Washburn Tunnel

[northbeaumont]

On "youtube.com" there are three videos of traveling through the Washburn Tunnel, north and southbound. I read that it opened back in 1950, a few years before the Baytown-LaPorte Tunnel opened. But the B-LP Tunnel was closed down and demolished several years ago, and the Washburn is still operating even though it's a few years older. Why wasn't a bridge built to replace the Washburn just like the B-LP? Isn't it the same waterway?

[EastEnd Susan]

On "youtube.com" there are three videos of traveling through the Washburn Tunnel, north and southbound. I read that it opened back in 1950, a few years before the Baytown-LaPorte Tunnel opened. But the B-LP Tunnel was closed down and demolished several years ago, and the Washburn is still operating even though it's a few years older. Why wasn't a bridge built to replace the Washburn just like the B-LP? Isn't it the same waterway?

I'm thinking that maybe there wasnt that much traffic in the Washburn as compared to the Baytown tunnel. Didnt the Washburn connect Redbluff and a couple of other Pasadena streets with Federal Rd? Where as the Baytown tunnel had all the 146 and 225 traffic going to and from Baytown. Its just a thought.

[gnu]

On "youtube.com" there are three videos of traveling through the Washburn Tunnel, north and southbound. I read that it opened back in 1950, a few years before the Baytown-LaPorte Tunnel opened. But the B-LP Tunnel was closed down and demolished several years ago, and the Washburn is still operating even though it's a few years older. Why wasn't a bridge built to replace the Washburn just like the B-LP? Isn't it the same waterway?

The Washburn tunnel is county maintained - and as long as they can fund its maintenence, it will stay...same with the Lynchburg Ferry.

The Baytown Tunnel was maintained by TxDOT.

146 is a major thoroughfare that needed to increase its capacity - especially since it is a hurricane evacuation route.

Federal Rd and Richey are small arterial roads that do not carry near the capacity of Tx-146.

Washburn's capacity will probably never increase significantly due to the close proximity of the Sidney Sherman Bridge on 610 and the toll bridge on the beltway.

[northbeaumont]

The Washburn tunnel is county maintained - and as long as they can fund its maintenence, it will stay...same with the Lynchburg Ferry.

The Baytown Tunnel was maintained by TxDOT.

146 is a major thoroughfare that needed to increase its capacity - especially since it is a hurricane evacuation route.

Federal Rd and Richey are small arterial roads that do not carry near the capacity of Tx-146.

Washburn's capacity will probably never increase significantly due to the close proximity of the Sidney Sherman Bridge on 610 and the toll bridge on the beltway.

You've provided a clear, concise, and logical explanation. I never thought of all of those things. Thanks.

[HarrisCountyEx]

Item in THC's Medallion newsletter in PDF - scroll towards the end. http://www.thc.state.tx.us/medallionmag/me...Fs/md_03_09.pdf

Am I correct in memory that the location of the capture of Santa Anna took place atop the entrance on the Pasadena side? I recall visiting a marker that was placed there. As many times that I went through that tunnel as a kid and adult, I never knew I was going under the Bayou. I thought it was the ship channel!

Ok, found it. It's next to the "front gate" of the paper mill.

http://www.earlytexashistory.com/Pasadena/capturesite.html

[neuman]

I never knew I was going under the Bayou. I thought it was the ship channel!

At that point, they're one in the same.

[FilioScotia]

At that point, they're one in the same.

You're right. It's Buffalo Bayou all the way across Harris County, from the Barker Reservoir all the way through downtown and the East End to where it merges with the San Jacinto River at Lynchburg. The Barker Dam and Reservoir were built to stop the bayou's annual flooding.

The bayou was deepened and widened east of 69th Street in 1914, and it became known as the Houston Ship Channel all way from 69th Street to Galveston Bay.

For those interested in its history, here's the story in the Handbook of Texas: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/...s/HH/rhh11.html

Directions to the Site of Santa Anna's Capture: From Pasadena, drive north to the Washburn Tunnel. Just before the tunnel mouth, the point of no return, there's an exit to the right. You really have to be on the lookout for it because it's easy to miss. After you take that exit, follow the driveway to a parking lot right next to the marker almost directly over the tunnel. Check it out on Google Earth. It's actually rather easy to find.

It's important to remember that no one is absolutely certain of precisely where Santa Anna was captured. Historians' best information is that he was captured some miles up Buffalo Bayou from the battle site, near where Vince Bayou flows into Buffalo Bayou.

Google Earth shows Vince Bayou emptying into the channel about three quarters of a mile west of the tunnel. That spot over the tunnel is just the historians' best guess as to where the capture happened.

It's also worth noting that the marker was placed there in 1916, two years after the opening of the Houston Ship Channel. I'm guessing historians figured they needed to hurry up and find a place to put a marker because that area was already filling with heavy industry of all kinds.

Oh yes. Putting the Washburn Tunnel on the National Register of Historic Places means absolutely nothing. That register is just a list, and it provides no protection from demolition, if and when that subject ever comes up.

I don't think it will come up in my lifetime. The tunnel is the only channel crossing between the Loop 610 Bridge and the Tollway Bridge at Deer Park. Unless it's decided to build another bridge over the channel to replace the Washburn Tunnel, as they did with the old Baytown Tunnel, I think the Washburn Tunnel is there to stay. If anything, it should be expanded.

Edited March 28, 2009 by FilioScotia