Walmart Supercenter At 111 Yale St.

[SilverJK]

It is in the Chron because the bridge had massive weight capacity reductions, nobody gives two craps about the walmart, just that a bridge will have to be rebuilt at some point. It is sensationalized by the media because the bridge is in such crappy shape.

There are perfectly suitable alternative routes... again this bridge has NOTHING to do Walmart.

Editor, you should remove all posts only regarding the bridge (including this one) because the bridge has nothing to do with the topic.

Edited October 11, 2012 by SilverJK

[Leonard]

Nothing to do with walmart except the over $100K the City is on the hook for for cosmetic improvements to the bridge due to the 380.

[IronTiger]

I'd like to add an addendum to my original post about the bridge, which I know this much: it's an old bridge, and probably could not withstand the additional traffic on it. Like I said, I listed the potential reasons why there's an outrage to begin with and no one has said anything. Yale Street Bridge was built in 1936. If it's such a safety hazard as the local media claim it is, then close it off and rebuild it. It's already limited to lighter cars only right now. If it's an architectural masterpiece that needs to be preserved, then care should be taken to shore it up and reopen. If it's costing the city money to do it either way, make the developers pay for part of the cost.

I'm fairly neutral on the subject, but please: what's the real controversy?

[fwki]

I'm fairly neutral on the subject, but please: what's the real controversy?

Almost nothing, as evidenced by all the fun posts on the topic poking at those who take it seriously. My favorite is the school bus plunging into a raging bayou.

[Marksmu]

They have a load enforcement truck at the bridge of death this morning....writing tickets to unsuspecting SUV drivers.... Luckily I had to take my kids to daycare today so I didn't cross this morning!

[Leonard]

IronTiger, good question - what is the controversy? The bridge is scheduled to be rebuilt in late 2016. It will take from 3 weeks to 16 months to rebuild according to various HAIF posters.

If the bridge's rating decrease much further, the bridge will have to be closed before 2016.

The City is exploring repairs to make to the current bridge to bring up the ratings between now and 2016. What they can do is limited by the low load limits - scraping layers of asphalt off would improve the numbers, but the bridge can't support the equipment to do that.

Yes, the load limit is as low as it can go, but it's constantly violated and it is impossible to keep over limit vehicles off of the bridge. Posters here talk of intentionally violating the load limit, not sure as to what their reasoning is behind that.

[Marksmu]

. Posters here talk of intentionally violating the load limit, not sure as to what their reasoning is behind that.

It would take an additional 3 minutes of my day to bypass the bridge and I do it twice per day. Thats 6 minutes I wont get back. So if I can expedite the repairs by further degrading the bridge with my overweight vehicle then I will do so....

If a public bridge can't support the weight of a standard 3/4 ton truck then it should be closed - there should be no effort to limit the bridge to little cars. Thats just kicking the can further down the road. Fix it right or close it to all.

[RedScare]

They have a load enforcement truck at the bridge of death this morning....writing tickets to unsuspecting SUV drivers.... Luckily I had to take my kids to daycare today so I didn't cross this morning!

This is actually very amusing. In their quest to jack with Walmart and Ainbinder, all RUDE has managed to do is get traffic citations handed out to neighborhood residents. This will certainly gain much needed support for RUDE's efforts from the neighborhood they claim to be protecting!

[Leonard]

How is the bridge's load limit and enforcement RUDH's fault? Are you saying that if not for RUDH, the load limits on the bridge would be higher? Are you saying that RUDH controls HPD?

[Leonard]

Marksmu, I agree with you that the load limits are ridiculously low and that it is ridiculous to expect drivers of non-commercial vehicles to adhere to the limits.

[RedScare]

How is the bridge's load limit and enforcement RUDH's fault? Are you saying that if not for RUDH, the load limits on the bridge would be higher? Are you saying that RUDH controls HPD?

You know exactly what I am saying, which is exactly why you rushed to post a wimpering rebuttal to my post. Face it, you and RUDE are now costing area residents money in addition to inconveniencing them. This stands in stark contrast to the big box down the street that promises to save residents money and offer the convenience of staying open 24 hours.

RUDE failed at their primary mission...stopping the Heights Walmart...and then failed at their secondary mission of preventing the 380 from being approved. Now, their lowly unrelated third mission of wailing about a bridge is having the unintended consequence of annoying RUDE's neighbors. RUDE is fast becoming persona non grata in the Heights neighborhood. Of course, this is exactly what happens when groups hide their true motivation. Once they are exposed, they are abhored.

