I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

[ADCS]

Good for them. They get just compensation. There's no constitutional requirement for them to be happy about it.

[samagon]

On 5/22/2022 at 2:05 AM, Big E said:

. I mean seriously, what was the point of this statement:

What does this add to the conversation? Not a doggone thing.

ask @Amlaham?

he's who I originally was responding to on this page, then you started questioning my moral fiber. I again diverted to what I was originally responding to, so maybe you can read my responses in context, as a response to his comments, then you'll understand what the point of the statement was? or you can keep diverting to your opinion of my reason for responding?

[H-Town Man]

23 hours ago, Twinsanity02 said:

As much as elevated freeways are an eyesore, how does sinking roadways in Houston ( or anywhere along the Gulf Coast) benefit the people living there? The rainfalls along the Gulf Coast can be incredible and no amount of pumps is going to prevent flooding and hence trapping people. If someone can explain the benefit of sinking freeways  ( outside of looks) please feel free to explain. 

What is the benefit of sinking freeways, outside of looks? That is kind of like, what is the benefit of removing graffiti, outside of looks? I mean, that's the benefit. But it's a substantial one! Along with noise, another benefit. And no places for the homeless to camp out.

 

[Big E]

13 hours ago, samagon said:

ask @Amlaham?

he's who I originally was responding to on this page, then you started questioning my moral fiber. I again diverted to what I was originally responding to, so maybe you can read my responses in context, as a response to his comments, then you'll understand what the point of the statement was? or you can keep diverting to your opinion of my reason for responding?

My reading comprehension is fine thank you. Your response brought nothing to the conversation, added nothing to the conversation, and didn't move the conversation forward. It wasn't even cogent with what was being discussed. If your comment had been removed, nothing would have been lost in this thread. It served no purpose to anyone but yourself.

[samagon]

7 hours ago, Big E said:

My reading comprehension is fine thank you. Your response brought nothing to the conversation, added nothing to the conversation, and didn't move the conversation forward. It wasn't even cogent with what was being discussed. If your comment had been removed, nothing would have been lost in this thread. It served no purpose to anyone but yourself.

maybe not for you. I wasn't responding to you when I made my comments in the post linked:

did they move the conversation forward for @Amlaham? that poster has yet to respond to anyone since my post linked above.

if you can't see how that post is directly relevant to what that poster said, I really don't know what to say, maybe read it again?

at the end of the day, you have your opinion on my response linked above, and I will respect you by placing as much value on your opinion as you place on mine. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by samagon

[Amlaham]

23 hours ago, samagon said:

ask @Amlaham?

he's who I originally was responding to on this page, then you started questioning my moral fiber. I again diverted to what I was originally responding to, so maybe you can read my responses in context, as a response to his comments, then you'll understand what the point of the statement was? or you can keep diverting to your opinion of my reason for responding?

Why am I being tagged for YOUR comments, he quoted YOU. I clearly wanted to put this argument to rest, but quoting me then tagging me, then tagging me again....clearly you want my reaction. So here's my opinion :) What IS the point of your statements? 

"Lets not dramatize some futurists dream to see i45 relocated from the west side of town to the east being some impactful reason that this project should move forward with alacrity"

• "lets not dramatize" .... your statement itself was dramatic. From the west side of town to the east? i45 is literally being consolidated with i69 around downtown.... they're not just picking up a highway and moving it across town. In total, downtown would have LESS lanes than it currently has. 

"If it takes 60 more years for this to complete in a manner that has less impact on the lives of those living near it"

• You just sound like a broken record at this point... if you saw my previous post, there's a map that shows what is being demolished/ affected in the downtown area...NO ONE lives there, the multifamily building there has already been emptied out. Also, you keep saying "less impact on their lives," like stated above, you're coming off disingenuous because if you took the time to read the multiple posts everyone has contributed, you would understand by now that it would actually help connect Freedman's town to downtown (you know, the people you're supposedly advocating for?), connect midtown to downtown, midtown to the museum district....you know thats a good thing for the community right? Gentrification actually causes more displacement than this project, yet I see you support all these projects across town thats actually exacerbating gentrification.

