mollusk Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Tower, you are correct, it's EB Rusk on the side with the tracks. And JL, having one pole rather than two would seem to make all sorts of sense when they are all of two feet apart; beyond that, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to find their drill and some bigger bands to move the walk signals and "one way" sign over onto the catenary pole. Lesserthenever, we've got two brand new, shiny, gray poles, both matching each of their single purpose brethren, and number stickers, etc., so I'm still calling design error on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 It's a design-build contract so that's on HRT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Tower, you are correct, it's EB Rusk on the side with the tracks. And JL, having one pole rather than two would seem to make all sorts of sense when they are all of two feet apart; beyond that, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to find their drill and some bigger bands to move the walk signals and "one way" sign over onto the catenary pole. Lesserthenever, we've got two brand new, shiny, gray poles, both matching each of their single purpose brethren, and number stickers, etc., so I'm still calling design error on this. I've noticed that instead of moving the old pedestrian signals downtown to new poles, they're doing things including installing new pedestrian signals to new signal and catenary poles, installing new pedestrian signals to old signal poles with different types of mast arms to accommodate the new lines of vision caused by new catenary poles being in the way of the old signal poles, and I think some of the old pedestrian signals and old signal poles are being untouched if it's been determined that their current placement is ok. You can see in this photo posted by "rechlin" in the Houston Traffic Lights Thread in the Traffic and Transportation Main forum that new pedestrian signals and a new traffic signal are being mounted to the old red signal pole on the right side of the road. On the left side of the road, you can see the new pedestrian and traffic signals mounted to a catenary pole with the old signal pole just to the left of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Tower, you are correct, it's EB Rusk on the side with the tracks. And JL, having one pole rather than two would seem to make all sorts of sense when they are all of two feet apart; beyond that, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to find their drill and some bigger bands to move the walk signals and "one way" sign over onto the catenary pole. Lesserthenever, we've got two brand new, shiny, gray poles, both matching each of their single purpose brethren, and number stickers, etc., so I'm still calling design error on this. I guess it's just lucky for them that there already happens to be a hole drilled in the catenary pole to run the wiring to the walk sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I came upon a couple folks wearing HRT gear and carrying clipboards. At first they were perplexed, but when it became clear that the blocked item is a shiny new gray traffic signal pole with a ball on top on a nice new poured foundation, they acknowledged that it was not as it should be and said they will look into it. We shall see. FWIW, other catenary/traffic signal pairings have the traffic signal in front from the viewpoint of approaching traffic. I also got a memo that METRO will be running the shuttle wagon on the east end line through downtown this weekend on both Capitol and Rusk, from the western terminus to Main. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) I came upon a couple folks wearing HRT gear and carrying clipboards. At first they were perplexed, but when it became clear that the blocked item is a shiny new gray traffic signal pole with a ball on top on a nice new poured foundation, they acknowledged that it was not as it should be and said they will look into it. We shall see. FWIW, other catenary/traffic signal pairings have the traffic signal in front from the viewpoint of approaching traffic. I'll bet they were "perplexed", given that literally nothing you told them or are presenting to us on this subject has been accurate. I just went by it tonight on my way home and took a look. The blocked item is very clearly not a shiny new gray traffic signal pole (alright it does have a ball on top.) It is not the same finish as the new pole and the blocked pole is not on a nice new poured foundation. I encourage anyone in the area to run by and take a look to confirm. A rudimentary examination of the new pole (with the pre-drilled hole for pedestrian sign wiring) along with the clearly pre-exsiting pole, makes it pretty clear this is a temporary situation and not an oversight requiring correction. Edited June 12, 2014 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Whatever. I've used that crosswalk pretty much daily for years, but I'm not going to bicker. Will you at least acknowledge that it's a tad dangerous? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) DUP Post Edited June 12, 2014 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Whatever. I've used that crosswalk pretty much daily for years, but I'm not going to bicker. Will you at least acknowledge that it's a tad dangerous? Whatever indeed. Even if you used that very crosswalk 50 times every day, it doesn't change the facts. It doesn't make old concrete new. Like I said, I encourage others to drop by and take a look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 no way it takes 31 months to design/build that bridge....bridge engineer here....are they going to run a separate train on the east portion?Metro says 31 months includes design and bidding but it still seems like too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 METRO has a horrible track record executing projects. Not sure why people are surprised that this one is poorly executed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 METRO has a horrible track record executing projects. Not sure why people are surprised that this one is poorly executed too. Any project with multiple contractors is going to have coordination issues. The trick is minimizing