JClark54

In the current Houston heavy rail environment, that's a tough ask. Even if the railroads granted trackage rights, passenger rail timetables likely would not be reliable with the existing infrastructure.

I don't actually think Cullen will be closed. It and Leeland were omitted from the grant application, with York being separated and the existing Navigation underpass being revamped to include Commerce. This study was used to apply for funds simply because it's the only one ever performed. The city planning department admitted it had never studied the area in a recent meeting.

The 2021 TxDOT Freight Rail Study, the most recent one, can be found here: https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot-info/rail/draft-report.pdf You will notice in the report Scott/York is listed as an overpass. The grant application states underpass.

You may have trouble finding the West Belt Improvement Project because it's under TxDOT's freight rail division rather than transportation planning, where most projects are located. It's also not listed as a standalone project, but one of many in the Houston Region Freight Rail Study. The actual project is on York, from approximately Dallas to Harrisburg, as opposed to Scott. I wrote Scott because the project's stated scope is to improve access to 45 at Scott. TxDOT's freight division and its studies lack the specificity and depth of the transportation planning division's, unfortunately. Each project is described with a few grafs and a price tag as opposed to the detailed analysis associated with projects like the NHHIP. Leaves a lot to be desired. The chart and financial details above are for the whole project, which didn't gain traction after first proposal 2012. Due to recent rail operating practice changes and resident activism, TxDOT and the city re-started the project in phases to make federal grant funding more palatable. If fed infrastructure dollars don't come, none of it will happen in the foreseeable future, we're told. Funding for Phase I -- where York will be dropped (I wouldn't be so certain since no study has taken place since 2012 and underpasses in the area have proven hard to obtain due to soil issues), the Navigation underpass will be revamped to include a Commerce connection, and many roads in between will be closed -- was applied for in February. TxDOT and the city have not specified at this time what crossings will be included in future phases, or when they will be pursued if at all. the project will create much-needed connectivity at a handful of key streets on the West Belt, one of the Houston's most heavily trafficked lines at up to 75 trains per day average. A downsides is connectivity will be eliminated on all minor streets and many major ones. One example is Cullen. One win in my mind is Lyons.

Yes, I've been a few times. It's down the street from my first house. Haven't visited recently, but it used to have a small permanent collection and rotating temporary exhibits. The museum gained attention for taking the 'Pride of the Confederacy' statue after its removal from Sam Houston Park.

When did I say EaDo's situation was dire in the other thread? EaDo is getting many crossings and a cap for a linear park, so if anything it is bound to prosper as you wrote. I never disagreed, so you're moving the goalposts as you like to write. In the other thread where you were an active participant, we were always discussing the areas beyond EaDo, Eastwood and Lawndale/Wayside. Primary NHHIP access will be streets without a separated rail crossing. There's more to the east end than EaDo. In any event, I don't care to derail this thread. I felt obliged to respond to the hyperbole you interjected here for no clear reason other than to elicit commentary as it doesn't pertain to this lot. If you want to continue in the appropriate area, I am happy to so this thread stays on topic.

You participated greatly on that in the other thread. Yes, 18-point turn is hyperbole, but so was your above comment about EaDo being cut off from the outside world.

The east end beyond EaDo will have a single connection after the 18-point turn you stated is easy and everyone, even first-timers, will follow with no issue. 🤣

You beat me to it. Snapped this photo a few minutes ago.

I share your concerns about Polk access to downtown. These apartments would be four blocks from the Ennis Street METRORail Station, if it materializes. I have less optimism that project after the most recent EaDO TIRZ meeting, where TIRZ members stated METRO would support the location but didn't have money to get it off the ground. It would have to be built by another party, like the TIRZ, they said. Kombat Kroger îs approximately one mile away, so close but likely an inconvenient to walk groceries home.

Came across the following for 1715 Milby, which might be the lot across from the appliance resale place. It was once a huge dumping ground for electrical conduit, coiled tubing, and other odds and ends, but it was cleared in 2022.

Eh, three different posters in this thread asked for more information about the West Belt project. Maybe you can direct them to the existing thread?

It appears the hope is for an underpass. Requests have been made for streetscape enhancements, such as wider sidewalks and pedestrian crossings on Lockwood. METRO appears to have acknowledge the sidewalks but I gather it's noncommittal on others. It's well documented that METRO sees an overpass as the path forward.

And since one metric of alleged proper advocacy appears to be the number of times one speaks with Houston Chronicle transpiration reporter Dug Begley, something tells me east end residents are going to come out on top there, too.

In this forum, people say wait or go around. In the east end, it's not actually that easy. Saying make a multi-block turn or go around may mean adding many miles -- in one scenario as much as six miles is needed to cross one street with a crossing. That really tells me the person lacks understanding or doesn't care. Blockage impacts extend far beyond resident and passer-by upset. Railroads don't even alert first responders, as you can see here: https://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2022/09/25/tracking-an-ongoing-issue-a-look-on-train-blockages-and-their-lasting-impact-on-emergency-response/ Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena has spoken before the FRA and STB about the challenges his department faces by not knowing where blockages occur and for how long they will be there. Here's the City of Houston's public comment in regards to the CP-KCS merger. CoH Public Comment.pdf

At the last EaDo TIRZ meeting, they surveyed attendees on what they'd do with $10 million of capital improvement cash. The new stop was one option. I asked TIRZ members why they would have that as an option rather than METRO, and they said METRO is on board with the new station but would not fund it. I put my money elsewhere as improving walkability is closer to my heart. If it's valuable to you, however, I suggest shooting them a comment or attending their next meeting.