So, the project will help connect neighborhoods, increase green space (which increases quality of life), increase bike lanes (also improves the quality of life for bikers), and modernize aging infrastructure. TXDOT literally did an amazing job working with the city/ county to benefit the 3 modes of transportation; bikers, pedestrians, and cars. Which comes to my conclusion..... your statements do not make sense. One minute your argument is that the freeway is being moved across town (wrong), the next minute people are being dragged out of their house tooth and nail (wrong)...you're all over the place and you're feeling "sorry" for something that doesn't exist. 

Waiting for your comment that this project actually caused covid.

[samagon]

2 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Why am I being tagged for YOUR comments, he quoted YOU. I clearly wanted to put this argument to rest, but quoting me then tagging me, then tagging me again....clearly you want my reaction. So here's my opinion :) What IS the point of your statements? 

"Lets not dramatize some futurists dream to see i45 relocated from the west side of town to the east being some impactful reason that this project should move forward with alacrity"

• "lets not dramatize" .... your statement itself was dramatic. From the west side of town to the east? i45 is literally being consolidated with i69 around downtown.... they're not just picking up a highway and moving it across town. In total, downtown would have LESS lanes than it currently has. 

"If it takes 60 more years for this to complete in a manner that has less impact on the lives of those living near it"

• You just sound like a broken record at this point... if you saw my previous post, there's a map that shows what is being demolished/ affected in the downtown area...NO ONE lives there, the multifamily building there has already been emptied out. Also, you keep saying "less impact on their lives," like stated above, you're coming off disingenuous because if you took the time to read the multiple posts everyone has contributed, you would understand by now that it would actually help connect Freedman's town to downtown (you know, the people you're supposedly advocating for?), connect midtown to downtown, midtown to the museum district....you know thats a good thing for the community right? Gentrification actually causes more displacement than this project, yet I see you support all these projects across town thats actually exacerbating gentrification.

So, the project will help connect neighborhoods, increase green space (which increases quality of life), increase bike lanes (also improves the quality of life for bikers), and modernize aging infrastructure. TXDOT literally did an amazing job working with the city/ county to benefit the 3 modes of transportation; bikers, pedestrians, and cars. Which comes to my conclusion..... your statements do not make sense. One minute your argument is that the freeway is being moved across town (wrong), the next minute people are being dragged out of their house tooth and nail (wrong)...you're all over the place and you're feeling "sorry" for something that doesn't exist. 

Waiting for your comment that this project actually caused covid.

sorry to have kept bumping you in my responses to other people's commentary on my response to you. I didn't do so to try and get a reaction from you, only to defend my opinion which was solely in response to your statement specific to how sad it would be that people may not live to see this project completed. 

thanks for your feedback though, it's funny in parts.

[Amlaham]

34 minutes ago, samagon said:

sorry to have kept bumping you in my responses to other people's commentary on my response to you. I didn't do so to try and get a reaction from you, only to defend my opinion which was solely in response to your statement specific to how sad it would be that people may not live to see this project completed. 

thanks for your feedback though, it's funny in parts.

No need to apologize man, however, I do not mean to come off rude as well. I know we all have different opinions, and I think this project is where our opinions clash which is why I decided to stay away from this thread. No hard feelings. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Amlaham

[Big E]

11 hours ago, samagon said:

if you can't see how that post is directly relevant to what that poster said, I really don't know what to say, maybe read it again?

It wasn't relevant. It had nothing at all to do with what was being discussed regarding government bureaucracy and how long this project was taking to manifest, which was actually an interesting discussion. Many of your statements aren't relevant, in fact. Mostly they are retreading old arguments and statements that have already been trodden to death in this thread, or dis-proven by relevant information since provided.

 

11 hours ago, samagon said:

at the end of the day, you have your opinion on my response linked above, and I will respect you by placing as much value on your opinion as you place on mine. 

