Walmart Supercenter At 111 Yale St.

[JJxvi]

However, the light is red. He is screwed there.

He has probably been sitting there for a while (thus allowing time for some busybody to grab their phone while also sitting there for a green light) because at certains times of day the new light pattern is still really jacked up.

Edited September 21, 2012 by JJxvi

[JJxvi]

By the way, the comments on that 'Stop The Heights Walmart' facebook page are pure comedic gold. Seinfeld was never as funny as these cats!

I like the ones where the idea is floated that BLVD Place was feasible to build here just because "theres enough land!"

Edited September 21, 2012 by JJxvi

[fwki]

I think it is a photoshopped organic produce truck looking for Whole Foods. Hey, I heard on KTRH that Michael J. Fox was at Freeland green space rally today.

[s3mh]

By the way, the comments on that 'Stop The Heights Walmart' facebook page are pure comedic gold. Seinfeld was never as funny as these cats!

Yes, it is all funny when you completely ignore the consequences of exceeding the load on the bridge. Currently, money has been committed to fix the bridge. But it could take up to five years before the bridge is replaced. It will probably be at least a year before construction starts, probably closer to two or three years given the time needed to get the funding, bid out all the contracts and get everything rolling. If trucks continue to use the bridge, the structural integrity of the bridge could continue to decline to the point where officials will have no discretion but to close the bridge. It will take at least a year to complete construction of a new bridge, probably closer to two. If the bridge is closed before construction can start because truckers continually ignore the restriction, then we could be without the bridge for up to five years.

Of course, responsible people would have made sure that the bridge was adequate before allowing the construction of over 30 acres of strip malls and big boxes. But we are just some little backwater of a town that was too caught up in being picked to get a Walmart to make any rational decisions. Oh, no. Actually, we are one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the US and have no excuse for such an oversight.

[fwki]

Yes, it is all funny when you completely ignore the consequences of exceeding the load on the bridge................ one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the US and have no excuse for such an oversight.

Personally I think it is because its just a bunch of guys planning and pulling off this whole deal. Women would never think of all the action photos we hope to capture as truck after truck full of Chinese crap plunges into White Oak, hopefully after a line of T-busters gets that sucker really rolling. This is gonna be great.

[RedScare]

If they close the bridge, we get a new one sooner. Win win.

[RedScare]

The chicken little cries of bridge collapse armageddon are way overblown. Everyone knows that plastic crap from China doesn't weigh much. That's why it is so cheap. Those Walmart semis are not exceeding the weight limit because Chinese crap doesn't weigh enough. School buses with elementary school children on the other hand...

[Ross]

Yes, it is all funny when you completely ignore the consequences of exceeding the load on the bridge. Currently, money has been committed to fix the bridge. But it could take up to five years before the bridge is replaced. It will probably be at least a year before construction starts, probably closer to two or three years given the time needed to get the funding, bid out all the contracts and get everything rolling. If trucks continue to use the bridge, the structural integrity of the bridge could continue to decline to the point where officials will have no discretion but to close the bridge. It will take at least a year to complete construction of a new bridge, probably closer to two. If the bridge is closed before construction can start because truckers continually ignore the restriction, then we could be without the bridge for up to five years.

Of course, responsible people would have made sure that the bridge was adequate before allowing the construction of over 30 acres of strip malls and big boxes. But we are just some little backwater of a town that was too caught up in being picked to get a Walmart to make any rational decisions. Oh, no. Actually, we are one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the US and have no excuse for such an oversight.

How many 40 ton loads of stone went across that bridge in the last decade?

If the bridge is taken out of service early, we will get a new bridge sooner. However, I dont' think a truck every now and then is going to make the bridge fail.

I bet a new bridge could be inplace within 6 weeks after construction starts, given the right incentives.

[heights]

3. He is also running a red light.

One cannot conclude from the photograph that the driver ran the red light. Unless he crossed the stop line (or in the absence of a stop line he entered the crosswalk, or in the absence of a crosswalk he entered the intersection) after the light had turned red, there is no violation. There is a separate ordinance that prohibits entering the intersection unless you also have the space to clear it (so you won't be blocking the intersection for cross traffic if there is a traffic jam), but I believe that ordinance only applies in the central business district.

(Edit): I was incorrect about the blocking intersection ordinance as it applies city wide -->

Sec. 45-43. - Obstructing crosswalks and intersections.

The operator of a vehicle shall not cause the vehicle to enter a street intersection or a marked pedestrian crosswalk unless there is sufficient space for the operator's vehicle to pass through the intersection or crosswalk without obstructing other vehicular or pedestrian use of and passage through the intersection or crosswalk. The provisions of this section shall apply notwithstanding any traffic control signal indication to proceed into the intersection or crosswalk.

Edited September 22, 2012 by heights

[TGM]

I bet a new bridge could be inplace within 6 weeks after construction starts, given the right incentives.

