it.

[hindesky]

This is a portion of the presentation given in Monday's meeting......

https://www.letstalkhouston.org/11th-street-bikeway

 

https://ehq-production-us-california.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/514dbd76ba9a6e90abd7943977b00ecef78a1275/original/1644339537/e3ea50ae52fa06542ceedb2bf0b34366_11thStreet_HeightsLandUseMeeting_02072022.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBJCUKKD4ZO4WUUA%2F20220209%2Fus-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220209T071545Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=e456de4eb1618949c3208bf455587c510599e9773e154d4e798c5c07d5e941e1

[j_cuevas713]

 

I was at the meeting. It got a little heated between groups BUT here are the big points I noticed. FIRST, most of the back and forth was between older seniors and younger Houstonians. It was a pretty clear drawn line in that regard which I found very interesting. SECOND, this was a meeting for those opposed to the project to get clarity on what exactly is being done to 11th. Some of the older Heights residents felt disenfranchised and that their opinion hadn't been heard through the initial design process. Many Heights residents quickly dismissed that idea because info has been out for 3 years. THIRD, David Fields was there from the Houston Planning Dept. and he was hilarious. He wasted no time dismissing some of the comments focused on preserving the existing road conditions. One lady in the crowd said, "I had to wait 15 mins to go 5 blocks the other day." and a few Bike Houston supporters were like "Yeah that's why we need to redesign this street." Many of the older residents had the simple belief that adding a turn lane to the road would solve all the safety issues. Typical old Houston mentality. Anyways David went on to explain that the Federal Highway Commission are the ones that told Houston that 11th is too wide, and that removing a lane was recommended. Creating a bike lane to replace the empty space created by removing a lane was a no brainer for the Houston Planning Dept. according to David because the Bike Plan already discusses looking in to 11th as a possible bike way due to it's width. Overall the support FOR the bike lane was greater at this meeting, than those opposed, which was awesome to see. This meeting wasn't even set up for the supporters lol

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/buchanans-11th-street-bike-lane-16938432.php

Edited February 25, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[wilcal]

A few days ago Turner came out and said that the plan would move forward as designed.

I guess you could say, he put the Kibosh on the discourse.

 

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/buchanans-11th-street-bike-lane-16938432.php

[s3mh]

Apologies if there is already a thread somewhere, but I could not find it.  File this under "we can never have nice things" in the Heights.  Just as the 11th street renovations were set to move forward, a very astroturf-ish looking group pops up at the last minute to throw sand in the gears.  This is reminiscent of those who opposed the hike and bike trail because they feared criminals on bicycles ravaging the Heights.  

 

https://www.theleadernews.com/city_government/houston-mayor-to-take-closer-look-at-bikeway-plan-for-11th-street/article_04dbaf28-cba7-11ec-bd01-bf96d09c318f.html

[emmanume]

https://www.change.org/p/support-a-safer-11th-street-in-the-heights
 

a petition went live today for those who support the 11th St redesign 

[editor]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:01 AM, emmanume said:

https://www.change.org/p/support-a-safer-11th-street-in-the-heights
 

a petition went live today for those who support the 11th St redesign 

While I generally support the idea of petitions, has a change.org petition ever changed anything in the history of ever?  They always seem to end up being nothing more than an echo chamber of people on the internet doing the absolute minimum possible to support a cause. 

Signing something at change.org seems to be the equivalent of changing your social media avatar to whatever the trendy causes célèbres demands, without actually accomplishing anything. 

See also: "Raising awareness."

[pokemonizepic]

7 minutes ago, editor said:

While I generally support the idea of petitions, has a change.org petition ever changed anything in the history of ever?  They always seem to end up being nothing more than an echo chamber of people on the internet doing the absolute minimum possible to support a cause. 

Signing something at change.org seems to be the equivalent of changing your social media avatar to whatever the trendy causes célèbres demands, without actually accomplishing anything. 

