Re-imagining Westheimer Rd.

[livincinco]

I know that there's a thread about pothole repairs for Westheimer, but I think that Westheimer requires more than just repair. IMO, Westheimer between the Galleria and Montrose has become a marquee street in the city of Houston. The Galleria was already the best retail area in the city and the current developments between there and Highland Village are just adding to that. The part that runs through Montrose is the hottest restaurant area in the city.

I know that there was call to put rail down Westheimer, but IMO Westheimer would be much better served by decreasing traffic on it and allowing it to become a true complete street with wider sidewalks and bike lanes similar to the plan that has been suggested for the 36 blocks downtown.

Think about it this way, some of our hottest destinations for visitors are on one of worst streets in the city. Is this really the image that we want to present?

Thoughts?

[largeTEXAS]

I agree

[DrLan34]

I would prefer to see all current money available for street repair to go to widening sidewalks and beautifying the pedestrian realm (benches, landscaping, etc). 

[barracuda]

Yes. The street is too small for rail, but I think it could be reconfigured in a number of different ways to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

 

I would even be happy if the city just fully dedicated the right lanes for parallel parking in the Montrose area east of Shepherd.

[mfastx]

Agree with everything you said.  I wouldn't like to see rail going down Westheimer, but perhaps a subway would do wonders (pipe dream lol).

 

A total reconstruction of the street is in order, along with reconstructing the sidewalks (both are in pretty bad shape, especially in the Montrose area).  Westheimer has a lot of potential.  Eventually I can see a lot of higher density development along Westheimer. 

[trymahjong]

Westheimer improvements are in the hearts and minds of many. . . . .

 

It was a much talked about subject at the Urban Houston Framework    the pilot program survey is just finishing up.

 

Neartown hosted a Charette a few years ago that had a huge number of attendees.The color rendering of "what could be possible" are posted  on another thread.

 

I've heard the presentations from the Urban Land Institute and Better Blocks Houston.

 

The earliest talks of where to place the Metrorail had a kazillion suggestions of how the rail could be made workable if placed on Westheimer--My personal favorite was the elevated line. . . .

 

Almost everyone, I encounter at these various meetings are all in favor of improvements to Westheimer. Still months and months and months pass and so very little seems to get beyond the suggestion stage.

 

 

[scarface]

Westheimer is only too small between Bagby and 610. It gets incredibly wide after that!

[livincinco]

Westheimer improvements are in the hearts and minds of many. . . . .

It was a much talked about subject at the Urban Houston Framework the pilot program survey is just finishing up.

Neartown hosted a Charette a few years ago that had a huge number of attendees.The color rendering of "what could be possible" are posted on another thread.

I've heard the presentations from the Urban Land Institute and Better Blocks Houston.

The earliest talks of where to place the Metrorail had a kazillion suggestions of how the rail could be made workable if placed on Westheimer--My personal favorite was the elevated line. . . .

Almost everyone, I encounter at these various meetings are all in favor of improvements to Westheimer. Still months and months and months pass and so very little seems to get beyond the suggestion stage.

Thanks. It looks like Urban Houston Framework is scheduled to present their report on May 20th, but it looks like this is probably a pretty long process. Unless I'm misunderstanding, this is just the first step towards potentially establishing a TIRZ or similar mechanism for the Westheimer-Montrose urban center.

I wasn't able to find the thread with the rendering though. Any idea where it is?

[IronTiger]

Used to be another thread on Westheimer. My dream is to rebuild the Westheimer Parkway/Westheimer Road into a full interchange, where cars could go straight to points west (or east). Maybe rebrand Elgin to Westheimer as well...

[Purdueenginerd]

The green street project on Bagby... should also be done on Westheimer from Louisiana to Montrose. The area already has significant pedestrian traffic. 

[trymahjong]

Thanks. It looks like Urban Houston Framework is scheduled to present their report on May 20th, but it looks like this is probably a pretty long process. Unless I'm misunderstanding, this is just the first step towards potentially establishing a TIRZ or similar mechanism for the Westheimer-Montrose urban center.

I wasn't able to find the thread with the rendering though. Any idea where it is?

 

In 2009 I posted the color renderings from the Urban Land Institute  in the Plans for Intersection of Montrose and Westheimer  thread

[trymahjong]

Used to be another thread on Westheimer. My dream is to rebuild the Westheimer Parkway/Westheimer Road into a full interchange, where cars could go straight to points west (or east). Maybe rebrand Elgin to Westheimer as well...

dreaming of straightening Westheimer into full interchange. .? . . .no but perhaps a bit of dreaming is going on at COH--- I posted before of hearing some muckitymuck from COH telling Neartown  of  returning  Westheimer between Dunlavy and Bagby to three lanes was being discussed----this is the way I remember  Westheimer  in the late 70's.

[Texasota]

Yeah... Sorry IronTiger but that's the absolute worst possible thing that could happen to Westheimer. 

[ricco67]

As I was driving down Lower Westheimer, I was thinking perhaps having it one way from Bagby to Kirby from East to West with an exclusive Bus lane (BRT-ish), with W. Alabama going East.

 

Could take it one step further and reduce it to 3 lanes and either make on street parking available, just reduce the speed limit to 20.

 

Then again, they need to do that at night in Midtown.

[trymahjong]

As I was driving down Lower Westheimer, I was thinking perhaps having it one way from Bagby to Kirby from East to West with an exclusive Bus lane (BRT-ish), with W. Alabama going East.

 

Could take it one step further and reduce it to 3 lanes and either make on street parking available, just reduce the speed limit to 20.