Opinions are like anuses: everybody's got'em. Yours ain't special and isn't worthy of any special deference or consideration. Opinions can be weighed like everything else. You having an opinion is not an excuse to be factually wrong or to wave it around in people's faces ad nauseum.

[Ross]

1 hour ago, Big E said:

It wasn't relevant. It had nothing at all to do with what was being discussed regarding government bureaucracy and how long this project was taking to manifest, which was actually an interesting discussion. Many of your statements aren't relevant, in fact. Mostly they are retreading old arguments and statements that have already been trodden to death in this thread, or dis-proven by relevant information since provided.

 

Opinions are like anuses: everybody's got'em. Yours ain't special and isn't worthy of any special deference or consideration. Opinions can be weighed like everything else. You having an opinion is not an excuse to be factually wrong or to wave it around in people's faces ad nauseum.

Wow, your surfeit of personal attacks is disgusting. Must suck to be at a party with you telling everyone their opinions don't matter. Nothing you've written advances the conversation at all, since all you do is tell people how much they suck. So, essentially, why don't you just be quiet and let the adults keep talking?

[mattyt36]

5 hours ago, Big E said:

It wasn't relevant. It had nothing at all to do with what was being discussed regarding government bureaucracy and how long this project was taking to manifest, which was actually an interesting discussion. Many of your statements aren't relevant, in fact. Mostly they are retreading old arguments and statements that have already been trodden to death in this thread, or dis-proven by relevant information since provided.

 

Opinions are like anuses: everybody's got'em. Yours ain't special and isn't worthy of any special deference or consideration. Opinions can be weighed like everything else. You having an opinion is not an excuse to be factually wrong or to wave it around in people's faces ad nauseum.

AMEN

@samagon

“but to suggest that I don't care about the issues of the other communities that are negatively impacted, or that I am simply using them towards my own evil ends? 

it is very easy for me to be empathetic to their issues, because I will experience some of the same issues they do related to this project.”

I define my opposition to this project, not based on the substance, but rather that I have realized that others—you know, ahem, the less unfortunate types—may be inconvenienced like me.

Not, “way more than I,” not “I’m lucky to not be inconvenienced as much as others,” not “Oh, I’m so concerned about my beloved Near Northside that I know and love and went to at least once in the last 20 years” (I mean, plenty of allusions to people being ripped from their homes and their lifelong neighborhood), but, at the end of the day, an implicit admission “It’s inconvenient for me and, if it’s inconvenient for me, surely I can rely on someone else’s real inconveniences to achieve a political end.”

The above is a textbook, yet admittedly modern, example of NIMBYISM.

You know the one thing missing in all of this commentary? 

Comments from the people actually affected.

There’s been a hell of a lot of speculation … and plenty of people (including I) … here’s the thing … I’m actually sensitive to it … but I actually don’t think there is any real opposition. I’m sure people want to be treated more fairly, but c’mon, in an MSA of 7 million people we can’t find a way to make the not even 10% of not even 10,000 people affected without true compensation (if that even is the REAL argument) whole? This City put men on the moon! I’m sure we can come up with a great solution! I mean, if the City came to me and said, “Matty, we need your help to build a new sewer line and it just so happens your house is where the exhaust line needs to be and you need to move,” before we got to “we can do this one way or the other,” I’m sure we could have come to an agreement under tried-and-true federal law, and, at the end of the day, I’d be better off. (And, forgive me if I am being insensitive, but if I lived in an apartment, I sure as hell wouldn’t expect any say in the matter, and I doubt many apartment dwellers would either, especially not in Houston, Texas. I’d certainly be happy to get a check for a year’s rent and moving expenses, though.)

(Do we have to let @samagon drive a freeway through The Woodlands so he feels “justice”? Cuz that’d be old school freeway building.)

