JLWM8609

I've seen poles like that going up around the city.

I don't think it's down to one lane. Anytime it's down to one lane it's past 9 or 10pm and usually back open to 3 or so lanes by 5am.

Those trees prevented rubbernecking slow downs when there was a wreck on the opposite side of the freeway. At least they lasted over 10 years. I'm hoping some of them will stay because the entire median won't be utilized for toll lanes in that section.

Work is steadily moving along. I haven't been south of 610 in a while, but from what I've seen, they've laid down pavement for the toll lanes between 610 and Yellowstone. All of the columns are just about complete for the 610 interchange and the columns for the Holly Hall overpass are up. Columns are going up for the ramps to and from Holcombe and they've started work on widening the overpasses at Blodgett, Wheeler, and Cleburne. I've seen some orange barrels going on up the Southmore overpass, which is going to be replaced. Funny thing is some group, possibly the Greater Southeast Management District, had the esplanade of Southmore at 288 landscaped with new aggregate cobblestone pavement just a few weeks ago. I thought it was odd knowing that it would be ripped up soon. A few days after it was completed, it was ripped up. I wonder how much that error cost?

Newest update from Councilman Boykins regarding the HEB.

Here's the latest information about the project http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/houston/59-610.html The 59/69 SB to 610 NB ramp will still be 1 lane wide. I wonder why they didn't take this opportunity to expand that ramp to 2 lanes wide? Every other ramp that's currently 1 lane wide will become 2 lanes wide.

There's already a thread http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/26657-59-610-interchange-partial-rebuild/

I can only hope that future development will re-purpose the building and remove the 1960s cladding and reveal the Art Deco underneath. As an example, the old 1926 Sears building on Ponce de Leon in Atlanta is much bigger than the building here, but after it was closed down, the City of Atlanta bought it and used it for city offices. Now, it's a mixed use development known as Ponce City Market.

Sears on Main is closing. http://www.chron.com/business/retail/article/Sears-to-close-iconic-Midtown-location-12266913.php

They're two different projects, but construction of the two projects should occur at the same time.

It's getting torn down and replaced.

It was originally to connect to the eventually reconstructed Elysian Viaduct, which would then connect to the Hardy Toll Road Extension. The plans are still there, but slightly different. Instead of going to the Hardy Toll Road via the viaduct, there'll be a direct connection from the new I-69/I-10/I-45 interchange to the Hardy Toll Road Extension.

I thought it was for the 610/59 interchange reconstruction.

Everybody is going for the fastback look these days with the kinda-sorta opera window in the c-pillar. This also marks the end of the non-luxury/non-muscle/midsize coupe as Honda's discontinued the Accord coupe for 2018.

I thought the stink of the landfill out in Pearland near Shadow Creek Ranch was bad, but I doubt it's as large as the landfill out on Beaumont Hwy.

I remember seeing it just barely from the ramp from US 59 N to I-10W and the 9th floor of the M&M/UHD building back when I was an undergrad student at UHD from 2005 to 2009. I'm back at UHD as a grad student now and can easily see it from the ramp. It's amazing what 8-12 years of additional garbage can do.

I-10 may need to be a minimum of 8 lanes (4 in each direction) between Katy and Columbus to fix that issue since you have 2 lanes of Highway 71 from Austin dumping onto 2 lanes of I-10. Since the issue only exists on Sundays and holiday weekends and isn't a daily problem, TxDOT may not justify it. Just thinking about it, 8 lanes of rural interstate would be a monster. Do any 8 lane rural interstates currently exist?

The eventual plan is to expand I-10 between Houston and San Antonio to at least 6 lanes minimum. TxDOT's Houston and San Antonio districts are working on it together. The San Antonio District would be responsible for widening the section between San Antonio and Columbus, even though some sections of I-10 between San Antonio and Columbus fall under the Yoakum and Austin Districts. It'll be interesting to see if the San Antonio and Houston Districts continue their respective design themes along those stretches. Maybe we'd see a structure near Columbus with a mixture of San Antonio's Mission Design Theme and Houston's Horizontal Theme at the point where each district's portion comes together? http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/TxDOT-proposes-adding-lanes-to-I-10-6180343.php Note that the article states that I-10 passes through 3 districts between Houston and San Antonio. They list San Antonio, Houston, and Yoakum. It's actually 4. People forget that a sliver of I-10 near Luling passes through the Austin District in Caldwell County.

I was caught up in that jam, too! I was coming back from San Antonio as the co-pilot and told the driver to just stay on I-10 instead of taking US 90 thinking that everybody else would have the same idea. I could see US 90 traffic was moving faster, but I think those savings were cut once they encountered backed up intersections. Taking US 90A from Seguin to Houston would be a more scenic alternative to I-10. Perhaps a bit slower, but at least you'd be moving at a steady speed and less stressed out. Plus, it feels different coming into Houston from San Antonio via SW Houston.

That is interesting. I always thought Stuebner-Airline got its name because it was the road running between Stuebner, TX and Airline Rd, like Spring-Stuebner was the road running between Spring and Stuebner.

The proper thing to do would be to eliminate that left side exit for Spur 527 and make it a right side exit with a flyover over NB and SB 59 to eliminate all that weaving. I brought that up at the meeting at HCC, but they claimed they couldn't do that without taking property. Sounds like BS, but I don't think the representative was an engineer.

Exit numbers started going up within the last week around downtown. On I-69/US 59 SB, exit to I-45 is 129B, the McGowen/Tuam exit is 129A, and the 288 exit is 128B. That is consistent with milemarker 0 being in Victoria.

They usually prefer private schools and magnet schools.

I've seen the bald eagle flying around the neighborhood, too. I can never catch it on camera though. Usually, I manage to get a brown spot with a bit of white.

They're working pretty fast. The columns for the 610 interchange have started going up as well as the new center bents for the Bellfort overpass.