arisegundo

17 hours ago, Fitch said:

It appears to take that original plan, which included a White Oak Bayou bypass north of the county jail, and adds another bypass through where Clayton Homes is. The original plan is a proposal from Harris County Flood Control. This augmented proposal adds TXDOT right-of-way for the additional bypass. 

The South Canal is back, baby! Below is how it was envisioned to snake around the street and freeway grid in 2002. I never get tired of referring back to this old thing.

And down it goes. 

I can't remember what it was but you could definitely tell from the repeating patterns that it wasn't natural stone. 

The cladding took about 4 years and was completed just in time for Ike to blow off a panel or two.

The Urban Edge weighs in, including another plan for the area by the Greater East End folks.

14 years. 

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The last time I checked, [Walmart] were still working toward finalizing an agreement. The rumors that Kroger or ALDI were in any way interested were incorrect. Neither has any interest whatsoever. The local HEB folks are interested, but corporate has given a solid "no" due to the store at Gulfgate. Some groups have wanted it to be a locally-owned small business. There are none that could generate the revenues to pay for it. The only viable alternative would be to keep it as is and use it for storage. 

facebook thread about Swamplot's post

The other Walmart is 2.25 miles away. Bentonville don't care, apparently. 

It's very "Hill Valley".

The Chronicle says the HPD spokesman made a boo boo.

http://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Call-log-shows-complaints-Saturday-from-White-Oak-7245804.php

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After the show, a nearby resident requested HPD's call-to-service log from the address of the venue 2915 N. Main. That log sheet showed more than a dozen noise complaints called in and one incident of an officer responding to the call.

I hear this in regards to making the existing tunnels ADA-compliant, "too expensive." What's changed since the initial excavations? More underground infrastructure? Environmental regulations?

Pics from eight days ago.

The finished permeable surface

The lot in progress across North.

Street sign slightly slanted.

"Enron Field Heights." It references and yet is simultaneously grossly insensitive to local history. It's perfect.

Regarding the second phase at Westcott and Arnot: What's left of Memorial Club is still being leased by Greystar, and the lady in the office told me on Saturday (3/5) that the complex will be around at least through the end of '17.

One of those graduate student projects included a ped bridge connecting the circular trail to the north bank. Without removing Franklin, that would be a bridge to another pit of darkness and pee-smells. Or it could be a Rosemont Bridge-type thing that connects to both the bank and the Franklin deck above. 

The east side of the lot has been turned into no doubt lucrative paid parking for now.

The bayou thread has me sad that there doesn't appear to be any will to ever remove the Franklin section that overhangs the bayou's north bank. 

Right on Franklin, left on Congress, then right on Smith... yeesh, coming in on Smith already backs up plenty during morning rush.  That, and Congress is one way, the wrong way for this setup.  

 

It would probably be more realistic to zap the Congress bridge.  It serves mostly to get traffic onto westbound Washington; there's less of that now that the post office is gone save for busses coming down Louisiana bound for the flyover of the Katy / 45 interchange.

The bridge is two way, unless there was a recent re-striping. It would become more vital if the Smith bridge goes, the Aquarium expands over Preston as they are threatening to, and/or if Central Post really takes off. 

Seeing as the new ballet building sits right on top of "Water Street" and the post office owners (Lovett I think?) haven't announced any plans to move Franklin, those streets aren't going anywhere anytime soon. It's a nice thought and one that's been on the books for a decade and a half... it just didn't happen.

You could get rid of the Smith bridge by forcing inbound traffic right onto Franklin then left onto the Congress bridge. The effect on the bayou trail lighting wouldn't be very dramatic since you still have all the other streets cantilevered overhead.

 

Certain streets that span the bayou need to be eliminated altogether and others altered significantly. The main culprit is the monstrosity around the Smith / Congress Ave / Franklin / Louisiana cluster f*&$*.

 

Congress Ave. needs to stop at Smith... actually it would be better to stop at Louisiana.

 

Franklin street on the north of the bayou needs to be realigned / pull back from the bayou. I say make it a one way (headed east) rd that then ties into commerce. Eliminate the section of Washington that is only there for the parking lot.

 

Have Smith and Louisiana span over Franklin / Commerce and then tie into the 45 or 10 connectors. I can[t remember what connects what.

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The 2002 Master Plan calls for something vaguely similar to your thoughts, with a "Water Street" (squint and you'll see it!) snaking along the south side of the bayou. I'd be disappointed if the cool ruins were wiped out for a generic grassy bank.

A Swamplot commenter says it will be another Walmart. Ehhhhh...

Dare we hope that a grocery store (HEB or Kroger) is included in the retail mix?

Their neighbors who are developing Gateway at Cullen say your hopes will be fulfilled. 

 

 

The area near The Gateway on Cullen is in the midst of an exciting redevelopment, with a grocery anchored retail center planned for across the street at the former Finger Warehouse property by Houston-based Lovett Commercial, and the redevelopment of the I-45 underpass that will include a new onramp to I-59 that will replace the aging Bestway Motor Inn.

Link

The replacement of the Kroger That Time Forgot may yet be at hand!

Access to the patios at Magnolia and Kryptonite/Ministry/Eagle would help, as mentioned earlier. That new-meets-old staircase pic I took is from the latter place. It's still blocked off and probably needs to be rebuilt on their side to be used as anything other than a fire escape. And just like the rest of the project, keeping the lights working and the trails mud-free after flooding will be absolutely critical. They are trying to keep the very low trails that lead to the new section from the west clear, but the sediment is so deep it ends up looking like brown snow plowing. And the link to Allen's Landing needs to be restored ASAP.

Personally I love the urban grunge/ruin porn look of this new segment. You can walk right up to the Donnellan crypt now. And for the time being it's refreshingly pee-smell free. Just a hint of bat guano in the air. 

From yesterday, along the Smith/Travis link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/beyonddc/5073722055

We can dream. But the expanse of the Tarkett plot seems incongruous with such a multi-level center, which was plopped onto 5.5 acres in a very dense part of DC (and right next to a subway station). You could fit four of those into Tarkett if you forgo the typical Houston salt flat of parking. 

http://www.landandfarm.com/property/Oliver_Street_Property-1583824/

This 2.75 acre site sits between Tarkett and Target, and is catty corner from the missing segment of Summer that would connect the two areas. A connector road between the south side of Target and the north side of Kroger would go through this plot. It'd be a great spot for residential.

I was there over the weekend. They looked fake...

Roasting plastic... slightly less delicious.