Edited May 25, 2022 by mattyt36

[mattyt36]

3 hours ago, Ross said:

Wow, your surfeit of personal attacks is disgusting. Must suck to be at a party with you telling everyone their opinions don't matter. Nothing you've written advances the conversation at all, since all you do is tell people how much they suck. So, essentially, why don't you just be quiet and let the adults keep talking?

Pointing out inconsistencies in logic or rehashing what’s been proven wrong time and time again is not a “personal attack.”

And Ross, man, c’mon, I mean I agree with you 90% of the time, but this isn’t “adults talking,” unless it’s some over 60s mah jong club where the ante is bellyaching about the yesteryears.
 

It’s a discussion forum. People have different opinions, as you’ve noticed. If you, for example, keep on going on and on about how you don’t believe the cap park won’t be built, well for the love of God, someone who cares so much about “opinions” should certainly be able to appreciate when people point out all the reasons why, while there may not be a contract with dried ink, it’s more likely than not that it WILL be built ... and we provide way more evidence of that than you ever have to the contrary. Surely you must realize there’s a difference between stating an opinion and stating an opinion and backing it up with at least an ATTEMPT at providing a shred of evidence. To me, THAT is the difference between an adult conversation and one between children.

So, by your own darned standard, stop “attacking” us for pointing stuff like this out. You get to tell us time and time you again you “just don’t feel like it’ll be built” because you’ve somehow determined in a way that you can’t explain that TxDoT “doesn’t have the money,” and regardless, you’ll “be dead anyway” (which is an accurate paraphrase of almost everyone of your posts on this very subject … your words, not mine) … so give us the license to at least try to argue with something other than our feelings.

Edited May 25, 2022 by mattyt36

[rechlin]

I've been following this project for many years now, spending countless hours poring over the schematic maps, and many, many, many hours skimming the EIS (hundreds and hundreds of pages).  It's just something that has been of big interest to me because it will affect so much in this city for decades to come, and because I spend a lot of time in or near the downtown area.  And I say this even as someone who almost never drives on IH-45 (I think I haven't even driven on it all year so far!).

It's certainly not perfect, but there's a lot of good in this project.  Yes, some people will have changes forced upon them that they won't like, but they will be compensated, and that is the price of progress.  I'm a regular rider of METRO buses and rail, and I am particularly excited about this project adding multiple bidirectional HOV (or potentially HOT) lanes to greatly improve the reliability of bus service along the corridor.  This project also will be tightly coupled to the BRT lines that METRO will be building, especially the one to IAH.  IH-45 is one of the most dangerous interstate highways around, and this project goes a long way to improving safety on the Houston portion of it, by adding or widening shoulders, reconfiguring ramps to minimize weaving, and more.  Induced demand is a real thing, and people use that as an excuse to fight this project, but in reality, very little is being done to add extra lanes for regular traffic -- most of the route will either have the same number of regular (non-high-occupancy) lanes in each direction or just one more.  Everyone knows that traffic will never actually get faster long-term, but at the same time it's true the new road will allow more people to travel on it every day.

A lot of attention is being paid to flood mitigation, too, so this project should mean fewer problems due to flooding, not more.  And the replacement of a number of low bridges should mean a huge reduction in the number of incidents of trucks hitting bridges and shutting down the freeway for hours.  The trenched roadways in Segment 3 along with caps (upon which parks will hopefully -- and quite likely -- be funded) will greatly reduce the psychological barriers that were created when these highways were first built.  There are a couple places where bridges crossing the freeways will be lost, but they will be more than made up for by improved crossings elsewhere.  The barriers between Fourth Ward and Downtown, between Midtown and Downtown, between East Downtown and Downtown, and between Midtown and the Museum District will all be reduced compared to now.  The barriers in Segments 1 and 2 will admittedly be essentially unchanged, though.

Great attention, particularly on the side opposing this project, is being paid to the apartment residents (particularly in subsidized, low-income housing) who will be displaced by this project.  But many of them have actually already been displaced or will be displaced regardless of whether this project goes through, and the new housing provided for them will be better quality and not far away from what they have now.  And all the land being acquired is right along the freeway already -- it's not like neighborhoods are being split up to build this (unlike what was shamefully done when these freeways were first built).