It could, but after the required environmental impact studies, search for a transgendered-minority-women-owned business that serves fair-trade coffee, "concerned" residents townhalls, and other related nonsense it will take about 3 years. And if and when it is built it will have one reversible lane for cars and trucks and four bike lanes. Car and truck drivers will be required to pay a carbon off-set fee and must endure "share the road shouts" from biketavists while creeping along in their single undersized lane. Any person on foot will be granted stop transit authority if they should smell anything other than biodiesel being emitted from Wal-Mart trucks.

[heights]

It's not like all cyclists do this.

I doubt that the cyclists that do this are running stop lights and stop signs with cross traffic.

It's pretty much akin to motorists habitually going 5 to 10 over the limit and not using their signals to indicate a lane change or turn.

Not that this exonerates cyclists, but it's not like your people are any better. It's best to just get back to being angry with walmart.

In response to my post about deviant cyclists, you alluded to "your people" and "angry with walmart".

I take insult to this. I have never been angry with walmart. I am looking forward to the day it opens and I will shop there often. And stop signs and lights are not only to be obeyed when there is cross traffic approaching.

[TGM]

Back on OT....In just a few months time, The Leader headline will be "Heights Hipsters Convert" and forget about parking a car at Antidote or Premium Draught because the lot will be full of these:

Let 'em, the coffee there is shyte.

Does the Wal-goose come with catheters? That might be useful considering the amount of PBR that will be consumed there.

[fwki]

Does the Wal-goose come with catheters? That might be useful considering the amount of PBR that will be consumed there.

Yes, the leaky Chinese ones. However, Premium Draught will not have any chairs and service will be strictly Soup Nazi style to comply with CoH parking requirements with beer dispensed into Wal-Mart growlers, essentially Oak Farms gallon jugs which, incidentally, is what they use for their catheter reservoirs. I predict mass confusion in the parking lot as our hipsters fruitlessly attempt to distinguish between the fresh and used PBR vessels.

[samagon]

I like Oak Farms milk.

[Subdude]

Note sidebar discussion peeled off to a new topic here: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/27118-bike-gripes/#entry410000

[Heights20plusyears]

Yes, it is all funny when you completely ignore the consequences of exceeding the load on the bridge. Currently, money has been committed to fix the bridge. But it could take up to five years before the bridge is replaced. It will probably be at least a year before construction starts, probably closer to two or three years given the time needed to get the funding, bid out all the contracts and get everything rolling. If trucks continue to use the bridge, the structural integrity of the bridge could continue to decline to the point where officials will have no discretion but to close the bridge. It will take at least a year to complete construction of a new bridge, probably closer to two. If the bridge is closed before construction can start because truckers continually ignore the restriction, then we could be without the bridge for up to five years.

Of course, responsible people would have made sure that the bridge was adequate before allowing the construction of over 30 acres of strip malls and big boxes. But we are just some little backwater of a town that was too caught up in being picked to get a Walmart to make any rational decisions. Oh, no. Actually, we are one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the US and have no excuse for such an oversight.

Great. The Yale Street bridge will end up just like when the Heights bridge was repaired, a huge pissing match with what style ballisters needed to be used (which the majority of them are all cracked now and look nasty) and the amount of money that was wasted on the "historic looking lights" which have all disappeeard..probably to the scrap yard on Center Street. Another thought, how many HUGE (I'm talking 60 to 80 feet) steel beams went across that bridge? (yes..the former habitants of the property where WalMart is being built for those of you who just moved here and think they know what's best for The Heights).

Get over it. WalMart is being built and there is NOTHING you can do about it. Just like those of us that were SCREWED on the Historic District "Survey".

[samagon]

Of course, responsible people would have made sure that the bridge was adequate before allowing the construction of over 30 acres of strip malls and big boxes. But we are just some little backwater of a town that was too caught up in being picked to get a Walmart to make any rational decisions. Oh, no. Actually, we are one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the US and have no excuse for such an oversight.

Of course, responsible people would only do this when it's a big box store going in, responsible people wouldn't have checked it previously and recognized the capacity of the bridge was far lower than standards for that area (being a mix of residential and industrial area) should have been.

Responsible people would only care once a big box store was given the green light to build.

[s3mh]

How many 40 ton loads of stone went across that bridge in the last decade?

If the bridge is taken out of service early, we will get a new bridge sooner. However, I dont' think a truck every now and then is going to make the bridge fail.

I bet a new bridge could be inplace within 6 weeks after construction starts, given the right incentives.

Guess what? We have something called standards that are in place so that there is never a risk of a bridge failure (people tend to get killed when a bridge fails--not something you want to mess with). Once engineers find that the structural integrity of the bridge has reached a point where the risk of failure begins, they have to close the bridge until it is fixed or replaced. Exceeding the load limitations just puts the bridge on the fast track to the day when the engineers order the bridge to be closed. If the bridge gets closed prior to the time funding is available to build a new bridge, it will just sit there for months or years.

A permanent replacement bridge could not be constructed in 6 weeks under any circumstance. In fact, anything less than a year would be fast.

Currently, the plan is to start construction in 2016 (http://www.khou.com/news/A-bridge-too-old--Yale-Street-span-set-for-reconstruction-165670506.html). If the load limitations are violated continuously, causing the bridge to degrade faster, we could end up having the bridge closed for three to four years total, including construction, instead of one year.

