Grand Parkway Funding Approved

[SpringTX]

"With the collaboration of Texas Democrats and Republicans at the state and national levels, Texas will now receive more federal highway dollars, and Houston-area communities will soon come together with the accelerated construction of the Grand Parkway."

http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?new...id=532533&rfi=6

[RedScare]

Classic.

What a warm fuzzy feeling I get, knowing that communities will come together in love and harmony, and all it takes is a 200 foot wide strip of concrete, known as the Grand Parkway.

I look forward to reading Kevin Brady's new book, "It Takes a Grand Parkway To Raise a Child".

[sevfiv]

I look forward to reading Kevin Brady's new book, "It Takes a Grand Parkway To Raise a Child".

HAHA!

[YakuzaIce]

I look forward to reading Kevin Brady's new book, "It Takes a Grand Parkway To Raise a Child".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL

Is the reason for the grand parkway really to bring suburban communities together? I always thought of it as something to encourage development and to make it easier for these communities to get to the major arteries (I10, 59, 45, etc...)

[SpringTX]

LOL

Is the reason for the grand parkway really to bring suburban communities together?  I always thought of it as something to encourage development and to make it easier for these communities to get to the major arteries (I10, 59, 45, etc...)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did they mean come together metaphysically (i.e. in the spirit of it) or physically (via the road)?

[YakuzaIce]

Did they mean come together metaphysically (i.e. in the spirit of it) or physically (via the road)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know. I would think physically considering if you want to use federal tax dollars you need more than metaphysical reasons.

[WestGrayGuy]

Perhaps one day we could have the hands across the Grand Parkway where the communities would literally come together and hold hands in a sign of unity and love of the concrete artery that has linked them together.

[MidtownCoog]

Why do I need to be connected to you bunch of Freaks?

It's nice to not be so close.

[pineda]

From the article in HCN:

The U.S. Congress hopes to send its joint bill to the President sometime next week.

meaning: It's not quite a done deal yet.

Once federal highway money is allocated to each state, state legislators then meet and determine which districts will receive more than others.

meaning: state legislators may decide to spend the money on projects other than the Grand Parkway, meaning it's not quite a done deal yet.

Federal highway money is mainly used for mass transit, highway repairs, research, maintenance, transportation systems, intelligence and so on.

Which one of these would the Grand Parkway be? (It's not intelligence...)

The Grand Parkway will decrease east-west congestion, as well as provide better connections between suburban areas and decrease school traffic.

according to whom? The writer? Kevin Brady? I've never heard mention of decreasing school traffic, I know that, and east-west congestion has never been the issue. Remember, Kevin, more spokes, not more hubs?

"We are creating more and more jobs outside of Houston, and our suburban communities are growing rapidly," Brady said. "We need the ability to tie these growing communities together. Also, by creating these links, more consumers can utilize the shops, restaurants, and businesses in the northern Houston area."

Yes, Kevin, that last sentence is exactly what one would expect to hear out of the mouth of the former Chamber of Commerce Prez. of the Woodlands....

Eissler said he also feels confident that federal money will be used for the Grand Parkway and other Houston-area projects.

Rob, you might want to check it out, but I don't think the Grand Parkway goes through the Woodlands. You might want to stick to writing more worthless bills about barking dogs and bandit signs. What a great waste of a legislator you are, dude!

BTW, if your CAFTA bill passes next week, Kevin Brady, I can't wait to hear your "spin" on how it will benefit the Woodlands area businesses and residents. But, then you'll probably just have one of your assistants type up some "from your friend, Kevin Brady" bull**** article and send it in to the Woodlands Villager. I bet the people who sent your butt to Washington have no earthly idea the crap you're about to dump on their heads with your CAFTA bill. Something tells me you don't come back home much or at least, you won't be anymore, after this fiasco. Good luck with your future plans in becoming one of the Supreme Rulers of the American version of the EU!

[H-Town Man]

Pineda, you're a tough one. If I were a legislator, yours would be the last neighborhood that I would want to expand any roads around. Why don't you put together something like that woman Polly Ledvina did to oppose the Katy Freeway expansion, an organization that could really make its voice heard and make things uncomfortable for the likes of Brady? It wouldn't be hard; basically all you need is a catchy name and a website, and you could start getting interviewed by Chronicle reporters who always love an offbeat activist.

[pineda]

Thanks for the compliment, (I think)...

[pineda]

new route added for Segment F-2 of the Grand Parkway project

[pineda]

Grand Parkway funding story in Chron.com today

David Gornet, executive director of the Grand Parkway Association, said Wednesday that critics "should maybe drive through the areas ... Development is already there."

Gee, David, I wonder why all that development is already there? Could it be because people like you and Kevin Brady and John Culberson had meetings with developers years ago promising them the Grand Parkway and showing them the route it would take? Why else would something like the Bridgelands build out in the middle of literally nowhere unless they had some very solid assurances from you guys about the exact placement of the Grand Parkway, and some kind of timeline? I wonder...."