See also: "Raising awareness."

no this doesn't really change anything, from my understanding the decision at this point is only in the hands of the mayor

[emmanume]

 

The mayor put a pause on something that was for all intents an purposes a closed issue, done deal back in February. Pretty sure the pause wouldn’t have happened without the combination of their change.org petition, and the letters of opposition these people sent to the city. 
 

The opposition has 1,683 signatures and the proponents have 898 currently.  It’s  easy enough to sign even if it feels like change.org has never had any effect on anything.

[HouKev]

Email your council person and the mayor as well.

[s3mh]

Rebuttal article in the Leader.  A bit too academic for my tastes, but our neighborhood is full of advanced degrees.  One point they missed is that Studewood has new pedestrian islands that have effectively taken away the middle land as a passing lane and everything is fine on that side of the Heights.  

 

https://www.theleadernews.com/opinion/heights-residents-support-citys-plan-for-11th-street/article_19b17abc-d15c-11ec-a130-a79a93089238.html

[j_cuevas713]

How much you guys wanna bet that the Mayor is "pausing" this simply to show a level of sympathy for those opposed? This will move forward just like anything else. Too many people support this. 

[Amlaham]

Great news!

https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/transportation/2022/05/19/greater-heights-super-neighborhood-council-to-write-letter-in-support-of-11th-street-bikeway/

 

[TacoDog]

What is the procedure for parking on this street? Some blocks have a no parking on this block sign posted, so blocks have a no parking between 7-9am and 4-6pm except Sundays sign, and other blocks have no signs at all. Is it legal to park on the blocks with no signs? 

[s3mh]

Apparently, bike lanes, road diets, etc. are on the list of things that right wingers like to lose their s--- about.  The opponents of the 11th st changes got the mayor to go out and look at the street first hand.  The central argument now seems to be that it will cause massive traffic jams which will send people cutting through the neighborhoods.  But restricting traffic is a feature not a bug.  People who are racing down 11th st. are generally people who are using the street as a cut through to avoid traffic on I-10 or 610.  If you make it more difficult to drive fast on 11st st, people will stop using it as a cut through street.  That will reduce traffic for everybody.  

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/Sylvester-Turner-went-to-look-at-11th-Street-17199053.php#photo-22522841

[steve1363]

You think people use 11th Street to avoid I10 and 610?  That's absurd.  These changes to 11th, along with the planned changes to White Oak will absolutely change traffic patterns into the neighborhood.  Brace yourself for more speed bumps on interior streets.

[emmanume]

Bring on the speed bumps baby

[kbates2]

Braced.

[Ross]

11 hours ago, steve1363 said:

You think people use 11th Street to avoid I10 and 610?  That's absurd.  These changes to 11th, along with the planned changes to White Oak will absolutely change traffic patterns into the neighborhood.  Brace yourself for more speed bumps on interior streets.

Yes, drivers do actually use 11th to avoid I-10. Every time I-10 has a bad issue, 11th is packed. I live off of 11th, and have some idea of what happens. The may take 11th out to Hempstead to get to 290, or take 11th to get to Shepherd. It just depends on the issue and the time of day.

[s3mh]

11 hours ago, steve1363 said:

You think people use 11th Street to avoid I10 and 610?  That's absurd.  These changes to 11th, along with the planned changes to White Oak will absolutely change traffic patterns into the neighborhood.  Brace yourself for more speed bumps on interior streets.

Just want to know whether the people who are losing their sh#t over the possibility of a few extra cars coming down their street are the same people who shout down anyone complaining about the impact of restaurants and bars on residential streets.  

[steve1363]

I wouldn't know, and not sure why you have to be so disrespectful?

Why is it wrong to be concerned about additional traffic on an interior residential street?

It's ok for people to have different points of view.  I'm apparently in the minority here on this forum and that is fine by me.

[s3mh]

4 hours ago, steve1363 said:

I wouldn't know, and not sure why you have to be so disrespectful?

