Nicholson Hike And Bike Trail On W. 26th St.

[Zippy]

Update.. sorta.. Bid accepted.. we'll see when construction actually begins..

http://blogs.chron.com/heights/2008/08/rai...ect_moveme.html

[wernicke]

A little off-topic, but does anyone know of any good places to do road cycling inside the loop?

I am training for a triathlon, but I live in Midtown and there really aren't any good places to ride near me. I have mostly just been doing spin classes at 24 Hour as my cycling workouts.

[Tiko]

I notice from the bid page that the project is described as Shepherd to Houston Avenue. Does this mean the section along Nicholson won't be built? I hadn't been along the Westside in awhile and noticed last weekend that there is more new construction with driveways across the right of way along Nicholson....

[Zippy]

A little off-topic, but does anyone know of any good places to do road cycling inside the loop?

I am training for a triathlon, but I live in Midtown and there really aren't any good places to ride near me. I have mostly just been doing spin classes at 24 Hour as my cycling workouts.

There's not much interesting and safe in the loop.. You can do the picnic loop at Memorial park, which isn't too thrilling.. or join the ride with Urban Cycles (http://www.urbanbicyclegallery.com/) which do Wed (?) group rides through the city @ 6pm.. I've not gone with them but I've seen them going through downtown..

Otherwise.. there's not much going on in da loop..

[Tiko]

There's not much interesting and safe in the loop.. You can do the picnic loop at Memorial park, which isn't too thrilling.. or join the ride with Urban Cycles (http://www.urbanbicyclegallery.com/) which do Wed (?) group rides through the city @ 6pm.. I've not gone with them but I've seen them going through downtown..

Otherwise.. there's not much going on in da loop..

Most rides of any decent length end up going outside of the loop. Going down Navigation and looping around to Macgregor Park and using the bike path out to the loop and back through West U will get you a nice 30-40 mile ride, though.

[Zippy]

Most rides of any decent length end up going outside of the loop. Going down Navigation and looping around to Macgregor Park and using the bike path out to the loop and back through West U will get you a nice 30-40 mile ride, though.

ooh yes.. I forgot about the Macgregor trail.. We usually get on it at Kirby, and go the complete span which is close to UH east of 288, out to gessner.. I think one time around is close to 20 miles..

The trail isn't that fast, and you're sharing with runners/walkers/kids/dogs/other bikers.. and sometimes the trail isn't that great for road bikes.. and you're crossing many streets, so there's a lot of starting and stopping..

But otherwise, it's easily accessible..

[Highlander]

ooh yes.. I forgot about the Macgregor trail.. We usually get on it at Kirby, and go the complete span which is close to UH east of 288, out to gessner.. I think one time around is close to 20 miles..

There's a new trail that links up with MacGregor just east of 288 and follows an old rail ROW north to downtown ending at Walker and Dowling. It's nice brand new concrete about 12' wide. Only drawback is all the street crossings...you really have to look and listen every block or so. Last time I rode it there were a few places where they haven't connected it to the street and you have to ride through some dirt...

It makes a nice ride going from downtown out to Gessner and back...probably a 50 mile round trip...I only made it to Hillcroft, however.

Back to the thread topic...if the city can only handle one Rails-to-trails at a time, it makes sense that they would be starting on the Heights trail since this downtown-MacGregor trail is having the finishing touches added to it right now.

[Gooch]

A little off-topic, but does anyone know of any good places to do road cycling inside the loop?

www.mapmyride.com has some nice ITL routes.

Dave.

[wernicke]

www.mapmyride.com has some nice ITL routes.

Dave.

Thanks Dave (and Zippy and Tiko). That is a pretty useful site.

[tmariar]

An update on the trail: http://blogs.chron.com/heights/2008/08/rai...ct_moveme.html

Still saying construction will begin "around September 2008."

[lwood]

An update on the trail: http://blogs.chron.com/heights/2008/08/rai...ct_moveme.html

Still saying construction will begin "around September 2008."

The August 7 edition of The Leader says the contract has been awarded and construction is to start in 30 to 60 days. South on Nicholson from 26th to 7th and then east along 7th, southeast to Spring Street and White Oak Bayou under 45, connecting to the Heritage Corridor West Trail and provide a link to U of H and downtown.

Awesome.

[lwood]

Update.. sorta.. Bid accepted.. we'll see when construction actually begins..

http://blogs.chron.com/heights/2008/08/rai...ect_moveme.html

Several people are in the 800 block of Nicholson today taking measurements and marking areas with orange paint. They said theywere "taking points" for the bike trail. They did not know if construction is going to start on the north end or south end of Nicholson. Finally.

[Shamrock]

That is great news.

[HeyHatch]

As of 2:45 pm the survey team is in the 1400 block of Nicholson. They said they are having a hard time geting the survey points to line up with those supplied to them by TxDOT. They said they will have to resubmit to TxDOT and that will delay the start date. What do they mean survey points? I know I see surveyors all the time, but am unsure as to what they are doing. Any architect/builder types who can explain in layman's terms and why that might pose a delay?

[Dan the Man]

A "point" is an official reference point used for the placement of items in a construction project. It can be a property corner, benchmark, centerline of a street, etc.

The surveyors are probably trying to stake the right of way for the bike trail (mark where various elements are to be placed). The information that is given on the TXDOT survey doesn't match what is actually out there, so certain portions will need to be re-surveyed, then double-checked against the plans to make sure everything will still work with the correct information.

I am excited that this project is starting to actually move forward; it will be a great addition to a part of town that is great for biking!