I do think there are things that still need to be addressed.  A very long list of requests have been made for improvements (posted earlier in this thread), and it does seem TxDOT and other parties are intending to incorporate many of them into the project.  Many of them are good ideas and are feasible.  But somehow this has been translated by some into a desire to stop the project entirely.  A big one from the list that I would personally like to see is the proposed re-routing of the UPRR near downtown.  The former "Be Someone" bridge will have to be rebuilt for this project anyway, and the North Canal project (not a part of this project but still intertwined) affects the rail route too, so by using a slightly different alignment and acquiring a little right-of-way, the barriers in the Warehouse District and the West End will be greatly minimized with the removal of tracks.  Again, I don't live in either of those neighborhoods, but I can see how it will benefit them.

However, and this is the real cause of my frustration leading me to making this post, because I am not opposed to this project, I have been variously accused (mostly on reddit, admittedly) of working for (or even owning) a construction company, working for TxDOT, and working for other Houston organizations interested in making this happen.  None of that is true.  It seems many of those who are opposed to the project just default to calling anyone in favor a "shill" and don't seem to believe anyone could be in favor without being financially vested in it.  It's so frustrating that people can't speak positively of this project without receiving personal attacks.  And the reasons they give for opposition are almost always disproven by things written in places like the EIS, or else just speculation with nothing to back it.  Yes, as with anything infrastructure-related, this is a tremendously expensive project, which is one of the few remotely valid reasons to be opposed to it, but the more it gets delayed, the more it's going to cost.  Regardless, something has to be done about the highways involved, and nobody has yet presented any better alternatives.  The evolution of the design over the decade of so of presentations has shown a lot of improvement, and overall I think it's very clear the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Any name-calling or unjustified attacks between people on both sides of this debate need to stop.  Instead we should just look at the facts as they are now.  Not things that happened in the past and can't be changed, not things that will happen regardless, but things that will happen if this project goes through and won't happen if it does not.  Look at the EIS and other sources of real information, not speculation, and then we can talk.

TL;DR: stop fighting, look at the facts

[Big E]

21 hours ago, Ross said:

Wow, your surfeit of personal attacks is disgusting.

Were was the personal attack? Did I insult the man's mother? At worst, I did what Samagon claims to do; stated my opinions. Not sure how I could personally attack someone I don't know and have never met.

 

21 hours ago, Ross said:

Must suck to be at a party with you telling everyone their opinions don't matter.

The fact of the matter is, most opinions don't matter in most situations. Yes, that includes mine. And when opinions cross the line into assertions, well, assertions made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. An opinion is only objectively useful if its informed; as in, based on factual evidence. Otherwise its of no use to anyone but the person asserting it.

 

22 hours ago, Ross said:

Nothing you've written advances the conversation at all, since all you do is tell people how much they suck.

If all you've gleaned from everything I've ever wrote in this thread is that I tell people "how much they suck", then you have not read anything I've actually wrote very stringently. Its not even a surface level reading, its just off base.

 

22 hours ago, Ross said:

So, essentially, why don't you just be quiet and let the adults keep talking?

Why do all you guys feel the need to be petulant and patronizing? For all you know, I'm older than you. Are you Samagon's spouse or something? Is there any particular reason you feel the need to white knight for him? He or she seems perfectly capable of speaking for themself.

