JLWM8609

Marfreless is reopening on January 24 with some changes. http://blog.chron.com/foodchronicles/2014/01/changes-in-store-for-new-marfreless-valet-doorman-dress-code/#13242101=9

I imagine it's MUCH better since that bottleneck just past 59 going EB is now eliminated.

The new Walmart on Wayside and I-45 opened today. Did anyone go so they could get their socks and vehicle air filter in the same shopping trip?

The current construction is just step 1 in the master plan for the 290 corridor.

Not quite. There are some sections of MLK where the light rail was put in and the street hasn't been touched, or else any repairs have been minimal, like new asphalt only on the lane closest to the light rail.

They're design schemes used on TxDOT projects in the Houston District as part of the Houston District's Green Ribbon Project. They've been doing this since 2002-ish. The district is divided into three regions, northern, western, and southern. The northern region is north of I-10 and 290 and uses a vertical scheme to represent the piney woods. The western region is roughly south of I-10 and 290 and west of 288 and uses a horizontal scheme to represent open grasslands, and the southern region which is south of I-10 and east of 288 uses the wave scheme to represent the coast. You can see examples here: http://www.my290.com/environmental/82-environmental/132-green-ribbon-project-p3.html

I drove to The Woodlands today and saw that the overpass and ramps for the Grand Parkway interchange at I-45 are coming along. One thing I've noticed aesthetically is the interchanges at 290 and 45 are being constructed in the horizontal regional scheme even though they're located in parts of the district that call for the vertical regional scheme. It's not noticeable unless you're a road geek or a person who knows about the Green Ribbon project, but I thought that was kind of an interesting observation.

I ate there once. Didn't really care for it.

Wouldn't that College Station routing problem be solved somewhat with an express or limited service for those who want to get to Dallas nonstop? You'd have to pay a little more to ride the express, but I would think people would use it if it shaved 30 minutes off a trip.

I seem to remember a Continental Airlines DC-9 landed at IAH in the mid 90s with the gear still retracted. I believe it was pilot error instead of a mechanical problem.

The elevators now go to the 1st floor in the south building. The project was completed around 2008-09.

That's correct. It's in Houston's Limited Purpose City Limit. Houston City Council approved $1 million in tax rebates for Costco to choose the Grand Parkway site vs a site closer to Katy Mills.

One of the reasons for building the Grand Parkway (and every other loop in Houston) is to give through traffic a way to pass through the Houston area without going through the center of the city. For example, a trucker going from Corpus to Shreveport taking the Grand Parkway from Sugar Land to Porter to bypass central Houston. Once segments F-2 and G are complete, it'll be interesting to see if it finds more use as a bypass or as an arterial route.

I hope it gets built this time. Lobbying from Southwest Airlines killed this project about 15 years ago since they make a lot of money on the DAL-HOU route. Dallas is just a start. Hopefully, it'll spur development of other lines that will eventually lead to nationwide high speed rail options.

I wonder why they didn't order some more S70s instead of this different model?

January 15th

I remember there being a rice mill in the shadows of downtown back in the 90s. I think it was on Allen Parkway?

