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ADCS

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Everything posted by ADCS

  1. ADCS
    See, I'd agree in most scenarios, but not when it comes to big public works projects. You can get people on board with that, and because it's usually a mass collective effort, it doesn't take all that much from any one person. However, where do these projects almost always get hung up? When it's encroaching on some honcho's territory, or demanding a benefit to a small, well-connected group at the expense of a large group of politically weaker people. It's not malevolence so much as acquisitiveness and or defensiveness I'm talking about.
  2. ADCS
    Houston has had inordinate wealth and ambitious people for over 120 years now. Lush subtropical forests have been popular for ~200 years now. City beautification efforts have been popular since the turn of the last century. Which is to say... if this were an easy process, there’s no reason to think it would not have been done already. So a reasonable assumption is that this is not an easy process. If something seems obvious, and hasn’t been done, your first assumption should never be that people were lazy or stupid. There’s either a good reason, or a predictable one (like corruption or greed).
  3. ADCS
    Tens of millions of years have conspired to make the Texas Coastal Prairie ugly as sin and nigh-uninhabitable to pre-modern humans. It's also a paradise to countless other species. We've only got cities here because of physical geography, not ecology. Try as you might, what's aesthetically pleasing will only exist in pockets here. But that's OK - there are plenty of pretty places within a few hours drive. Quit picking on the ugly - it never did anything to you.
  4. ADCS
    The train station/UHD portion will be decommissioned as well. The new bridge will connect the Center St line to Hardy Yards.
  5. ADCS
    Yes, pretty much everything from 527 up to the I-10 interchange will be rebuilt.
  6. ADCS
    Yep. TCR Station down Washington to Smith St, then across on Westheimer to the Galleria. This would have impressive ridership and connect all the densest areas inside the loop and just outside of it.
  7. ADCS
    Oh, I'm not talking commuter - I'm talking a grade-separated rapid transit system. Since this is a long-term plan, and TCR is more likely, why not have it on the books?
  8. ADCS
    That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw they were opening the plan up to discussion again. And why settle there? Let's get heavy rail down Washington or Westheimer!
  9. ADCS
    Eh, the comment above was a bit overstated. The line parallel to Washington will stay pretty much intact, while the line on Winter St will be removed altogether as part of the I-45 reroute. There will be a new double-tracked bridge over White Oak Bayou.
  10. ADCS
    Key words: "he views"
  11. ADCS
    "Not even in the purview" - I didn't want to spend political capital on pushing it through.
  12. ADCS
    Hope so. Waugh's a good road diet candidate - that third lane is hardly needed.
  13. ADCS
    Red is existing, not new. The measures were taken specifically to impact Midtown and EaDo.
  14. ADCS
    Even better idea - see if Disney will help with the development. This is the sort of space they have a lot of experience with.
  15. ADCS
    So still no signature design elements for the DT Connector bridge over Buffalo Bayou? Kind of a shame, really. It would be cool to see an extradosed bridge here. Edit: and now I'm at Page 17 :-)
  16. ADCS
    If anything, it would make sense to actually have police walking beats in that area. Put more of 'em on bikes, too.
  17. ADCS
    Why would anyone oppose the setback variances?
  18. ADCS
    I think this overwhelming deference to and insistence on the rights of property owners is detrimental to the cohesive functioning and livable development of our city. At some point, people must realize that they are their brothers' keepers, and we are all in this together.
  19. ADCS
    Agreed - Westheimer and Washington are the two immediate corridors that come to mind if we were to commit to heavy rapid transit. You could link them using Travis Street, making a big U connecting the HSR station/NW Transit Center, Washington Corridor, Burnett TC, Downtown, Midtown, Montrose, Greenway, and Uptown, ending at the Hillcroft Transit Center. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say ridership would be feasible.
  20. ADCS
    See, that attitude is the problem - buses are like cars, but worse, so we should give them to the poor as a pittance. Not, we should develop a comprehensive public transit plan so everyone, not just the poor, can get around more efficiently and effectively. Buses in the absence of other modes of transit are horrible, making traffic worse (because of the constant stopping and starting, reducing overall traffic flow during peak periods), and offering less functionality than private autos (horribly wasteful) because of the lack of point-to-point connections. Buses as part of an overall system, on the other hand, are wonderful, because they can shuttle people in that last mile to and from the fixed-guideway modes that bypass the traffic problem altogether. The big issue with light rail as implemented so far in Houston is that you only get a bit of one advantage, and none of the other altogether.
  21. ADCS
    Thing about the High Line is that it is functional as the best and fastest way to get from Hudson Yards to Greenwich Village, on foot. Given the lack of direct subway connections, it's arguably the best way altogether. It's not beloved simply because it's pretty - it's both pretty and useful. Converting the Pierce would just get you from one side of Midtown to another. It wouldn't serve any real purpose that isn't already largely served by other modes, better.
  22. ADCS
    Mostly cost. Light rail is seen as cheaper, and it is already hard enough to get transit funding. As far as commuter, the existing rail lines around Houston are heavily trafficked. Instead of piggybacking on existing infrastructure, expansion would be needed on existing corridors (owner railroads would not like that), or construction on new/repurposed corridors (like the freeways). The latter option has generally been politically unpopular, seeing as it may take capacity away from the freeways, and irrespective of whether it would actually help traffic as a whole.
  23. ADCS
    My guess is that it has to do with ventilation requirements
  24. ADCS
    It's more than a project - it's a renovation on a Haussmannian scale. Triton: Removing previous discussion from this thread.
  25. ADCS
    I hope there's enough foresight that the new RR connection has ROW for triple- or quadruple-tracking to support future commuter service.
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