 

6 hours ago, rechlin said:

Induced demand

You know, and this isn't directed at you specifically @rechlin but I feel the need to go on a tangent here, I hate the term induced demand. Like the freeway is magically making people drive more or conjuring cars out of thin air. Its not induced demand, its existing demand that's finally being met. Contrary to the theory of induced demand, cars don't just conjure themselves out of thin air to use new or improved roadways, won't just disappear if you get rid of it (yes, some people actually argue this). The cars always existed. They just took alternate routes that were probably longer routes to their destination. This newer route is shorter and more direct to where they want to go, so people take the newer route, because "the shortest way between two points is a straight line". These may even be people who took the old highway (if the improved route already existed) in the past, stopped because it took too long and started taking other highways, and now are returning hoping the new roadway will be "faster". Its not induced demand, its latent demand. People already drive everywhere in Houston, so the new I-45 will not make them drive more. And even if it did, even if induced demand was a thing, so what. Freeways are literally the only form of transportation that people criticized for being used according to its purpose. More people are using a newly widened freeway? Good! Its doing its job. If a freeway was expanded and traffic counts actually dropped off a cliff afterward, we would call that highway a boondoggle and say it was unnecessary. The entire concept behind induced demand is flawed. We want people to use the infrastructure we build. What urban planners should be doing is trying to figure out why just building a light rail network or bus network doesn't automatically "induce" people to ride them, causing many of America's metro systems to run into the red and risk bankrupting themselves.

[rechlin]

2 hours ago, Big E said:

Contrary to the theory of induced demand, cars don't just conjure themselves out of thin air to use new or improved roadways, won't just disappear if you get rid of it (yes, some people actually argue this).

If the widening or creation of a freeway makes people more comfortable with moving farther out, that means they will be driving more miles, using more freeway capacity, than they would otherwise have.  That is induced demand.  The danger here is that it encourages sprawl, which is the opposite of what we want in a modern city.  As you acknowledge, I wasn't using that as a reason to oppose this project, because I don't think induced demand is a major factor with this particular project, but it is still a real thing that we should be aware of.

[mattyt36]

18 minutes ago, rechlin said:

If the widening or creation of a freeway makes people more comfortable with moving farther out, that means they will be driving more miles, using more freeway capacity, than they would otherwise have.  That is induced demand.  The danger here is that it encourages sprawl, which is the opposite of what we want in a modern city.  As you acknowledge, I wasn't using that as a reason to oppose this project, because I don't think induced demand is a major factor with this particular project, but it is still a real thing that we should be aware of.

Is this even true, though? I certainly get it conceptually, but to a fault I don’t meet anyone who actually really “wants” to live in, say, Willis. There’s always a long list of reasons that describe why they compromised to live there. Most people would much rather live in The Woodlands if they “could afford it.”

Sure, NHHIP will decrease transportation costs at the margin, but I see the ever-pushing northward suburbs less a function of freeways than a reflection of what an employment center The Woodlands has become and just the fact that whatever constitutes “affordable” real estate at the time is whatever is the newest construction the next exit north. I honestly find it difficult to argue that the NHHIP will increase sprawl. Grand Parkway, sure. NHHIP, not so much. New Waverly will inevitably become the next Willis and Huntsville the next Conroe. (I’m not going to transfer my living preferences on to others by telling them where they can or can’t live … mainly cuz it’s a false choice … you just can’t.) To me, the real question is whether you want at least a good chunk of the jobs downtown or a massive exodus north such that The Woodlands becomes Frisco and Houston becomes Dallas and Madisonville becomes Conroe. To me, that is the other side of the sprawl calculus.
 

But, I wholly admit I could be wrong!

Edited May 26, 2022 by mattyt36

[Big E]

2 hours ago, rechlin said:

If the widening or creation of a freeway makes people more comfortable with moving farther out, that means they will be driving more miles, using more freeway capacity, than they would otherwise have.  That is induced demand.  The danger here is that it encourages sprawl, which is the opposite of what we want in a modern city.  As you acknowledge, I wasn't using that as a reason to oppose this project, because I don't think induced demand is a major factor with this particular project, but it is still a real thing that we should be aware of.

