wakester Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 I was looking at the 2008 Metro budget and I saw that they had 290 Diamond lane as one of their Ridership development initiatives. They have $500,000 budgeted towards it (would that mean that it is getting done or this is just to study, I have no idea what it would really cost but I would guess a lot more than that). Well at least they are looking at it. I thought it was a dead issue with the HOV lane moving to the Hempstead tollway. Quote
mrfootball Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 They're going to need to do something fast. We are rapidly approaching crisis mode with 290. Legislators and public servants need to be held accountable for their inaction. Quote
ricco67 Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 I just hope that they use concrete to separate the diamond lanes from regular lanes. Would hate to have the problem on the Katy Freeway and in Dallas come to 290 as well. Quote
RedScare Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 Well, then they wouldn't be diamond lanes then, would they? Quote
ricco67 Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 More like Cubic zirconia lanes. The true value would be diminished as you have morons to cut in and out of the lanes.But point taken, smarty. Quote
cnote Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 The best thing they could possibly do for the 217 (park and ride from Cypress to DT) is extend the HOV lane at least to Telge. I don't think this would cost too much, probably just take away the left shoulder of 290. But this would almost certainly be more than 500k, so I don't know what they are talking about. The lack of an HOV lane adds about 20-35 minutes to the morning commute on the 217 line. I love the park and ride, but this really frustrates me. It seems like such a simple thing for them to do, I mean, why would they build that nice garage and not the infrastructure to support it? Also, what is going to become of the garage when the new rail/toll lanes go in? Will the buses cease to run?I think 290 traffic is past the point of no return, it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better... Quote
CDeb Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 I would imagine that the new managed lanes would connect to the P&R facility, even though it doesn't show that on the schematic at the moment.I would also expect the Hempstead Managed Lanes to be built well before any work is done on 290 as that is a HCTRA project. Quote
wakester Posted January 18, 2008 Author Posted January 18, 2008 I would imagine that the new managed lanes would connect to the P&R facility, even though it doesn't show that on the schematic at the moment.I would also expect the Hempstead Managed Lanes to be built well before any work is done on 290 as that is a HCTRA project.The first entrance to the Hempstead HOT from the Cypress P & R is right around Hufmeister. Metro may have told them that they expect to have the 290 commuter rail running by the time the Hempstead HOT gets out to Cypress. At the Metro chat with Frank Wilson, he said that the order of the Commuter rail would be 90A to Missouri City, 290, Westpark, and Galveston. So I think the 290 Commuter rail will become a reality. Now if I could just figure out how they get the train from other side of 290 to the Cypress P & R. Quote
cnote Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 exactly, wakester...I wonder if they even thought about the placement of that P&R facility on the opposite side of 290 before they did it, or if that is just the land that they had so....I cannot wait for there to be more commuting options on 290 beyond a miserable bus ride or a miserable and expensive car ride (actually, seven bucks a day for a bus really isnt cheap is it??). I wonder why the Hwy 90 rail will go in before the 290 rail, I mean, lets think about commute times and population that benefits here. Do any of you really think this rail will happen any time soon? What doi you think is a reasonable time table?I personally think the rail is still 5-10 years away, so who knows if I will still be in NW Houston to ride it... Quote
cnote Posted January 23, 2008 Posted January 23, 2008 Don't want to spread rumors but I thought I should ask if anyone else has heard this...The Metro worker who coordinates the buses at the new P&R in Cypress stated today that Metro plans to have the Diamond lane extension on 290 completed by August of 2008. I asked how far they were extending it and he said he wasnt sure....this is good news if he is anywhere close to accurate with his statement.Anyone else got the inside scoop on this??? Quote
wakester Posted January 23, 2008 Author Posted January 23, 2008 Don't want to spread rumors but I thought I should ask if anyone else has heard this...The Metro worker who coordinates the buses at the new P&R in Cypress stated today that Metro plans to have the Diamond lane extension on 290 completed by August of 2008. I asked how far they were extending it and he said he wasnt sure....this is good news if he is anywhere close to accurate with his statement.Anyone else got the inside scoop on this???The fact that they have it in the 2008 Metro Budget is also a good sign. I hope they are able to get the inbound (East) lanes in earlier. That is the biggest mess. The outbound (West) lanes are just now getting bad.During the Metro chat with Frank Wilson, I posted that question but never saw an answer. They are suppose to post answers to the posted questions on the Metro blog. Quote
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