A few things I remember from the 90s. Weiner's clothing store. Gulfgate Mall was still alive, but on life support Going to Marshall's and Target on Kleckley across from Almeda Mall Going to Foley's at Almeda Mall Going to Phar-Mor on S. Post Oak at W. Bellfort Feeding the ducks at Meyer Park and at Hermann Park Eating at Piccadilly in Gulfgate after church and going to Hobby Airport afterward and parking at the cul-de-sac on Convair and Lockheed to watch the planes for a few minutes before going home HEB entering the Houston market Downtown streets being torn up due to all the rebuilding projects The expanse of old railroad tracks before Enron Field was built President Clinton's visit to Houston in 1996 for Barbara Jordan's funeral. His motorcade passed our house. My dad took me to EFD to get a glimpse of Air Force 1, and I remember that some shuttle astronauts were arriving back from FL at the same time. I think President Clinton said a few words to congratulate them. My parents used to ride down to Pearland to check out this sleepy new development called Silverlake. It seemed so pastoral before development really kicked into high gear. Pacing the freight train on the MKT while riding on I-10 on the way to San Antonio. I remember we'd pass a go-kart track on US59 at the Westpark curve. I never visited it, but my dad told me that some murders happened there. Malibu Grand Prix on 610 between I-10 and 290. Passing through downtown on a weekend and it looked like a ghost town. The concern over Houston adding a new area code (281). The controversy concerning disturbed graves somewhere along Allen Parkway. More controversy over the proposal of adding TSU to the UH system. A case of meningitis at my elementary school (Red El.) made the local news. In the late 90s, the first lofts opened downtown. I remember hearing adults state things like "who'd want to live downtown?" The mumblings about the proposed light rail line, and adults calling it a trolley. Watching the local news and seeing newscasters and weathermen like Ron Stone, Neil Frank, Marlene McClinton, Steve Smith, Sylvan Rodriguez, Jan Carson, Lloyd Gite, Linda Lorelle, and me being afraid of Alvin Van Black for some reason. The opening of the shiny, brand new Fred Hartman bridge. For a little kid like me, it was cool to go over such a high bridge. The Goodyear blimp base in Spring. Hobby Airport before the new terminal was built seemed so podunk inside. Visiting the observation deck of the Transco Tower Watching Jason's Lyric and recognizing Third Ward and a family friend playing the role of the bus driver. Orbit being the Astros' mascot before their move to Enron Field. Meeting Mattress Mac at Gallery Furniture one night.

I think there's already a section of 146 named after Lanier in Baytown. Additionally, calling it a parkway would go against the Houston area's trend of slapping the designation of parkway on roads that are nowhere near being a parkway, which are typically limited access roads that pass through park-like settings. Examples of non-parkway parkways: St. Joseph Parkway, NASA Parkway, Cypress Creek Parkway.

I think the speed limits on some of the freeways in TxDOT's Houston District need to be raised, not to 75 or 80 like on the rural interstates between major metro areas in TX, but to levels that are appropriate for surrounding population density, highway design, and traffic level. 70 mph is a reasonable limit for the freeways in suburban and rural areas and serves as a good buffer between the 75 mph zones outside the Houston District and the 65 mph zones inside the Houston District. Let's use the Katy Freeway for example. From the Bexar County line to the Brazos River, the limit is 75 mph. From the Brazos River to Highway 6, a 70 mph limit would be reasonable, with a 65 mph limit from Highway 6 to 610, and continuing the current 60 mph limit inside 610. As it stands now, the limit drops from 75 to 65 at the Brazos River and continues at 65 until Katy or so, before dropping down to 60 from Katy to Downtown. For those who think higher limits will turn everyone into speed demons, have you driven the stretches of I-45 and I-10 that have 75 mph speed limits? Prior to the speed limit increase, traffic flowed at 70-75 mph in 70 mph zones. In my travels, I have observed that even with the increase in the speed limit, traffic is still generally flowing at 70-75 mph.

I'm glad to see them back. I like both Shipley's and Krispy Kreme. I might get greedy one day and get half a dozen hot glazed donuts from each place.

I didn't know they had oxtails and gravy. I might have to stop by there one day for lunch to see what it's like.

Property was being condemned for the Hardy Toll Road extension long before light rail came to the area. The first properties were bought out in 2001.

That store is way overdue for an update. It was built as a Safeway in the 80s, and they did little refreshes in the 90s and 00s, but nothing major. Funny you should mention the entrance. Until the late 90s, the store had two entrances on either side. One side was completely closed off. The other side was converted to bring in shopping carts only and the current entrance was put in.

On Saturday, I was talking to a fellow who does remodeling and architecture for local dealerships. He mentioned Tommie Vaughn and said that the original building is still there underneath various layers of remodeling.