[s3mh]

Great. The Yale Street bridge will end up just like when the Heights bridge was repaired, a huge pissing match with what style ballisters needed to be used (which the majority of them are all cracked now and look nasty) and the amount of money that was wasted on the "historic looking lights" which have all disappeeard..probably to the scrap yard on Center Street. Another thought, how many HUGE (I'm talking 60 to 80 feet) steel beams went across that bridge? (yes..the former habitants of the property where WalMart is being built for those of you who just moved here and think they know what's best for The Heights).

Get over it. WalMart is being built and there is NOTHING you can do about it. Just like those of us that were SCREWED on the Historic District "Survey".

It isn't my fault that people who lived in the neighborhood before me did not care that the steel plant violated the load restrictions. And there is no controversy over whether a safe bridge that can handle 18 wheeler traffic is what is best for the Heights. TxDOT, not the neighborhood, has determined the weight load limitations. All people in the neighborhood did was put pressure on public officials to get the funding fast tracked to fix a problem that had been ignored for decades.

[TGM]

Of course, responsible people would only do this when it's a big box store going in, responsible people wouldn't have checked it previously and recognized the capacity of the bridge was far lower than standards for that area (being a mix of residential and industrial area) should have been.

Responsible people would only care once a big box store was given the green light to build.

This no doubt, is failure of People's Central Planning Bureau. Our comrades previous 30 year plan had make attempt to limit growth in the Heights to that of 0.0004% per people's year, but young party members outgrow living allotments and want to make big living like Politburo elite. A tradgety that all must learn from if we dare not history repeat.

S3mh, please stop by party offices for punch and cookies. You have made big success in protests and will receive Order of Lenin.

Edited September 26, 2012 by TGM

[samagon]

It isn't my fault that people who lived in the neighborhood before me did not care that the steel plant violated the load restrictions. And there is no controversy over whether a safe bridge that can handle 18 wheeler traffic is what is best for the Heights. TxDOT, not the neighborhood, has determined the weight load limitations. All people in the neighborhood did was put pressure on public officials to get the funding fast tracked to fix a problem that had been ignored for decades.

Without Walmart the 'people in the neighborhood' wouldn't have put pressure on the public officials because they wouldn't have known or cared that anyone found the bridge to be inadequate.

[fwki]

I wish the City would just close the bridge now and make it a pedestrian fishing bridge. We already have a new one like 100' downstream. That would at least make up for losing my secret fishing spot by my secret old growth forest on the banks secretly beautiful White Oak Bayou at Frasier St. Then the bike path to nowhere could become a rallying place for a Haters' Million Seventeen Man March to throw rocks at the trucks rolling in 24/7 to the country's most successful Wal-Mart.

[TGM]

I wish the City would just close the bridge now and make it a pedestrian fishing bridge. We already have a new one like 100' downstream. That would at least make up for losing my secret fishing spot by my secret old growth forest on the banks secretly beautiful White Oak Bayou at Frasier St. Then the bike path to nowhere could become a rallying place for a Haters' Million Seventeen Man March to throw rocks at the trucks rolling in 24/7 to the country's most successful Wal-Mart.

The fish caught (Alligator gar?) can be sold as locally sourced seafood at Wal-Mart which will make some happy.

[Heights20plusyears]

It isn't my fault that people who lived in the neighborhood before me did not care that the steel plant violated the load restrictions. And there is no controversy over whether a safe bridge that can handle 18 wheeler traffic is what is best for the Heights. TxDOT, not the neighborhood, has determined the weight load limitations. All people in the neighborhood did was put pressure on public officials to get the funding fast tracked to fix a problem that had been ignored for decades.

We've always cared, but those of us that have lived here long before the McMansion invasion all know that anything South of I-10 is NOT The Heights.

[RedScare]

I hope they shut the bridge down. It would be great theatre watching the numbnuts who complained about the bridge being unsafe then do a 180 and wax apoplectic about the bridge closing.

[TGM]

I'm concerned that the proposed bridge repairs might adversely impact the mating habits of the endangered Heights bat that resides there.

"No, not a Wal-mart, noooo!"

[Heights20plusyears]

And where will the vagrants that live under it relocate to during construction?

[Pleak]

Mid-town.

[TGM]

Sorry, but I've done unionized the vagrants in Midtown. They'll need to get on a waiting list and have someone vouch for them before they can receive their Midtown benefits.

[Ross]

A permanent replacement bridge could not be constructed in 6 weeks under any circumstance. In fact, anything less than a year would be fast.

Currently, the plan is to start construction in 2016 (http://www.khou.com/...-165670506.html). If the load limitations are violated continuously, causing the bridge to degrade faster, we could end up having the bridge closed for three to four years total, including construction, instead of one year.

Planning and design might not be done in 6 weeks, but I bet most of the major construction firms could have the build complete in 6 weeks.That's about how long it akes to build a 350 foot section of elevated ramp, which is pretty similar to the bridge. it only took 8 weeks to replace the collapsed section of the Queen Isabella Causeway bridge over the Laguna Madre, and that had to be done with crane barges. It all depends on the incentives.