A whole lot of factors determine where somebody lives. It usually has more to do with things like affordability and amenities. And, of course, how close they are to their work. I'm not sure how many people, for instance, want to live all the way in Conroe or Huntsville to commute to downtown Houston, no matter how many lanes 45 has. Houston sprawls because land is plentiful and cheap, thus there is no incentive to crowd into existing neighborhoods, even though there are no traditional limits to development in most neighborhoods, like zoning. As long as Houston continues to grow, it will continue to sprawl outward. What differentiates Houston from other cities in America is that it is both sprawling and densifying, with visible signs of denser development inside the loop. But we are far beyond the whole "freeways encourage sprawl" idea. The freeways, and sprawl, are already here. More than a million people are expected to move west of Houston within the next decade. That was going to happen whether 1-10 and the Northwest Freeway were rebuilt or not. But now they are actually able to handle that growth. Induced demand is a chicken or the egg argument; what comes first, the expanding development or the freeway? Suburbs aren't a uniquely American phenomenon and poorer cities in the third world that lack extensive freeway networks can be pretty sprawling. Sprawl is a factor of radical human growth.

[sapo2367]

In non flame war related news, they are boarding up the former lofts at the ballpark apartment complex. The streets are also blocked off. I’m assuming they are working towards demolishing the buildings. 

[mattyt36]

11 hours ago, sapo2367 said:

In non flame war related news, they are boarding up the former lofts at the ballpark apartment complex. The streets are also blocked off. I’m assuming they are working towards demolishing the buildings. 

OMG … PROGRESS!!!! 😢

[HoustonMidtown]

 

 

[Andrew Ewert]

Is it going to be the whole complex? I thought it was just the one building West of St. Emanuel but it looks like I was wrong.

[mfastx]

Let me guess.. gonna be replaced with a fresh parking lot. Smh. 

[sapo2367]

1 hour ago, Andrew Ewert said:

Is it going to be the whole complex? I thought it was just the one building West of St. Emanuel but it looks like I was wrong.

Yes all three blocks as well as the interior roads are currently blocked off. 

[Big E]

On 6/3/2022 at 2:51 PM, mfastx said:

Let me guess.. gonna be replaced with a fresh parking lot. Smh. 

It will probably stay clear until they get the go-ahead to proceed with the actual freeway project.

[Ross]

On 6/3/2022 at 2:51 PM, mfastx said:

Let me guess.. gonna be replaced with a fresh parking lot. Smh. 

What else would you do with it while waiting for road construction to proceed?

[mfastx]

On 6/5/2022 at 9:08 AM, Ross said:

What else would you do with it while waiting for road construction to proceed?

I'd keep the buildings there and occupied until it actually proceeds. 

[Ross]

1 hour ago, mfastx said:

I'd keep the buildings there and occupied until it actually proceeds. 

That's actually a better idea, but given the difficulty in getting all the tenants out in time, it is probably simpler to demo it now. Plus, the owner almost certainly took the money and ran. TxDOT should never be in a position to act as a landlord for a large apartment building. TxDOT has enough trouble doing it's own job consistently well.

[mattyt36]

2 hours ago, Ross said:

That's actually a better idea, but given the difficulty in getting all the tenants out in time, it is probably simpler to demo it now. Plus, the owner almost certainly took the money and ran. TxDOT should never be in a position to act as a landlord for a large apartment building. TxDOT has enough trouble doing it's own job consistently well.

Potentially dumb question but could the transaction not have been structured either as (1) as a contract for a purchase at a later date; or (2) TxDOT owning the property and hiring a property manager?  I guess of the two, (2) would be more problematic for the reasons you state and other, more practical ones, but either would allow the property to continue producing income, which would have the effect of reducing the effective purchase price.

[Triton]

Looks like the original I-45 website is gone. Anyone know where I can get the detailed PDF schematics at?

 

https://www.txdot.gov/nhhip.html

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, Triton said:

Looks like the original I-45 website is gone. Anyone know where I can get the detailed PDF schematics at?

 

https://www.txdot.gov/nhhip.html

https://www.txdot.gov/nhhip.html  still works.  The interactive map is useful and there are also links to the full FEIS

Edited June 7, 2022 by Houston19514