[GoAtomic]

new route added for Segment F-2 of the Grand Parkway project

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pineda - from this it looks like the planners have heeded the critics and moved the route southward, away from the subdivisions north of Spring-Stuebner (Northampton, Mossy Oaks, etc), and away from Klein Oak High School.

Am I reading the maps correctly? This would be GREAT news.

[pineda]

Actually, according to the map posted, the "2005 Alternate Route" moves the whole thing MUCH closer to Klein Oak High School than before. Whereas, the 2004 Preferred Route was about 1,000 feet from the front doors of Klein Oak High School, this new route proposed by that idiot Senator Jon Lindsay puts it right in their laps. So much for that claim of reducing school traffic congestion....

An aside, I've been calling the Grand Parkway for about a week now to find out about this map and no one is answering the phone. I heard from an Klein ISD official last week at the Mold Remediaton Meeting for Northampton Elementary that he had heard that the Grand Parkway has decided to move its' route even further north into Montgomery County. We'll see how this all plays out....

[gnu]

Grand Parkway funding story in Chron.com today

I thought this was interesting from the chron article:

And the bill, which the president is scheduled to sign next week after all, drew opposition from some Texas lawmakers, who pointed out that the state still doesn't get as much funding as it contributes to the federal government via the gasoline tax. (By 2009, Texas will get 92 cents in funding for every $1 its consumers pay in fuel tax).

I didn't know that.

[kjb434]

Texas has always been a donor state where they get less than they pay in.

[HeightsGuy]

Sorry Pineda, but the gig is up. Much in the same way the term "9-11" has been used to steamroll any opposition to new legislation regarding national security, the term "Rita evacuation" will be used to steamroll any opposition to the Grand Parkway. Watch what happens in the coming months, our legislators will start using the term as the "real" reason the Grand Parkway needs to be finished down the corridor of their choosing.

[RedScare]

Yup. You'll never get opposition to a freeway again...or a tollway, as long as it's free during evacuations, never mind that trains move more people faster.

[pineda]

Interesting that you think that...

I've heard people who live out here where I am say that the Rita evacuation proves the point even stronger that we've been pushing all along, that "We need more spokes, not more rims." I guess we'll see.

[eelimon]

Classic.

What a warm fuzzy feeling I get, knowing that communities will come together in love and harmony, and all it takes is a 200 foot wide strip of concrete, known as the Grand Parkway.

I look forward to reading Kevin Brady's new book, "It Takes a Grand Parkway To Raise a Child".

OMG you are way too funny Redscare

LOL

Is the reason for the grand parkway really to bring suburban communities together? I always thought of it as something to encourage development and to make it easier for these communities to get to the major arteries (I10, 59, 45, etc...)

And avoid downtown all together.

Sorry Pineda, but the gig is up. Much in the same way the term "9-11" has been used to steamroll any opposition to new legislation regarding national security, the term "Rita evacuation" will be used to steamroll any opposition to the Grand Parkway. Watch what happens in the coming months, our legislators will start using the term as the "real" reason the Grand Parkway needs to be finished down the corridor of their choosing.

yup!

[pineda]

The latest information from the Grand Parkway Association is that they are having a difficult time finding a route to put on a map, because as new routes have been and continually are being discussed, developers have been finding out where these routes might be, and are developing along these potential routes with little regard for transportation planning or for transportation planners, for that matter.

The Grand Parkway Association does not do and is not able to do advance purchases in anticipation of certain routes, and when speculative developers find out that a major road might be built near some otherwise worthless rural area without any major roads, they jump on it.

This process has seriously slowed the progress of the Grand Parkway much more than anything I or any group of local landowners and homeowners could have ever done.

While developers seem to agree that they would love to have the road built NEAR their speculative land purchases, they don't necessarily want the Grand Parkway running directly THROUGH their land either. In the case of Segment F-2, the route that has been decided upon by the Grand Parkway, the PREFERRED route, was placed upon maps years ago, and the land was vacant and owned by locals.

But a year or so ago, the locals that owned it sold it to Ronnie and Cathy Matthews, who developed the land under the Peron Corporation name, into Northcrest Village. Their neighborhood plan maps do not show any land set aside for the Grand Parkway at all, and they are not disclosing to potential homeowners that there might be a Grand Parkway where they buy a house today.

And so the route continues to fluctuate into an area that is already too highly developed to easily place the road, unlike what happened in Segment D. When that segment was built, it went into rural territory and then the home development followed. Now, the GPA has to fight to preserve a route, and the developers who want the road aren't helping to preserve the route, at least not in their own boundaries.

The next meeting for Segment F-2 will be a public hearing in early December or early

January. The GPA will not hold one over the holiday break.

[HeightsGuy]

Interesting that you think that...

I've heard people who live out here where I am say that the Rita evacuation proves the point even stronger that we've been pushing all along, that "We need more spokes, not more rims." I guess we'll see.

That's just it Pineda, as with the term "9-11", it doesn't matter what makes sense. The term "Rita evacuation" is nothing more than a scare tactic, and it will be used by people who want to get the road built.

[eelimon]

I said this befor on a related topic

I think the region needs the grand parkway, but I wish politicians would move this fast when it comes to MASS TRANSIT!