 

Then again, they need to do that at night in Midtown.

 

When I posted I had heard three lanes  being talked about during a Neartown meeting--I had also heard that Montrose is up next for parking changes like those in Washington Ave corridor-- Now I'm trying to figure how those two things would go together.

[Texasota]

1 lane each direction+ center turn lane; dedicated parking on both sides of westheimer with meters. easy-peasy. And, I would argue, a significant improvement. You set that up basically from bagby to oh, say, hazard, and you significantly increase the amount of available on-street parking. (of course there are stretches where the road gets narrow enough that youd have to do 3 lanes + only one lane of parking, or 2 lanes + 2 rows of parking) I cant imagine it affecting traffic too much since, due to the ridiculously narrow lanes and poor pavement, westheimer is already basically just one lane each direction. Hell, if theres a dedicated center turn lane it would actually make things better by getting left-turners out of the main lane of traffic

[livincinco]

1 lane each direction+ center turn lane; dedicated parking on both sides of westheimer with meters. easy-peasy. And, I would argue, a significant improvement. You set that up basically from bagby to oh, say, hazard, and you significantly increase the amount of available on-street parking. (of course there are stretches where the road gets narrow enough that youd have to do 3 lanes + only one lane of parking, or 2 lanes + 2 rows of parking) I cant imagine it affecting traffic too much since, due to the ridiculously narrow lanes and poor pavement, westheimer is already basically just one lane each direction. Hell, if theres a dedicated center turn lane it would actually make things better by getting left-turners out of the main lane of traffic

I'd go a step further. Two lanes with medians and imbedded turn lanes. A reduced speed limit with pedestrian crossing mid block driving through traffic to Richmond and 59. Wider sidewalks to encourage more outdoor dining. The restaurant and cafe scene is already on fire there. It would go through the roof if the area was conducive to walking.

[Texasota]

I'll see your medians and raise you Westheimer as a pedestrian mall from taft to hazard.

[august948]

I'll see your medians and raise you Westheimer as a pedestrian mall from taft to hazard.

 

Wouldn't that just increase traffic cutting through the adjacent neighborhoods and accerbate the parking problems?

[august948]

Here's an idea from The Netherlands...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woonerf

 

Basically it give pedestrians and cyclists legal priority over cars and severely limits speeds.  You could treat a stretch this way and still preserve parking and access to non-pedestrians.

[Texasota]

I was being somewhat facetious. The only way Westheimer works as a pedestrian mall is with a few public parking garages along the edges. That being said, I do think it makes sense.

 

On the other hand, it would probably just increase the rate of Montrose's gentrification, so...

[livincinco]

On the other hand, it would probably just increase the rate of Montrose's gentrification, so...

Montrose has gentrified and will continue to do so. Might as well get used to it.

[livincinco]

You might find the attached interesting. I witnessed both the before and after of this program and the impact was startling. The main street in the city was a very high traffic thoroughfare and the town made the decision to slow down that traffic and force people back to the freeway or to streets on the outskirts of town. Certainly there are differences, but I do think that similar results could be achieved in Montrose.

http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/main-street-news/2009/02/livermore-california.html

http://www.ftscities.com/Livermore_Downtown_Specific_Plan

[Texasota]

Yeah theres not much left of old Montrose on Westheimer. 

It's such a narrow street in some areas that it forces some interesting decisions:

    2/3 lanes +parking?

    2/3 lanes + protected bike lanes?

    2 lanes + 1 row parking+ bike lanes?

    2/3 lanes +expanded sidewalks?

    unified pavement giving precedence to peds and cyclists?

 

I think it would make sense to treat the stretch between waugh and hazard a bit different from the rest. That's where the building setbacks are (in some cases) nonexistent and the only direction sidewalks can expand is into the street.

    

 

As for the woonerf? Fairview. perfect. 

[totheskies]

Would it really be so difficult/expensive to just build an elevated rail line down Westheimer?  We did two impressive grade separations on the Red Line (north), and Dallas has done this for virtually all of their system. 

 

Honestly, which is more expensive... building the platforms (which we've done a MILLION times already) or acquiring land rights down the street?  I'm willing to wager it's the latter. 

[IronTiger]

I've found from real examples that one lane generally equals to two bike lanes (more or less, since each have widths--plus or minus a foot makes a huge difference in bike lanes). So I looked up Westheimer in its narrowest point, 2 lanes eastbound, two westbound. In that case, we can do the "College Avenue" treatment, and convert that to one westbound, one eastbound, a turn lane, and 2 bike lanes.

[scarface]

I don't get how making lower Westheimer one- way between Bagby and Kirby would improve things. Westheimer is too much of a main  boulevard to have any part of it being limited to one direction. It needs to remain a long continuous thoroughfare throughout the city. 

 

That's not a good idea in my book.

[brian0123]

Agreed, it should be slowed down. One lane each direction, left turns are only allowed at major intersections (w/ dedicated turn lanes), and a smaller hybrid bike/right turn/bus stop lane on each side (where space permits).

[samagon]

yep, inside shepherd, westheimer needs to be reduced to 1 lane in each direction 1 suicide turn lane and a bike lane in each direction.

 

make traffic even worse, but hey, traffic's already horrible.

[ricco67]

A friend got into an accident by Kat's, I'm starting to believe that a speed reduction of 20mph might be necessary all the way to Dunlavy. 

I'm totally against parking on Westheimer, people will pop out without warning.  It's like a wierd version of "Whack-a-mole."