Jump to content

Midtown Streetscape Improvements


Purdueenginerd

Recommended Posts

Is it really that difficult to bury the power lines? I would think being in a part of the country that has strong thunderstorms and hurricanes you would want as many buried lines as possible.

I do like what they have done on Bagby, this appears to be the same. One day all of the streets in Midtown will be like this and that is great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is extremely expensive to bury power lines, especially on existing streets. Some streets do have buried high voltage lines, there's one that runs down LaBranch, 140,000 volts, I think. When the substation at LaBranch and Tuam was connected, they had to freeze the lines to keep the insulating oil from running out while they made the tap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So Caroline is the Champs-Élysées and the San Jacinto building is the Arc de Triomphe?

Someone needs to tell the Caroline street drug dealers to start hawking souvenirs and offering to take your photo.

Urban planners always swing for the fences, but they might get close on this one given the complete lack of anything on this street.

Edited by TGM
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 4 weeks later...

It looks like I've answered my own question:

 

Construction on the Caroline Street project is scheduled to start in December 2014.

 
Got some renderings as well:
 
 
 
 

 

edit: JPEGS looks like crap, see original PDF here

Edited by phillip_white
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Work-on-third-Midtown-park-set-for-finish-in-the-5684171.php

 

"...In addition to green space improvements, the district reported on upcoming construction work slated for Caroline Street. The Midtown Redevelopment Authority is funding the $9 million project with help from a $4 million Texas Department of Transportation grant.

 

The work will include complete roadway reconstruction with new concrete pavement and public utility upgrades along Caroline from Pierce to Holman streets. There will also be sidewalk improvements including new landscaping and a designated bike lane.

 

Large, an avid cyclist, said the proposed bike path will be marked with green paint and will be the first such bike route in Houston.

 

Marshall said the project is set to be put out for bid in December or January with construction to follow later next year."

Edited by DrLan34
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the update. It looks like the construction start date is still moving to the right.

 

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Work-on-third-Midtown-park-set-for-finish-in-the-5684171.php

 

"...In addition to green space improvements, the district reported on upcoming construction work slated for Caroline Street. The Midtown Redevelopment Authority is funding the $9 million project with help from a $4 million Texas Department of Transportation grant.

 

The work will include complete roadway reconstruction with new concrete pavement and public utility upgrades along Caroline from Pierce to Holman streets. There will also be sidewalk improvements including new landscaping and a designated bike lane.

 

Large, an avid cyclist, said the proposed bike path will be marked with green paint and will be the first such bike route in Houston.

 

Marshall said the project is set to be put out for bid in December or January with construction to follow later next year."

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Saw this yesterday fyi -

 

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/ranch/news/transportation-commissioners-approve-roadway-improvements-in-greater-houston-area/article_cc9ecc8d-7d0e-54bf-9349-767728808ad1.html

 

TRANSPORTATION COMMISSIONERS APPROVE ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS IN GREATER HOUSTON AREA

 

Roadway improvements, enhancement projects and a bridge replacement were among the construction projects recently approved at last month’s Texas Transportation Commission meeting. ….. Additionally, a joint project with the Midtown Management District to reconstruct Caroline Street from Holman to Pierce Street in the midtown section of Houston was awarded. The pavement on the existing street is in poor condition, and the project will reconstruct the entire street replacing the old pavement with new concrete pavement. The project will also provide new amenities such as wider sidewalks, landscaping, upgraded drainage, decorative lighting and a “rain garden” filtration system.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't want to start a new thread for this but what's going on at Sheppard? They have down to one lane in each direction and a few weeks ago I saw them burying massive, like 8ft diameter sanitary/waste water piping in. Is the first of the Rebuild Houston campaigns work??

 

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/30717-cip-improvements-along-shepherd-drive/

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Mixed news everyone! Per an update at the Midtown Redevelopment Authority meeting tonight, bids for this project came in over budget and the MRA board is in talks with several government groups to allocate the deficit (approximately $4M).  If funding is found, construction will start toward the end of 2015... if not, the project will be scaled back or shelved indefinitely. Overall, my feelings are:  :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mixed news everyone! Per an update at the Midtown Redevelopment Authority meeting tonight, bids for this project came in over budget and the MRA board is in talks with several government groups to allocate the deficit (approximately $4M).  If funding is found, construction will start toward the end of 2015... if not, the project will be scaled back or shelved indefinitely. Overall, my feelings are:  :unsure:

 

Big surprise!  But $4 million over?!  Egads!  Methinks the MRA has a solid need to get someone on the board that actually is in construction.  $4 million over is so high that the people in charge ought to be shelved!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was actually a more embarrassing part of the meeting.  Apparently they bid the project, didn't like the price so they sent it out for rebid... which ended up EVEN HIGHER than the original. :blink:

 

Big surprise!  But $4 million over?!  Egads!  Methinks the MRA has a solid need to get someone on the board that actually is in construction.  $4 million over is so high that the people in charge ought to be shelved!

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mixed news everyone! Per an update at the Midtown Redevelopment Authority meeting tonight, bids for this project came in over budget and the MRA board is in talks with several government groups to allocate the deficit (approximately $4M).  If funding is found, construction will start toward the end of 2015... if not, the project will be scaled back or shelved indefinitely. Overall, my feelings are:  :unsure:

 

Thanks again, phillip_white! I think I got all of this discussion transcribed (I noted some background on my transcription in the superblock thread):

 

Midtown Rep: "Caroline Street: You guys may be aware from the Chronicle article we received we're working with TxDOT on this project, a joint project between the Redevelopment Authority and TxDOT. TxDOT has a $4 million grant attached to the project, and they are also responsible for bidding and construction management of that project.
 
"That project was re-bid, in January, in hopes of getting better bids. In all actuality, the project, the bids came back higher, than the initial bid. Came back at 13.9. Our engineer's estimate was right at 10.8, so this is about a $3 million gap. So in that, we had some, hard questions to answer.
 
"So currently we're working with both the city and Houston-Galveston Area Council for intending to secure additional funding to move the project forward. We're hoping to have an answer by mid-February whether we'll have secured additional funding from either the city, or HGHC, or both, to cover that gap
 
"Without the additional funding the project will either be shelved or significantly delayed. But we've had some good conversations with HGAC and we've had an additional conversation with the city. If we get favorable response from the city we're pretty confident that the project will move forward
 
"And just the details of that project: It's a complete reconstruction of the roadway as well as back-of-curb improvements, very similar to the treatment that Bagby Street received. Not the exact level of those treatments, maybe a slight level below, but a lot of the amenities will be similar and it will run from Pierce to Elgin Street.
 
"And there's also a second phase that we're working on with Houston Community College to improve the blocks between Elgin and Holman Street at a later date."
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...