[fwki]

How is the bridge's load limit and enforcement RUDH's fault? Are you saying that if not for RUDH, the load limits on the bridge would be higher? Are you saying that RUDH controls HPD?

RUDH began screaming about the bridge loads when they realized no one gave a crap about their Walmart position. IMO, the engineers are totally in CYA mode due to all the attention, been there myself. Then they snapped a photo of an errant Walmart truck and you could hear their squeals of delight from the fifth ward. City downrgaes bridge again (CYA?) and directs HPD to screw us all.

[Leonard]

Or maybe I just logged on at the right time.

So, you are saying if not for RUDH the bridge would not be fast tracked to replacement in 2016 and the load limits would be higher and unenforced? That the City would not be looking at options for temporary repairs in the meantime?

[Leonard]

fwki, are you accusing the engineers of faking the ratings to appease RUDH?

[s3mh]

Your argument MIGHT make sense if this were a walmart on an island with no other feasible route of ingress/egress...but as it stands there is a plethora of available routes for anyone to use.

Just wait until you see what traffic is like when the bridge is closed. In fact, my hypothetical of the small town is a bad example. People in small towns are used to having to deal with load restricted bridges on back roads and take care to be aware of load limitations and avoid driving overload vehicles on restricted bridges. People in the fourth largest city in the US with an excellent economy expect that all bridges in the city limits on major thorough fares are capable of handling all street legal weight loads and are not keeping an eye out for load limitations. In any sane municipality, people would find it crazy to put in a big box supercenter and strip malls served by a major thoroughfare with a country load weight limited bridge. The only sane thing to do is fix the bridge and then let development proceed down stream. Otherwise, we are all just hoping that the engineers catch the degredation of the bridge before there is a catastrophic failure.

[fwki]

fwki, are you accusing the engineers of faking the ratings to appease RUDH?

I am saying engineers use judgement and safety factors, and when undue attention is focused on them the pucker factor kicks-in. I have been there myself, we are only human, better safe than sorry. Call it what you want.

[SilverJK]

No, but because of the attention RUDE keeps bringing back to the bridge (pics of walmart truck on it) it has forced the city to harass all driving over the bridge. I would say a majority of drivers have no freaking clue how much their vehicles weighs, so enforcing this rule on non commercial vehciles with a monetary fine seems overbearing to me. A written warning would suffice (repetitive violaters after the written warning should be fined). Commercial trucks should be fined as they are required to know their weight and etc. though.

Leonard you need to stop with the trying to put words in everyone's mouth.

[Leonard]

Not sure what words I'm supposed to be putting in people's mouths.

For the record, I've said before and I've already said it today, I don't think non-commerical drivers should be expected to know the weight of their vehicles.

[SilverJK]

In any sane municipality, people would find it crazy to put in a big box supercenter and strip malls served by a major thoroughfare with a country load weight limited bridge. The only sane thing to do is fix the bridge and then let development proceed down stream.

If this was the only route to the Walmart.....

The other "sane" options would be to mark the bridge with large signage saying (BEWARE BRIDGE OF DEATH COULD FALL AT ANY MOMENT) or something along these lines. Perhaps limit the bridge to one lane of traffic. Put up temporary gates at 6'6" tall (that would keep nearly all overweight vehicles off).

There are plenty of other "sane" options for the city to do while they update the reconstruction plan of the bridge. I supsect we will see this bridge rebuilt no later than 2014.

Your perceived problem is again with the city (admittedly from this post), not with wal-mart.

[kylejack]

If the bridge can safely support more than the rated load limit, why was it rated at this load limit? Why should ignorance of the load limit be an excuse for violating it? Are we only going to cite people for violating laws they knew about and reward ignorance? There's a lot of laws.

[Pleak]

Not sure what words I'm supposed to be putting in people's mouths.

For the record, I've said before and I've already said it today, I don't think non-commerical drivers should be expected to know the weight of their vehicles.

Well I'm not sure if that's just lazy or stupid or both.

If you are going to drive a 4000+ lb deadly weapon (just read the bicycle thread) you should at least have the mininum knowledge of your vehicle. And if it is remotely tall - you should also know the height.

[Leonard]

Yeah, Pleak, you're right. I'm sure everyone knows the weight of their vehicle plus passengers and cargo and how it is distributed between the axles.

[Marksmu]

Yeah, Pleak, you're right. I'm sure everyone knows the weight of their vehicle plus passengers and cargo and how it is distributed between the axles.

