Bungled Bungalow

There were two public input meeting put on by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership this past week for their plans to rehab the stretch from Sabine to Shepherd. One was on Monday and the other on Tuesday. I made it to the Tuesday meeting which was at the United Way building on Waugh. There were a lot of suggestions made and topics covered; flood control, an official dog park, bigger parking areas (bleh), a possible Cafe/restaurant east of the Jewish Cemetery (Bigger bleh), water quality issues, canoe/kayak put ins, and restoring the bayou channel to a more natural condition after the bulldozing and straightening the Army Corp did back in the 50's(?).

I was impressed by the man (whose name I forgot) that ran the meeting. He did a very good job taking questions and suggestions and then either answering the question or handing the question off to Anne Olson from the Bayou group, or Kevin Shanley from the urban planning and design firm SWA Group who is consulting on the project. We'll have to see what the general plan looks like, I think they may have said something would be out in the fall.

More info:

http://www.buffaloba...herdsabine.html<br>

http://www.swagroup.com/index.html

None of this is related to the trail construction/rehab that the city is going to start in the next year, which I have mixed feeling about. The city plans were at the meeting, and it looks like the new trail will be very nice, and include a pedestrian bridge at Shepherd courtesy of TXDot. My gripe is that a lot of the steeper hills and tighter curves are being are being brought into "code", which I translate to "boring".

BB

You should also file a report with the postal inspector. Tampering with a mailbox is technically a federal crime, and a postal inspector will have more information as to if this is a problem in the area.

This makes me think I should go put an additional screw or two in our antique box.

Some other good news, the bridge beyond I-45 at the east end of the trail is no longer going to end in a drop off. Work has begun to extend the trail just far enough to reach solid ground. This won't make the area beyond road bike-able, but will be walkable and mountain bike friendly.

Another thing, Cyclocross races happen tommorow (wednesday) night, across the bayou from Stude park. Come out to watch or participate, it's lots of fun.

mike

That could still mean everything but that bridge. Just in the past 2 weeks they smoothed all the road/trail transitions, that plus putting the posts at intersections sort of constitutes finishing touches. It'll look done, you just can't ride the length of it yet.

I saw the workers out on the bridge Friday. They had built some railings, but I couldn't tell what they were doing. Is there any chance they're keeping the base structure and not tearing it down? That would be kind of cool, but I can't think they'll do that. They've already built 2 bridges basically the same, I figure this one will look similar.but

Thanks for welcoming me here! I've been around for a while, I tend to lurk though.

I think they are building this bridge basically the same. Big concrete slab on top of part of the existing bridge. I wonder what they'll do on the SE end of the trestle where there was a big washout/failure of the bulkhead and pilings.

If my eyeballing of the map is correct, this bridge is included once it gets down by UHD.

Nice pictures KJ, and I think you're right about the bridge being a part of the extension of the trail. Hell, I wish you could get across it now, it has a nice walkway on it. Hopefully that project will get some funding if hasn't already.

Interesting thing about that bridge... I stood at UH-D around 11 am on the Sunday after Ike hit and stared at that bridge for a long time, trying to figure out how the bayou was flowing over that bridge, but also taking a shorcut and going down Travis st., effectively making UH-D an island. It was surreal.

I took this after I walked down onto the Travis St. bridge.

"Bike Route"!!

Maybe I'll see you gentlemen out on the trail. I'll be the guy who looks way too tired for as slow as I'm going.

Mike

There's one more missing piece, under the freeways before it gets to UHD. That part seems like its going to be easy.

Actually the section under I-45 is complete, it's just that the bridge over there is kind of a bridge to nowhere, and ends in a long dropoff.

I still ride down there and just walk the bike down that 3ft drop, and then on to UH-D and out to the East End trails. It's a nice ~25 mile ride from the heights out to Lockwood @ Buffalo Bayou, if you ride all the trails out there. Its currently only possible on a mountain bike though, or maybe a cyclocross, due to the long gravel section before UH-D, and the strange patchwork of incomplete East End trails.

Riding down to UH-D also provides great acess to the Buffalo Bayou trails that end in Downtown. It makes a nice loop to ride the MKT trail to UH-D and then along the bayou to Sheperd and depending on how much distance you want, Waugh or Houston Ave. to get home.

I'm going to look for that camera now...

Mike

Good news! The missing piece of the trail is finally under construction!

I drove down Studewood this afternoon and as I was crossing the bridge over White Oak, I saw workers out on the old train testle. Workers... actually working, not inspecting, or surveying, but removing timbers and possibly even welding/cutting steel. If I can find my camera, I'll ride down and get some pictures in the morning.

It'll be nice to finally have this bridge complete, it's been a long time coming.

Mike