Why is it wrong to be concerned about additional traffic on an interior residential street?

It's ok for people to have different points of view.  I'm apparently in the minority here on this forum and that is fine by me.

Disrespectful?  You should have seen this place 10 years ago.  And what is really disrespectful is trying to stop a much needed community improvement that can possibly save lives just because it may have a slightly negative impact on your particular property.  Everyone in the Heights has had to take one for the team when it comes to development.  When I moved in, I had a back yard that was all trees in every direction.  With the exception of my yard, all the trees have been taken down and replaced with humper house additions that now use my backyard as a detention pond.  The dry area is gone.  Development is just going to keep roaring through the neighborhood.  This is the one thing that will actually benefit the community instead of the guy with the biggest bag of money.  We all give a little to gain a little in the Heights. 

[j_cuevas713]

6 hours ago, steve1363 said:

I wouldn't know, and not sure why you have to be so disrespectful?

Why is it wrong to be concerned about additional traffic on an interior residential street?

It's ok for people to have different points of view.  I'm apparently in the minority here on this forum and that is fine by me.

I don't think it's wrong to be concerned but at the same time it's important to note that the city is getting very dense. The Heights is no longer this outer dwelling suburb it was 100 years ago. At some critical point, moving by car is going to be more of a burden. And if we don't build infrastructure to support moving all modes of transit, everyone loses. The bigger point is that 11th was overbuilt to begin with. The Federal Highway Commission are the one's who randomly pointed that out, not the COH or entities associated with the city. The city simply agreed with the recommendation. So for them to point it out tells me that if 11th had been built correctly to begin with, you would never notice the change. The even bigger problem is people are impatient. Your concern is based off personal experience of impatient drivers, possibly yourself included. That impatience stems from having additional lanes and enabling people to speed, costing everyone else in terms of safety for the sake of "convenience." So when you have roughly 20 thoroughfares all designed the same way, you have a ton of impatient drivers, moving at high rates of speed all with this false idea of convenience. 11th is simply dangerous, there's no other way to put it. It was built with no forethought in terms of growth and pedestrians. I always give this small example. I'm a huge sports fan, and any time a team rebuilds, they begin with a single piece (player) that they can build around to change the culture of the team or organization. The same idea applies here. In order for a real culture shift to occur, and for people to be conscientious of those around them, we have to continue adding pieces to change the culture. This is a vital piece to the puzzle, and it clearly shows with the amount of backlash this has received. These are the growing pains necessary for positive change. I sure as hell want a Houston where my kids can bike safely and not have to take "side streets." 

[Arboosto]

On 6/2/2022 at 10:02 PM, steve1363 said:

You think people use 11th Street to avoid I10 and 610?  That's absurd.  These changes to 11th, along with the planned changes to White Oak will absolutely change traffic patterns into the neighborhood.  Brace yourself for more speed bumps on interior streets.

As a Heights resident, I occasionally use 11th St instead of I-10 whenever Google tells me it's faster (basically if I-10 is at a standstill). If 11th St didn't move a high volume of cars at high speeds, the algorithm would send me a different way, either to 14th, 20th, or around on I-610.

EDIT: removed speculative statement

Edited June 8, 2022 by Arboosto

[TacoDog]

The road diet will go along well with the Shepherd/Durham road diet. 

[JJxvi]

One of the intermediate plans for this, which was only scrapped within the last year or so, that was sprung on most people would have shut down all left turns except in a couple locations.  It would have meant that everyone traveling west on 11th and needing to get to the south half of the neighborhood and everyone travelling east trying to get to the north half, would be funneled into only like two entrances, so if you lived like on Rutland within a block of 11th, half the neighborhood would be forced to drive by your house.