If you open your driver (or in some cars passenger) side door and look on the metal body of the car there is a small plate that tells you the weight of your vehicle...at least there is for trucks....

As to the comment above about writing tickets....I don't know that the people who got pulled over got tickets, I just know they were pulled over....the officer could have just been warning folks - but knowing HPD and their love of ticket writing in the area, they probably got a ticket.

[kylejack]

HPD said they were only going to pull over bigger trucks. Was it SUVs, or what?

[s3mh]

If this was the only route to the Walmart.....

The other "sane" options would be to mark the bridge with large signage saying (BEWARE BRIDGE OF DEATH COULD FALL AT ANY MOMENT) or something along these lines. Perhaps limit the bridge to one lane of traffic. Put up temporary gates at 6'6" tall (that would keep nearly all overweight vehicles off).

There are plenty of other "sane" options for the city to do while they update the reconstruction plan of the bridge. I supsect we will see this bridge rebuilt no later than 2014.

Your perceived problem is again with the city (admittedly from this post), not with wal-mart.

The bridge has nice new big signs all over the place. I still see trucks on the bridge all the time. 6'6" gates would just leave a trail of shattered glass from cab lights. This is still Texas. But it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

The fact of the matter is that the City and the developer had the money, knew about the bridge and chose to do nothing about it. The result is that instead of construction taking place along with all the other feeder work before the development went in, it will now take place in the presence of the new feeder, 280 new apartments, a 250k sq ft supercenter, another 200-500k sq ft of retail space (depending on what happens at the Yale St. Market site). People have been freaking out because they took out a few lanes on Durham at I-10 for construction. This will make that seem like I-10 between Kerrville and Ft. Stockton.

It is certainly a big problem with the City, but Walmart does not get a free pass. They attended the town meeting at the GRB and did a big presentation about how they are such a great friend to the community. The got the benefit of the 6mil in tax payer funded improvements. The issue of the bridge has always been about the concern over Walmart's 18 wheelers. Walmart has just sat back and let everyone else deal with their problem while they get 6 mil of new infrastructure for free. With all of its political power, if Walmart wanted a bridge built on an emergency basis prior to the opening of the store, they could get it done.

[RedScare]

Big problem for the City? Hardly. One bridge with another one 100 feet away is hardly a problem. And people freaking out? Half a dozen RUDE members posting nonsense on a Facebook page hardly qualifies. And even though you admitted earlier that Walmart is not responsible, you come right back and attempt to blame them. And then you wonder why you get accused of having ulterior motives.

Give it up. Walmart opens in a couple of weeks. See you there.

Oh, by the way. The sooner you get Mayor Parker out of office for this egregious transgression regarding this bridge, the sooner I can get rid of this stupid historic district in my neighborhood. More power to ya.

[Marksmu]

HPD said they were only going to pull over bigger trucks. Was it SUVs, or what?

When I passed by this morning they had a black Tahoe pulled over and a waste management garbage truck pulled over on front of the new Starbucks....

Normally I would have crossed but the wife was sick so I had the kids on the way to daycare...they had 3 load enforcement trucks out there though.

[heights]

The result is that instead of construction taking place along with all the other feeder work before the development went in, it will now take place in the presence of the new feeder, 280 new apartments, a 250k sq ft supercenter, another 200-500k sq ft of retail space (depending on what happens at the Yale St. Market site).

Did you ever pause to think that now that the feeders are done, there is a second alternate route for traffic once construction starts?

[fwki]

Yeah it is kinda funny that we have four brand new bridges on the feeders, the new Heights bridge and two renovated bike path bridges over White Oak Bayou all surrounding the Bridge of Death. I think we will survive any amount of time waiting on Yale, and to the rest of the community making this bridge an "issue" is making the Heights look like the bunch of self-important whiners we have become over the last decade. This place used to be laid back, and it is not the infrastructure improvements that changed it. This thread readily exposes what changed our neighborhood for the worse.

Edited October 14, 2012 by fwki

[Leonard]

It's not wrong to question how the government is spending tax money and how the government is or isn't maintaining infrastructure. It's not wrong to question why TxDOT and the City let the bridge get into this state with 4 more years before construction even starts - even with out of cycle funding obtained.

The City is going to have to repair the bridge if it is to remain open for the next 4 years before it is torn down. That's more tax dollars spent on this bridge.

If they don't know why this happened, they can't prevent it from happening over and over.