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Fitch

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    East River: Mixed-Use Development By Midway

    in Going Up!

    Posted · Edited by Fitch

    On 5/13/2017 at 10:42 AM, Naviguessor said:

    A couple interesting observations at the KBR site. 

    1.  So, mid size trees are being planted in a grove like fashion in the lots which were previously scraped. I've speculated that these have been removed from Midway's HEB/Washington Project and are just being stored here. I doubt the intent is to reforest the site. 

    2.  Many of the larger weeds and wild flower areas along Bayou St, within the KBR's boundaries, have been marked with small landscape flags. Obviously this is so landscapers don't mow them down.  It's nice, but I'm not sure why. Not much traffic here, except dog walkers, sleeping cops, cyclist who know how to get to the bayou trail and the people that live in the mystery trailer. 

     

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    • Like 19

    I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

    in Traffic and Transportation

    Posted

    Oh. My. God. Is the way you type how your brain actually processes the English language? 

     

     

    There's not a single rational point made in the entire collection of posts. The closest thing to a coherent opinion that doesn't flip flop every other line is "big ass highways aren't ugly, mmkay... 

     

    Let's just clarify a few things:

    • The project is moving forward. 
    • Nothing shy of a collapse of the Texas economy will stop that.
    • It will be beneficial for the City - yes some areas stand to benefit more than others - that's been true since the dawn of time. 
    • The Pierce Elevated needs to be entirely wrecked down.
    • Highways are going to always be ugly pieces of necessary infrastructure.
    • The best decision TXDOT has made is trying to hide as much of the roadway as possible to blend downtown and the East End into one contiguous urban grid. 

    For those who care to talk about actual project details - I found it interesting that the land under the interchange at 59/69/45/10 and Buffalo Bayou will be a set of detention basins. With that type of space right on the bayou I would imagine that the Buffalo Bayou Partnership will be able to program a green space or park to connect the west and east park systems. Also interesting that they're planning for possibly two bayou bypasses. 

     

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    • Like 2

    I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

    in Traffic and Transportation

    Posted

    The vertical clearances and railroad are all very valid points, but I think the reason that it has not been added to the plan is more actuarial than engineering :)

     

     

    As it is today, Canal Street is barricaded at the railroad tracts paralleling US 59, and has been for some time, so the TXDOT engineers must look at that and presume that the road can safely be truncated without irritating anyone. If we were living in the neighborhood a couple of years ago that well may have been the case, but the reality is that the area just east of Downtown is starting to experience a dramatic amount of densification that doesn't get picked up in the census rolls. 

     

    Add to that Canal Street shrinks from four lanes to two on the north side of Navigation/Jensen. For my suggestion to work the city would need to be able to expand the right of way to fit the full four lanes to cross over. That said, I think that's achievable since you're just talking about dealing with one vacant piece of land (as opposed to all of the blocks in EaDo that have virtually new buildings on them). 

     

    It would be very interesting to see a cross section of the suppressed highway at the Canal Street plane. 

     

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    I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

    in Traffic and Transportation

    Posted · Edited by Fitch

    As a new EaDo homeowner I think they're missing the obvious by ending the park at Commerce Street instead of Canal Street. Commerce is barely 2 lanes for most of its length and terminates at Milby Street only 1 mile south the highway, while Canal Street is a major collector for the entire East End, running some 5 miles. If a bridge were to connect Canal Street and Ruiz Street in downtown, that would connect the East End with every major on/off ramp to all of the highways, instead of forcing folks to drive to Jensen/Navigation, then turn left and bootleg it across to Congress Street, then turn right just to get on I-10. 

     

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    The other thing I would do is stitch the grid between EaDo and Buffalo Bayou (and the parks / new developments happening there) by connecting Dowling Street with Jensen Drive. The current connectivity between BBVA Stadium, 8th Wonder Brewery and everything good happening on Navigation Blvd is absolutely deplorable.

     

    One tunnel or bridge across the railroad tracts, and maybe a dozen lots to purchase for road right of way would connect a 4 lane road all the way from Southmore to Halls Bayou (about 10.5 miles). It would also create a logical spur for light rail from Downtown into the Near Northside & Fifth Ward from the BBVA station. 

     

    If the City leaders care at all about not completely killing everything good happening in EaDo/East End they need to take the opportunity in this highway project to improve the grid that's historically been left to be decay southeast of Downtown. That's where the growth potential inside the loop is. 

     

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