I think many that I've seen discuss this are frustrated that this is being sold as "bike lanes" and not with bike lanes being the excuse to justify removing car lanes.  Anyone in that lives or has every lived in the neighborhood knows that bike lanes on 11th does'nt really make sense compared to the existing network as it exists right now.  There is already an off street E/W path for cyclists just 4 blocks to the south.  In addition, 3 blocks to the north is an ideal wide, quiet E/W street at 14th which is ideal for adding a new E/W bike lane that is in the heart of the neighborhood rather than being so close to the already existing E/W path at roughly 7th street.  In addition, 14th is already a shared car/cyclist lanes east of Heights Blvd to Micheaux.  Anybody with a brain who felt like bike lanes were needed would add them on 14th.

It seems to me the real argument for road diet is about safety, but that message isn't getting to the people who are mad. They just hear that lanes they use probably every day are going to be closed, and then they hear that they wont be able to turn left into their neighborhood anymore (I think/hope this concern was mostly fixed), all for bike lanes that would make way more sense on a different quieter street that would connect many of the same existing trails in the bike plan that isn't duplicating another path just a half mile away.

Edited June 14, 2022 by JJxvi

[JJxvi]

I'm sure to the city it's not as much of a slam dunk (in addition to not contributing to their road diet plans) because they'd have to actually spend some money improving installing curbs and covering drains on 14th west of Ashland.

[Amlaham]

53 minutes ago, JJxvi said:

One of the intermediate plans for this, which was only scrapped within the last year or so, that was sprung on most people would have shut down all left turns except in a couple locations.  It would have meant that everyone traveling west on 11th and needing to get to the south half of the neighborhood and everyone travelling east trying to get to the north half, would be funneled into only like two entrances, so if you lived like on Rutland within a block of 11th, half the neighborhood would be forced to drive by your house.

I think many that I've seen discuss this are frustrated that this is being sold as "bike lanes" and not with bike lanes being the excuse to justify removing car lanes.  Anyone in that lives or has every lived in the neighborhood knows that bike lanes on 11th does'nt really make sense compared to the existing network as it exists right now.  There is already an off street E/W path for cyclists just 4 blocks to the south.  In addition, 3 blocks to the north is an ideal wide, quiet E/W street at 14th which is ideal for adding a new E/W bike lane that is in the heart of the neighborhood rather than being so close to the already existing E/W path at roughly 7th street.  In addition, 14th is already a shared car/cyclist lanes east of Heights Blvd to Micheaux.  Anybody with a brain who felt like bike lanes were needed would add them on 14th.

It seems to me the real argument for road diet is about safety, but that message isn't getting to the people who are mad. They just hear that lanes they use probably every day are going to be closed, and then they hear that they wont be able to turn left into their neighborhood anymore (I think/hope this concern was mostly fixed), all for bike lanes that would make way more sense on a different quieter street that would connect many of the same existing trails in the bike plan that isn't duplicating another path just a half mile away.

I wouldn't say "anybody with a brain" when pushing an opinion. The idea that bike lanes should be on quieter streets is Stone Age and backwards thinking. The whole point of these bike lanes is to allow civilians to travel around their community in multiple ways, not just up and down residential streets like the ones you mentioned. Bikes and pedestrians should have equal access on streets with businesses/stores. By your logic, all (if not most) bike lanes in Europe and big US cities were created without a brain lol. 

[JJxvi]

1 hour ago, Amlaham said:

I wouldn't say "anybody with a brain" when pushing an opinion. The idea that bike lanes should be on quieter streets is Stone Age and backwards thinking. The whole point of these bike lanes is to allow civilians to travel around their community in multiple ways, not just up and down residential streets like the ones you mentioned. Bikes and pedestrians should have equal access on streets with businesses/stores. By your logic, all (if not most) bike lanes in Europe and big US cities were created without a brain lol. 

Most of the opposition to this is from people that are already in walking distance to 11th, in my experience, not people who need access to streets with businesses and stores.  
 