I can only speculate, but I imagine at-grade closures will be nothing more than raised curbing and orange signage like you see for roads in EaDo closed for the light rail. Those ending at separated crossings obviously will be different. I wrote in another Hou Arch forum that I think Velasco would make a great pedestrian crossing and create a major difference in the physical and mental barriers between the two sides. It's fairly between Emancipation and York, allowing another passage, and would connect the Columbia Tap Trail to the Concept Neighborhood development and the rail line it plans to turn into a trail. That trail is set to connect with the bayou trail. The issue is Velasco hits UP Congress for a short stretch, so it'd have to be a bridge. Chicago and many other cities have bridges that span whole yards, so it's not impossible. I am just unsure whether officials here have the drive to pursue an infrastructure project of that scope for non-auto applications.

Congress has given the railroads the ability to decide whether to report real-time train traffic activity to federal and local authorities. At least UP and BNSF, the track owners here, have decided against it for what they say are national security reasons. So the claim drivers can make multi-point turns and get around a blockage is spurious at best because navigation apps don't know when blockages occur. It would take driver familiarity. Yes, locals will surely make the jag. Those who don't know, won't until the obstruction is met. TomTom, Google and other navigational service providers have discussed this headache in interviews. They will route people down Leeland as the most direct or least turns, only to hit a train. Same can be said for the other direction.

Yes, but that only furthers my and Samagon's position against your earlier claim. The West Belt project effectively creates a three-mile-long wall that runs diagonally, minus select streets that get seperated passage. Moving traffic to or from downtown onto streets without separations coupled with closing minor at-grade streets will only greatly exasperate the dangerous driving already prevalent in the east end. Drivers coming down Leeland or similar will hit a train or closed intersection and make hazardous decisions as they continue to hit obstructions. Maintaining Polk as continuous or building a separation at Leeland if the current design is kept would be solutions for that aspect since these two projects may very well happen.

For the Second Ward side of the east end, all streets going toward downtown will be closed at various points (whether due to ending at a below-grade street or being dead-ended for the QZ) except Leeland, Polk, Harrisburg, Commerce, and Navigation. Hutchins, a quasi-popular perpendicular route from EaDo to Second Ward, will be closed at the West Belt. That will leave Emancipation, York and Wayside. Put lightly, it will be impactful. It surely improves connectivity on York, Navigation and Commerce, but ends connectivity on all minor streets.

The West Belt project would place York below grade, with the drop beginning at Dallas or Lamar (TxDOT has Dallas and the city has Lamar) to Harrisburg. It will create much-needed passage under the West Belt and Galveston Subdivision at York as well as rebuilding the existing Navigation underpass to include Commerce. Included in the project is the long soughtafter quiet zone, which TxDOT and its partners could accomplish using additional grade separations or street closures. It tagged closures at $50K apiece versus separations at many millions apiece. So the byproduct is the closure of many streets where they cross York or the West Belt, including streets TxDOT has identified to carry traffic to and from the highway. The project is contingent on federal funding as the city won't have the local match. If the feds come through, Sampson and York will become two-way streets, with Sampson dead-ending at both sides of the West Belt. York will continue through as an underpass, although I doubt that is in stone. The Harrisburg overpass, as an example, was originally designated an underpass. Soil contamination made it unfeasible. I believe the US DOT will approve the city's grant application, as communities around the West Belt and Galveston Sub have begun documenting train blockages -- not moving trains, but ones stopped on city streets -- and reporting directly to the FRA rather than the usual course of the railroads. The FRA studied the area and found it was the most congested complex in the United States of America. It sees twice the number of blocked crossings in excess of 15 minutes -- the federally designated maximum time a train can sit at a crossing -- than the second most congested city. TxDOT's most recent Houston region freight rail study found up to 75 trains per day cross the double-track mainline West Belt, so three-plus trains per hour. Being generous and using 10-minute passage times, that means crossings are blocked half the day, every day. In reality, the trains move slower in the east end due to myriad factors (rail yard density, turns, and general line congestion) and the average crossing time exceeds 20 minutes, plus there's the usual parked train. So the actual impact is far greater. As a single-track mainline, the Galveston Subdivision sees less total train volume but suffers from long stops. There is no crossing of this line besides Emancipation and Wayside, a three-plus mile gap. The improvement project is much needed. Rail volume is increasing, and the railroads predict it will not stop anytime soon. They've underinvested in rail infrastructure expansions while committing to an operating model -- PSR -- that embraces extending train lengths while reducing staff. Just two days ago, the STB approved the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, which will bring an additional 8-14 trains per day through the Houston complex. One of its two operating routes is the West Belt.

Thanks for confirming any such traffic heading to downtown would more likely take Leeland. It most certainly is a major issue. The TxDOT-backed project is the West Belt separation, which they first released a study in 2012. Houston city council voted in February to seek a grant to cover a percentage of the local obligation.

Great news. A visual reminder of trains while enjoying time with family and friends may be unnecessary when ensconced in audible ones 24/7.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/home-design/article/preservation-eastwood-grocery-17836240.php#photo-23564521