JLWM8609

Actually, she had a kid a few years ago and didn't lose the weight (and I don't suppose the morning show being catered by the Kolache Factory helps that either! )

Wait a minute. There was a Home Depot at I-45 and N. Shepherd? I don't remember it, but I do remember the K-Mart there at Victory and Little York before it closed in the early 90's.

The previous owner which was a fraternity added all that stuff to the house at first years ago. When they vacated it and moved on campus a few years ago, it was pretty run down, and looked unkept, pathetic looking. All the current owner did was come in, refurbish and remodel the whole house and kept the addons. With that fence around it, it looks very much like a "compound" rather than a family residence, though I know even with its strange looks the residents of this area would much prefer a quiet family residence than a loud fraternity anytime.

I know this thread is from 2005, but it appears construction on a new house is finally starting on that lot as of a few days ago. Also, rps, which house on S. MacGregor are you referring to, I mean where is it located? I drive on S. MacGregor daily and I probably pass this house every day, I may even know the residents.

Prior to the widening projects, I would say the old I-10/US 59 interchange downtown was the "ugliest". It was partially completed in 1958 and fully complete by 1972. US 59 went over I-10 with only 6 lanes and small shoulders, ramps were short and often entered or exited on the left side. It had a ramp from US 59 N to I-10 W that was like a partial cloverleaf. You can still see where it was today, there are also traces of other ramps such as the left lane onramp from I-10 E to US 59 S. Between 1998 and 2003, the interchange was rebuilt, longer more aesthetic ramps with better geometrics were built, HOV lanes added that feed directly into downtown instead of stopping before Lyons, more mainlanes and wide shoulders were added to US 59 and as you can see on the current US 59 N to I-10 W ramp, there's an "Evil Kenevil" stub that will eventually connect to the new Hardy Toll Road extension. Some of the left lane exits and entrances are still there though they've been just about fully rebuilt with new bridge and approach structures, though they follow the same basic path the original ramps followed and now have their own lanes to feed into and are not as substandard as the previous 50 year old design was. The only traces from the original 50's interchange left are the original I-10 mainlanes that go underneath the whole thing that are in need of some resurfacing. As for 2007, I can't really think of any interchange I'd consider "ugly" being a roadgeek, and that I like just about all Houston interchanges.

One thing I cannot understand is why The City of Houston will not give Almeda Rd. between S. Mac Gregor and OST the attention it deserves. My parents have recalled since they moved back to Houston from Atlanta, Almeda was always ragged in that section, that was in 1979! Back in 79, Almeda Rd. was still designated SH 288 just about all the way into downtown. When the South Freeway was completed in 1984, Almeda Rd. south of OST was redesignated as FM 521, sections north of OST lost all state highway designation altogether, no FM redesignation, just simply turned over to the City of Houston by TxDOT for maintainence as yet another city street. Since then, Almeda south of OST has receieved new concrete road surfaces and asphalt resurfacing. North of OST however, it's full of potholes. From 2004 to 2006, they did a little work on it when they installed some new water lines. New concrete sections were put in. BUT, on either side of this smooth bit of road, there's ragged road. They did a little milling (scraping away of old asphalt overlay) and resurfacing of two of four lanes at Holcombe on the southbound side, but it just looks, well, half-baked! How can you justify milling and resurfacing to make a smooth lane inches next to an untouched pothole ridden one? That little truck that spits gravel into holes isn't gonna help this one out Bill! But maybe there's some hope. Numerous streets in this area of town all at once got the mill and repave treatment and Almeda may be next, as well as this new twin highrise condo development on Almeda which may finally prompt the City to mill and resurface the entire stretch between S. Mac Gregor and OST.

Hey all. I have been following some of the threads about past hotels and other businesses on S. Main and OST with great interest. Those old photos and postcards are great, and it's good to see some of those buildings are still standing (though not for long in this wrecking ball happy town). While that's all interesting and everything, I'm looking for some information and photos pertaining to the roads themselves. I've always had a great interest in them seeing as I live less than a mile from OST over in Riverside Terrace, and used to ride to school down the old four lane S. Main between Kirby and 610 regularly before the expansion to eight lane boulevard took place. I've been looking at some old maps and old photos, it appears South Main from OST all the way to Richmond, TX was the first four lane divided highway in the area. Prior to that, it was just a two lane highway. I'd like to know what year the highway was made divided and four lanes. All I know is it was late 40's. Then, there's the old intersection with Holmes Rd. I can remember back in the late 90's before its upgrade to a freeway, riding in the car through that intersection. I thought to myself how odd it was for some non access controlled roads to have such a large complicated intersection with ramps and overpasses. Looking at this old photo from 1960, http://rootmedia.net/images/westbury60.jpg, it looks like the southbound flyover and Holmes overpass weren't built until between 1960 and 64. It looks like back then, two southbound lanes split off and went over the tracks at grade while one or two southbound lanes went under the tracks alongside the northbound lanes to provide access to Holmes before coming back around to the southbound side of the divided highway after crossing Hiram Clarke. Hope I didn't confuse anyone with that description. Is there anyone here old enough to remember if that was the case? Are there any old photos of the highway from sometime between the 40's and late 90's? Then there's OST. Turns out it was built as a two lane realignment of US 90A in 1935 as the "OST Cutoff". When was it built to its current six lane configuration? I'm looking for photos of OST in its original and current configuration through the years. Also, when was the Griggs Rd./England St. overpass built over OST? Someone in my family told me it was the early 70's, and that there used to be bad accidents there when it was first built. I'm more inclined to think it was built in more like late 50's/early 60's going by guardrail and road sign designs. I know that's quite a lot to ask for my second post, but those are some things about historic Houston that have been bugging me over the years, and it looks like I may finally get some answers. -Joe

I can't believe Italian-Americans in Philly are telling folks to speak English! Last time I checked, "youse" wasn't in the English dictionary. BTW- 1st post here, I'd expected my first post to discuss something architectually related to Houston, oh well!