[flatline]

At most of the minor intersections along the path, the north-south traffic on Nicholson has the stop sign. I wonder if some or most of them will be converted to 4-way? or reversed to stop signs for the east-west traffic? Obviously, the major intersections at 11th, 19th, and 20th (and probably 14th) will stay as-is.

This is only an issue, of course, until the path hits 7th street and cuts southeast down the rail R.O.W. Then it's smooth sailing under I-10 to Spring Street.

I'm still trying to keep my expectations in check. I can't believe it's actually moving forward. . .

[HeyHatch]

At most of the minor intersections along the path, the north-south traffic on Nicholson has the stop sign. I wonder if some or most of them will be converted to 4-way? or reversed to stop signs for the east-west traffic? Obviously, the major intersections at 11th, 19th, and 20th (and probably 14th) will stay as-is.

This is only an issue, of course, until the path hits 7th street and cuts southeast down the rail R.O.W. Then it's smooth sailing under I-10 to Spring Street.

I'm still trying to keep my expectations in check. I can't believe it's actually moving forward. . .

I actually called the city to request a stopsign at the corner of 15th and Nicholson after the umpteenth accident at that intersection. Most of the time, it's cars going eastbound on 15th that are going so fast that they aren't seen by cars going North on Nicholson, especially since the rise from the former railroad tracks tends to limit the view a bit. I thought they might be willing to do it especially since a Northbound police car with lights flashing was hit by an eastbound vehicle. The streetsign guy (can't remember which department it was) told me there couldn't be a stopsign at that intersection because there was one farther down on Allston or Ashland I believe. Seems like an odd reason to deny it, but whatever. I'm hoping that they will put stopsigns in at all itnersections as a safety feature. An added bonus may be that it helps cut the traffic from folks trying to get from Shepherd to Yale without using one of the "major" streets of 11th, 14th, 18th, 19th or 20th.

[cabanaboy]

Well, if it's in The Leader, it must be official

Interesting...I had not heard about TXDOT's plans. It would make sense, at least, for the trail to continue through to TC Jester and connect to the trail at 11th. If it only went that far, that would allow for TXDOT's drainage dreams come true.

Is a map of the proposed cmpleted route available anywhere? Does anyone know where this is going? What is connects to?

[flatline]

Is a map of the proposed cmpleted route available anywhere? Does anyone know where this is going? What is connects to?

Here's the project summary.

There are links on the left to some map images.

[incurablygeek]

Here's the project summary.

There are links on the left to some map images.

Here's a screencap of the relevent portion of the map.

[lwood]

The August 7 edition of The Leader says the contract has been awarded and construction is to start in 30 to 60 days. South on Nicholson from 26th to 7th and then east along 7th, southeast to Spring Street and White Oak Bayou under 45, connecting to the Heritage Corridor West Trail and provide a link to U of H and downtown.

Awesome.

Construction signs went up along Nicholson yesterday at 9th, 10th and 12th. They could be in other locations but those are the only ones I checked. I assume they are for the trail.

[tanith27]

Construction signs went up along Nicholson yesterday at 9th, 10th and 12th. They could be in other locations but those are the only ones I checked. I assume they are for the trail.

I sure hope so. After the storm and with all the financial mess going on, the quicker they get started on this the less likely some govt entity will re-route the money to some other 'necessary' project....

[ekarl17]

so what is going to happen to the RAIL ROAD? Do you know that ALL THE SUPPORTERS for this bike n trail will be delaying Houston's future commuter/light rail!! Stop this bike and trail NOW!

[Zippy]

Construction signs went up along Nicholson yesterday at 9th, 10th and 12th. They could be in other locations but those are the only ones I checked. I assume they are for the trail.

Cool.. Will need to look further down the line toward downtown and see if anything's up around 6th West of Heights..

so what is going to happen to the RAIL ROAD? Do you know that ALL THE SUPPORTERS for this bike n trail will be delaying Houston's future commuter/light rail!! Stop this bike and trail NOW!

Well.. since it's taken about 10 years to get to this point.. let's hope it does get completed.. And I don't know where you live, but I certainly don't want a freight train going through the center of my 'hood..

Thanks

[20thStDad]

so what is going to happen to the RAIL ROAD? Do you know that ALL THE SUPPORTERS for this bike n trail will be delaying Houston's future commuter/light rail!! Stop this bike and trail NOW!

Please explain. I am not convinced by exclamation points alone.

[sunsets]

I think the idea was that a commuter line from Cypress could run down 290 into the loop and then follow the old rail right-of-way through the Heights and into downtown, where it would end at the intermodal terminal north of the bayou.

While this is a good idea, in theory, I think it was proposed far too late, and the bike trail is a done deal. And even if the powers that be did want to change everything and build out the commuter line there would be one heck of a fight.

[20thStDad]

I think that would be neat to be able to take the rail a block and a half from my house to downtown. But yeah, there would be a fight. Maybe about the bike trail, but more from all the people who live right along the right of way. It's not that wide of a right of way any more either.

[Tiko]

I think that would be neat to be able to take the rail a block and a half from my house to downtown. But yeah, there would be a fight. Maybe about the bike trail, but more from all the people who live right along the right of way. It's not that wide of a right of way any more either.

I think it was going to be a commuter line and not light rail, i.e. no stops in our neighborhood.

[20thStDad]

I think it was going to be a commuter line and not light rail, i.e. no stops in our neighborhood.

But what if I run fast enough....

Ok I'm against that, so it's a bad idea. Just do it along Hempstead and don't cut through the neighborhood unless I get to ride too.

[Zippy]

Down 7th st and Harvard/Columbia were some signs warning of a construction zone.. No construction as of yet.. but at least the signs are there! I would like to hope it's related to the hike/bike trail..

Cheers!