the potential problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Any project with multiple contractors is going to have coordination issues. The trick is minimizing the potential problems.Agreed. However, I think that you'll also agree that METRO's track record in doing so has not been particularly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 No argument there, cinco. METRO's had some pretty nasty management issues, some of which have ended up costing a bunch of time and/or money. I wish I had the superpowers to change that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) I came upon a couple folks wearing HRT gear and carrying clipboards. At first they were perplexed, but when it became clear that the blocked item is a shiny new gray traffic signal pole with a ball on top on a nice new poured foundation, they acknowledged that it was not as it should be and said they will look into it. We shall see. FWIW, other catenary/traffic signal pairings have the traffic signal in front from the viewpoint of approaching traffic. I also got a memo that METRO will be running the shuttle wagon on the east end line through downtown this weekend on both Capitol and Rusk, from the western terminus to Main. In the picture below, the so-called "blocked item" is the is the pole on the right. As anyone can see, the only thing it has in common with Mollusk's description of it, is that it has a ball on top (well, actually you can't see the ball in this pic, but it does have a ball on top). Edited June 15, 2014 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) Meanwhile, pedestrians heading east on Rusk from the only open sidewalk in its 800 block (a crossing that's also necessary for those making a jog to continue walking north on Travis, again due to taking down the Houston Club building) still can't see the crossing signal. Edit: This is my last post on this particular issue. I'm no longer going to participate in a game of "is not - is too" on a side point, and I apologize to those who've had to put up with the noise. Edited June 15, 2014 by mollusk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Meanwhile, pedestrians heading east on Rusk from the only open sidewalk in its 800 block (a crossing that's also necessary for those making a jog to continue walking north on Travis, again due to taking down the Houston Club building) still can't see the crossing signal. False. The crosswalk has been shifted to the south and the current pedestrian signal is clearly visible from that altered crosswalk location. Edit: This is my last post on this particular issue. I'm no longer going to participate in a game of "is not - is too" on a side point, and I apologize to those who've had to put up with the noise. Yeah, that photo pretty conclusively disproved your point, didn't it? ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Any project with multiple contractors is going to have coordination issues. The trick is minimizing the potential problem. And don't forget the initial late change to an underpass was because the city belatedly decided to step up with some funding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 The blocked crossing signal has been moved to the catenary pole, and is now easily visible from the crosswalk across Travis looking east. If a HAIFer reached out to someone with HRT or one of its contractors, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) The blocked crossing signal has been moved to the catenary pole, and is now easily visible from the crosswalk across Travis looking east. If a HAIFer reached out to someone with HRT or one of its contractors, thanks. ROFL. It was moved just as always was planned. That's why there were pre-drilled holes in the new pole for the wiring. No reaching out or prodding was necessary to get them to do what was obviously always the plan. Prepare yourself for the removal of the "hidden" pole, also as planned from the beginning. Edited June 17, 2014 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 What is this topic again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Any word on when the two new LRT lines will open? Is it just the downtown finishing touches holding them back now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Christof at the Houston Tomorrow meeting a few weeks ago said early December may be sooner. He said it is not METRO's fault but the contractors. On the Purple Line light bulbs on the top keep popping. Also Downtown is a mess, it's taking to long to finish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Also the rail trains are being made in Syracuse, NY and they are behind schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Also graffiti issues at some stations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 saw some trains rolling down the harrisburg line this weekend. they must be doing tests since downtown is all tore up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The good news is after thid downtown work there won't any more going forward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Metro says both lines will open week of Christmas... http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2014/07/two-new-metro-lines-scheduled-for-opening-in-december/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txn4art Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Metro says both lines will open week of Christmas... http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2014/07/two-new-metro-lines-scheduled-for-opening-in-december/ Does anyone really believe this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intencity77 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Does anyone really believe this?Well I believe it'll eventually open. Lol. When we moved here in the East End the finish date was to be 2012. Oh, how I remember. They are almost two years late and the whole line still isn't complete! I have almost front row seats from my house to the rail line and this past month it's been testing heavily as if it is already in use, back and forth, honking its horn. It'll get done at some point but it is getting closer, despite the snails pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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