I think most in the neighborhood would reach that conclusion because i think its really that clear. Please pull up the bike map. Look at it, and tell me where you would best link up and provide the maximum east/west and north/south utility and do it most safely and with the least amount of disruption to the neighborhood considering the paths and lanes that already exist.

i dont think bike lanes or fewer car lanes will be the end of the world, but Im not surprised people are concerned. I think most people would assume that if there needed to be bike lanes east/west that they would put forward 14th and 20th, very few 11th, particularly people who live west of yale

https://houstonbikeplan.org/houston-bike-plan-map/

I also not sure I would consider 11th a major commercial street. I guess theres more things on it than there used to be but it is in no way like Shepherd or Durham or white oak or 20th, etc. It’s not a destination commercial street even now, way more people view it as a road thats needed to get somewhere and thats why people are concerned about changes being made to it with an unknown (to them) effect.

Edited June 14, 2022 by JJxvi

[JJxvi]

Or they’re all far right wingers, or something…

[iah77]

2 hours ago, JJxvi said:

One of the intermediate plans for this, which was only scrapped within the last year or so, that was sprung on most people would have shut down all left turns except in a couple locations.  It would have meant that everyone traveling west on 11th and needing to get to the south half of the neighborhood and everyone travelling east trying to get to the north half, would be funneled into only like two entrances, so if you lived like on Rutland within a block of 11th, half the neighborhood would be forced to drive by your house.

I think many that I've seen discuss this are frustrated that this is being sold as "bike lanes" and not with bike lanes being the excuse to justify removing car lanes.  Anyone in that lives or has every lived in the neighborhood knows that bike lanes on 11th does'nt really make sense compared to the existing network as it exists right now.  There is already an off street E/W path for cyclists just 4 blocks to the south.  In addition, 3 blocks to the north is an ideal wide, quiet E/W street at 14th which is ideal for adding a new E/W bike lane that is in the heart of the neighborhood rather than being so close to the already existing E/W path at roughly 7th street.  In addition, 14th is already a shared car/cyclist lanes east of Heights Blvd to Micheaux.  Anybody with a brain who felt like bike lanes were needed would add them on 14th.

It seems to me the real argument for road diet is about safety, but that message isn't getting to the people who are mad. They just hear that lanes they use probably every day are going to be closed, and then they hear that they wont be able to turn left into their neighborhood anymore (I think/hope this concern was mostly fixed), all for bike lanes that would make way more sense on a different quieter street that would connect many of the same existing trails in the bike plan that isn't duplicating another path just a half mile away.

Does anyone else have a problem with how crappy some of the city's "safety" interventions look? The way they just build curbs looks horrible and I think people would be more receptive if it did not look so bad. The one they did by Rice drives me crazy and the space has accumulated a lot of tree waste since now it cannot be cleaned easily. In other cities they tend to raise the area and landscape it so it actually looks better than before. 

[wilcal]

11th street redesign officially moving forward

 

 

[s3mh]

3 hours ago, JJxvi said:

One of the intermediate plans for this, which was only scrapped within the last year or so, that was sprung on most people would have shut down all left turns except in a couple locations.  It would have meant that everyone traveling west on 11th and needing to get to the south half of the neighborhood and everyone travelling east trying to get to the north half, would be funneled into only like two entrances, so if you lived like on Rutland within a block of 11th, half the neighborhood would be forced to drive by your house.

I think many that I've seen discuss this are frustrated that this is being sold as "bike lanes" and not with bike lanes being the excuse to justify removing car lanes.  Anyone in that lives or has every lived in the neighborhood knows that bike lanes on 11th does'nt really make sense compared to the existing network as it exists right now.  There is already an off street E/W path for cyclists just 4 blocks to the south.  In addition, 3 blocks to the north is an ideal wide, quiet E/W street at 14th which is ideal for adding a new E/W bike lane that is in the heart of the neighborhood rather than being so close to the already existing E/W path at roughly 7th street.  In addition, 14th is already a shared car/cyclist lanes east of Heights Blvd to Micheaux.  Anybody with a brain who felt like bike lanes were needed would add them on 14th.

