cspwal

Wait when did this get tall?  Looking good - 8 floors done and pouring the 9th

HOW HAS NO ONE REALIZED WE DERAILED A TRAIN THREAD WITH A HIGHWAY TOPIC?!

This has never happened.

They want a High speed train to Austin from Houston and are annoyed that there isn't being one built

Some "news" about another leg of the Texas Triangle

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/foreign-companies-still-want-to-bring-high-speed-rail-to-texas-7919252

 

 

In summary, the Trib is essentially reporting that some foreign companies ... are possibly sneaking around and talking to anonymous Texas officials about undetermined high-speed rail plans 

700 spots for a 300 unit building - I suspect the tower is still at least in their long term plans

Or with a proposed HSR station near it 

Good article fro October 21st....... The catch is that it was written n 1985...... October 21, 1985....

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/22/us/energy-recession-ends-texas-population-boom.html

The last sentence though sounds about right

 

 

 ''if any city can pull itself out, Houston can.''

It's my experience that places without feeders tend to have the same sort of congestion you think of sitting at the light on the feeder...backed up on to the highway.  

Is this a new plan for improvements on main street?  Or is this specifically for Main street square?

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2015/11/10/downtown-houstonorganizations-roll-out-plans-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_houston+%28Houston+Business+Journal%29

Agreed, might be great for a rooftop restaurant/bar.

One can hope - but I would guess it'll be an amenity for the tenant (Hillcorp in this case) just like at BG Group and 609 Main

That Hyatt reminds me of the Hampton Inn downtown... am I crazy?

They are currently putting the crane up - and if you've never seen multiple 18 wheelers turning onto main street to deliver a tower crane, let me tell you - it looks like a military operation no one mentioned.  

You could...but the streets need work.  A lot of work...

Grade separated means like a tunnel or overpass - think subway or L-train.  Closing off a lane to give the train an exclusive right of way is a good step, but wouldn't be grade separated - it would still be susceptible to people jamming up the intersection (blocking the box)

The holes must be inconspicuous or filled.  The parking lot was full of pot holes and patched pot holes so that's where they soil tested most likely.  I just thought it was a parking lot in bad shape

And now it would be very difficult to change, especially without disrupting the red line now

I checked out the lot last night.  Doesn't look like there's any holes for soil testing (at least that I saw) but I did notice that there is a distinct hump in the middle of the lot - it was never really paved very well

"Fairground Addition"?  Did this used to be part of the Fairgrounds?

I think it would be cool to have the light rail below ground in downtown - the stations could be in the tunnel system directly, and they could be air conditioned too.

When the light rail was first being proposed, were there any alternatives with grade separation in downtown or the med center?  I'm curious how much they saved by just building at grade.

I like the flying piano...

A week or so ago I saw a post by someone who knew more about the street repair program - he said something like all of Houston needs repairs, but even with the current money they can only repair a few.  I wish I remember where I found this, but it was on HAIF

The main thing is street repair by law has to be done pay as you go (it was in that post) and not with bonds.  

I'd love to see smooth roads everywhere, especially with buried power lines, but would the higher cost of construction if that was mandated push out a lot of development?

Every time I hear BBVA compass I think of the soccer stadium, so have a moment of confusion of why they would build towers at the Dynamo stadium

There's a homeless fort in the woods?  Wouldn't that be a home...making them no longer homeless?

They could extend the light rail there easily - I mean that is where the test track is...just saying

I guess the hole wasn't deep enough 0.o

I wonder how this will effect turning and garage entrances...