JLWM8609

The buyers of the Weingarten home have been revealed. They will restore the home and expand the kitchen. http://swamplot.com/buyers-will-restore-weingarten-mansion-expand-kitchen-call-it-home/2014-09-02/

H-GAC is looking for solutions that can be implemented quickly and without adding lanes to improve traffic flow on 59 between BW8 and 288. There will be two meetings at H-GAC on Sept 10th from noon to 2pm, and from 6 to 8pm. http://www.mysouthwestfreeway.com/get-involved.html

I drove back from Centerville last night and I can confirm that they are not illuminated.

Looking at this Google Maps view, you can see that the neon tubing is still there as of April 2014. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.939316,-95.413326,3a,15y,7.5h,119.27t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sU6xFQwua23dq2RLaNRyQMw!2e0

Nope. The Weingarten house is about a mile and a half away from the one on Oakmont.

The inaugural flight will be LAX-IAH on Sat., Sept. 20.

Alternatively, you can take I-10 E to US 59 S, and then 59 S to 288 when I-45 S is backed up.

What's Bob Nicholas up to these days?

Maintain a safe following distance between you and the car in front of you. People will slam their brakes on the freeway for seemingly no reason.

Just a correction. Rev. Lawson is not affiliated with Rose of Sharon Baptist Church. He is the founding pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Third Ward. He was Senior Pastor at Wheeler from 1962 to 2005, and my family has been honored to personally know him over the past five decades.

I like speed and comfort. I'd like to do the same thing, except use a Lincoln Town Car. Seems like every Ford Panther chassis fan can mod a CV (Crown Vic) handed down to them by grandma, or a CVPI (Crown Vic Police Interceptor), but why not a Town Car? There's just something about a big, fast, American land barge. It's nearly mechanically identical to the Crown Vic save a few bits. Put a 5.4 in it, large front sway bar used in the fleet versions of the Crown Vic, rear sway bar from the Mercury Marauder, stiffer P71 (Crown Vic police interceptor) springs, heavy duty shocks, and you'd have the North American answer to the S65 AMG. Those are battering rams! Most US spec MBs from 1974 to 1991 had bumpers that were longer and larger than their Euro spec counterparts due to Federal Regs. Some like the slim Euro look. I like the US look. I guess that's because I'm used to seeing them, and US spec bumpers have saved me from bad Houston drivers a few times in my MBs.

I think that might be the Exxon Mobil effect. More people with the salary to afford new MBs will be moving into the area. I think the E-class may soon become the Toyota Camry of north Harris and south Montgomery Co.

This thread left 288's median and is on I-10 halfway to El Paso.

Speaking of Green, I don't think this will help him if he decides to run. http://www.chron.com/default/article/Ethics-issues-arise-in-rulings-by-justice-of-the-3798572.php

It was called Helmut Holder Mercedes-Benz. It opened in September 1964 at the corner of 59 and Fountain View. Sometime along the line, he opened up an independent shop. At his memorial service, there were laminated copies of the Houston Chronicle from the day the dealership opened. I think it was the first MB dealership in Houston. The buildings still stand today. The showroom is still there as a used car dealership, and what I think was once the service area is now the Firehouse Saloon. Helmut was a rare jewel among mechanics. He worked on my "youngtimer" MBs and it's going to be hard, if not impossible to find a mechanic as thorough and with the know-how that he had. One of the Mercedes Club members told me a story of how he took his 1966 230SL to him. Helmut looked at the floorpan and asked the owner if the car had been to a certain European country, I think it was Switzerland. The owner said yes and asked him how he knew. Apparently, the floorpans had been fixed in a manner that was unique to the bodyman in Switzerland, and Helmut recognized the work.

A. Rod got bought by Group 1 Automotive a few months ago. It was owned by A. Rod and Jerry Glauser. Group 1 came in and cleaned house management wise. They're now Mercedes-Benz of Clear Lake. Of the 6 MB dealers in Houston, 3 will be independently owned (Star, Woodlands, Sugar Land), while the others are owned by Auto Nation (Greenway, North) and Group 1 (Clear Lake). I remember when there were only 3 MB dealers in Houston. Intercontinental Motors, Star Motor Cars, and Norman Scott. You probably remember when the recently departed Helmut Holder's MB dealer was still in operation. Intercontinental became Charlie Thomas Intercontinental, and became MB North in 2000 after Kenneth Schnitzer Jr. sold it to Auto Nation. Norman Scott became Park Place, moved to Greenway Plaza, and became MB Greenway in 2000 after Kenneth Schnitzer Jr sold it to Auto Nation, too.

If anyone is following this tread, looks like it's going to open up in February 2015. http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/08/mercedes-benz-of-the-woodlands-to-open-early-next-year/

It's going to be just 2 more lanes in each direction. It looks like the 2 lanes will go in easy. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.597822,-95.386475,3a,75y,185.39h,84.62t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sT9jw_mZtp9ZsQxk5Aq3bpQ!2e0

Looks like it'll be a 5 stack. Initial schematics: http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/hou/sh288_toll_lanes/project_documents/schematic_plans/initial/sh288_initial_sheet_08.pdf Ultimate schematics: http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/hou/sh288_toll_lanes/project_documents/schematic_plans/ultimate/sh288_ultimate_sheet_07.pdf

They're going to start out with one reversible lane. In time, it'll be widened into two nonreversible lanes. http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/hou/sh288_us59/harris_county_610_59.pdf

I don't know why they threw that in there. It's a Wal-Mart that's going to be built in Katy. You can see the street name is Falcon Landing Blvd, and on the top half, you can barely make out Westheimer Pkwy.

Here's the schematics that show the lanes ending at the interchange with 59. They don't show the flyover at Holcombe, though. http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/hou/sh288_toll_lanes/project_documents/schematic_plans/initial/sh288_initial_sheet_13.pdf

The ramp at MacGregor was squashed. Instead, the ramp will be built at Holcombe. I'll try to find a link to the schematics.

I sometimes wonder what the traffic situation on 288 would be like today if it was completed in the mid-70s as planned with express lanes and not completed in the mid-80s without the express lanes.

Yes. The control arm front suspension comes from the W220. The 5 link rear suspension, the firewall, the floorpan, differential, and ESP system all come from the W211.