It seems to me the real argument for road diet is about safety, but that message isn't getting to the people who are mad. They just hear that lanes they use probably every day are going to be closed, and then they hear that they wont be able to turn left into their neighborhood anymore (I think/hope this concern was mostly fixed), all for bike lanes that would make way more sense on a different quieter street that would connect many of the same existing trails in the bike plan that isn't duplicating another path just a half mile away.

See these arguments regurgitated here just shows how the opposition to this is really just throwing anything at the wall because they are against left leaning urban projects like this just as a matter of political identity.  No left turns would just mean that people would have to take 14th and go an extra block or two or go south of 11th and cut over on 8, 9 or 10th (which people already do).  And to the extent people would use the streets that allowed left turns, would that mean an extra 20,000 vehicles a day?  Of course not.  It might mean maybe a dozen or two dozen more vehicles a day.  

The whole point of a bike lane along 11th is to make it easier to access shops and restaurants on bike.  11th st has over a dozen restaurants and lots of shops between Shep and Studewood (with more on the way).  There is nothing on 14th st.  And anyone who actually cycles in the Heights knows that the last place you want to be riding is by Heights High due to student drivers, buses and traffic during school events.  And 11th st would not duplicate the MKT hike and bike path.  11th st would offer cyclist only paths and pedestrians would be able to use the side walk.  MKT is shared and gets very busy with walkers.    

[s3mh]

And the opponents go home devastated.  

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/11th-Street-will-be-slimmed-after-mayor-says-17241365.php

[JJxvi]

14th east of Heights Blvd (ie by Heights High) already has a bike lane according to the map I linked, that's part of the reason why it seems like it would be the logical continuation of the path to connect from Heights Blvd to Shepherd.

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by JJxvi

[JJxvi]

Yeah, worrying about how you’ll be able to turn into the neighborhood or whether more cars will be forced down your side streets, critical planks in the right wing political identity.

Build your strawmen at someone else’s expense.  These arent political operatives trying to keep the cyclists down, they are nimby’s that drive cars.  They dont want bike lanes because they dont use them and they think building them might be a disruption to them… kinda like how people who dont go to WalMart’s dont want Walmart’s built near them.

Edited June 14, 2022 by JJxvi

[Heights88]

I am not sure how this devolved into a struggle session against crazy 'right wingers.' There are many Houstonians who, with good reason, oppose top-down efforts to reduce roadway access. City and County leadership have utopian visions of removing cars and reducing road ways at taxpayer expense...we can have a debate on whether that's a good idea or not.  This isn't a vast right-wing conspiracy.

[hindesky]

Turner gives the green light for the project to move forward.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/11th-street-turner-green-light-17240727.php

[TacoDog]

Limiting left turns to a few streets doesn't make sense to me. The blocks are very short along the street and a lot of people live between 11th and 10th or 12th streets who wouldn't be able to turn left to go home from a certain direction. 

[JJxvi]

In 2021, they found out that the ROW width between Yale and Shepherd was too narrow for their plans to have 3 traffic lanes (left turn in middle).  So the plan was changed to eliminate all left's in that space except at Lawrence and Rutland which they announced around Novermber, I think of last year.  This was about the time that "Just as the 11th street renovations were set to move forward, a very astroturf-ish looking group pops up at the last minute to throw sand in the gears." as described in the original post.

I think (hope) that they went back on much of that part of the plan, but that was what stirred up the hornets nest.  Many people living in the area also remember that several years ago they repaved 11th street in this area, and to do so lefts were blocked and it was reduced to a single lane each way and people waiting to turn where lefts did exist were backed up into long lines that blocked all traffic while the car waiting to turn at the front of the line had to yield to oncoming traffic.  It was bad, and so many now believe that that driving nightmare is starting over again except this time permanently.
 

Edited June 15, 2022 by JJxvi