JLWM8609

Air New Zealand featured a picture of the Houston skyline in their travel magazine. I guess whoever chose the photo thought we were on a lake and weren't in the middle of a major flood which is why it's of note. Really a non-news item, but kinda funny. http://www.chron.com/life/travel/article/Air-New-Zealand-travel-magazine-used-flood-photo-10622817.php

The Caddy Escala concept is a beautiful machine. http://www.carscoops.com/2016/11/cadillacs-escala-concept-is-sharp.html

I wonder if the emergency demolition and re-construction of the W. Dallas overpass will delay the on-ramp opening? The overpass got damaged to the point of impacting the structure's integrity by a too-tall load in September. http://www.chron.com/news/transportation/article/Bridge-hit-finally-hits-I-45-drivers-with-closing-10590585.php

Last night, I noticed some orange barrels have been placed on the left shoulder of the 610 EB to 288 NB ramp in order to close the shoulder.

It's kinda interesting that the 610 SB feeder appears to be a 2-way road at that time, especially in a built up, urban area.

I'd have to go with the 1970s ammonia truck accident as the worst accident I've heard of happening on a Houston road. That accident could've been prevented if the truck driver hadn't tried to take the ramp at high speed.

You've got a better chance of rolling a snowball up hippie hill in July than that happening.

The North Houston Highway Improvement Project will rebuild that interchange and have the managed lanes terminate via ramps to Chenevert. That's still a good 10-15 years down the line though.

On the Dan Ryan in Chicago, stops are at overpasses with major streets. People get there by walking or via bus stops at the train stop.

That entity is Blueridge Transportation Group http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/houston/sh288-toll-lanes/developer-summaries.html

The Burger King will be spared by the ramp, but not the gas station. Additionally, Ardmore St. will be severed, which sucks because I occasionally use that as a back entrance into the neighborhood from OST. I say occasionally because the intersection of Ardmore and Holcombe is a bit hairy sometimes. I agree with you about the freight line. I rarely see trains on the line, and when I do, it's just an engine moving about 4 or 5 cars. It could've run all the way into downtown had Southern Pacific not ripped up the Columbia Tap rail line from 288 to Downtown in 1985.

I hear you, but 288 already did its damage to Third Ward/Riverside in the late 60s when all those homes were bulldozed and the grid was cut up. People are still moving back into the area, and the proposed HEB at N. MacGregor really has the area buzzing. Most of the project will be within the current ROW. The only thing I know of that'll be demolished for this project is the Mobil Station between Holcombe and OST on the 288 feeder when the Medical Center access ramps are built.

Looking at the Drive 288 site renderings, there's going to be left lane entrances and offramps to and from the mainlanes of 288 to 610. I wonder why they had to resort to that setup?

I saw on one of the big message signs that construction on 288 will start this month. It also gave a website for more info: www.drive288.com

There were apartments there.

I go there. Well, I haven't been in a month of Sundays.

I used to be a member of Wheeler Avenue. This has been in the plans for about the past 10 years at the least. That's when I first heard that Frenchy's was going to move to I-45 and Scott in order to make room for the new sanctuary. They're also preserving part of the old sanctuary as you can make out its roofline just to the left of the new sanctuary.

Will the store front be on N. MacGregor or will it be on 288?

I got to drive a Cadillac CT6 last Saturday during Cadillac's Truth + Dare event at NRG. I also had a chance to try some of their other offerings like the ATS-V coupe which is a pure rocket! The CT6 is the new flagbearer and the first big rear wheel drive vehicle from them in 20 years. It's almost as big as a Mercedes-Benz S-class yet lighter than a CTS due to its aluminum construction. You can feel its featherweight while putting it into a curve. On the ramp from 610E to 288S, I kept the speed up and it felt like a lighter car and handled well. I also got to ride in an XT5 which will likely be Caddy's bread and butter vehicle over the next few years given the popularity of its SRX predecessor. The XT5 felt like a highly optioned Chevy to me. The CT6 didn't have that feeling, and that's good. I hope the CT6 does well and I'm hoping GM will offer a 4.2L twin turbo V8 down the line as they've promised and not chicken out.

Looks like it's coming along nicely! I was supposed to participate with a group in the grand opening festivities on Juneteenth weekend, but the April and May rains put such a delay on construction that the grand opening will likely be in November.

They'll stick a lone star motif on each tile because Texas.

Time to rename S. Main the Matlock Expressway.

You'd think they'd open up the I-45 and/or US 59 HOT lanes this weekend while the Hardy is closed to help accommodate the traffic that would otherwise use the Hardy as an alternate route, especially the IAH bound traffic.

See page 26: http://www.downtowntirz.org/images/150205_Allen_Parkway_Public_Meeting_Final.pdf It looks to be a rough idea instead of what it'll exactly look like. I've been looking for schematics or final plans myself.