I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

[hindesky]

[HoustonMidtown]

 

[samagon]

On 7/27/2023 at 11:42 PM, JLWM8609 said:

St. Arnold will be spared https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/project-sites/nhhip/docs/nhhip-segment-3-i-10-rollplot-ph-2-2.pdf

not sure this is a good thing for the beer garden. the location of the beer garden and the view of the downtown skyline is one of the reasons to go, and with that section of the i45 reroute being elevated, the view to downtown is going to be mostly gone, never mind the 10 year impact it'll have during construction.

the skyline views aren't needed for the brewery to function though, and I doubt the years of construction are going to impact the flavor of the beer when I buy it at Specs, so that should be ok.

[HoustonMidtown]

 

[MrFubbles]

On 6/29/2023 at 1:02 PM, Triton said:

NHHIP-Central-Houston-to-FHWA-Package-II-040722.pdf 20.41 MB · 19 downloads

Hadn't seen this doc on here before. It's from April of last year, so fairly recent.

It includes a breakdown of everything the city is trying to incorporate into this project including a breakdown of all the costs per section.

Am I missing something regarding the pierce elevated? How can this be the most expensive component if they're just demolishing a few ramps with little new construction? 

Does $196mm include the park maybe?

[Houston19514]

3 minutes ago, MrFubbles said:

Am I missing something regarding the pierce elevated? How can this be the most expensive component if they're just demolishing a few ramps with little new construction? 

Does $196mm include the park maybe?

Yes, this document is about the city's opportunities to add parks, etc in conjunction with the freeway project; it is not referencing TXDoT's expenditures on the freeways.

[BEES?!]

I’m sure it was mentioned but I probably missed it, did TxDot ever say what kind of load/capacity they’re planning for when they cap the roads? Or is that still TBD? I wanna say there were options for low-impact, like parks only, med-impact for stuff like some low-rise buildings, and high for taller structures. I don’t remember ever seeing if they settled on what kind of structural support they were going to build into it. I think it was in talks with COH and other stakeholders…

[Big E]

23 minutes ago, BEES?! said:

I’m sure it was mentioned but I probably missed it, did TxDot ever say what kind of load/capacity they’re planning for when they cap the roads? Or is that still TBD? I wanna say there were options for low-impact, like parks only, med-impact for stuff like some low-rise buildings, and high for taller structures. I don’t remember ever seeing if they settled on what kind of structural support they were going to build into it. I think it was in talks with COH and other stakeholders…

The caps were specifically being designed to support large buildings, last I checked.

[hindesky]

[Amlaham]

Does anyone know if TxDot began acquiring properties again? They're now scheduled to start construction in 2024, and according to their timeline (outdated), it states that they will begin right of way acquisition well before construction begins. Mainly interested in the removal of all of the billboards along 59 near midtown. Just around Midtown/ Downtown, 11-ish billboards will be removed! 

https://mycity.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=15e9cd4512944ddb9b8f6b23fa9a68c6

 

 

[hindesky]

The TXDOT worker from the maintenance division I talked with said they are acquiring properties along the route all the time.

[hindesky]

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by hindesky

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

The Texas Department of Transportation’s 10-year plan, known as the Unified Transportation Program, is updated annually and includes funding for initiatives across the state.

The Texas Transportation Commission unanimously approved the $100 billion UTP for 2024 during its Aug. 16 meeting. The other $42 billion, which will fund development and routine maintenance, comes from the Texas State Highway Fund, the Texas Mobility Fund, tax revenue and federal sources, according to TxDOT Media Relations Director Adam Hammons.

Houston

• North Houston Highway Improvement Plan: $4.42 billion to improve I-45 from Beltway 8 to I-10 West and reroute I-45 through the downtown Houston area
• I-10 West Inner Katy project: about $1.14 billion to add four nontolled lanes between downtown Houston and the IH 610 Loop
• I-10 West: $730.6 million to add two managed lanes, two general-purpose lanes and extended frontage roads from FM 359 to Mason Road
• https://communityimpact.com/austin/central-austin/transportation/2023/08/21/officials-approve-142b-to-fund-future-transportation-projects-across-texas/

[MrFubbles]

Adding 4 lanes to I-10? What research is being done to justify these changes? We are already a laughing stock with our existing highway mess

[august948]

19 hours ago, MrFubbles said:

Adding 4 lanes to I-10? What research is being done to justify these changes? We are already a laughing stock with our existing highway mess

IKR, they need at least four of them to be toll lanes to extend the katy tollway all the way to downtown.  Maybe we need 6 or 8 new lanes total.

[astrohip]

21 hours ago, MrFubbles said:

Adding 4 lanes to I-10? What research is being done to justify these changes? We are already a laughing stock with our existing highway mess

When I drive visitors around, they're impressed with how big our freeways are, and how well you can get around town. Other than peak travel times, our freeways are the secret sauce to the Houston area success story.

I just had a friend from Germany here, and she drove herself from IAH to town, all over town for a day or two, then later to our place in Brenham. She was stunned at our freeways, and specifically commented on the size of the Katy Fwy. None of this was said in a sarcastic or insulting way. Rather, it was amazement at how well we can get around.

[Texasota]

Literally the opposite of my experience. 

Also, if you live in Brenham you don't have to live with the damage done to Houston by these freeways. You get the benefit and none of the downsides.

[august948]

33 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Literally the opposite of my experience. 

Also, if you live in Brenham you don't have to live with the damage done to Houston by these freeways. You get the benefit and none of the downsides.

Without the freeways bringing in a lot of the nearly 7 million people, and their money, who live outside the loop every day the 500k who live inside the loop wouldn't have nearly as much fun stuff as they do now.  First world problems anyone?

[hbg.50]

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

Literally the opposite of my experience. 

Also, if you live in Brenham you don't have to live with the damage done to Houston by these freeways. You get the benefit and none of the downsides.

Damage done to Houston?   Care to elaborate?   Every city in America has traffic congestion.   Even cities with great transit (NYC, London, Paris) have awful traffic.

Having said that, I do get sad with the ever-present traffic on 610 South near the Galleria, the Pierce Elevated, the ramp from I45 south to downtown, and the ramp from 288 to I45.  I can, for the most part, successfully avoid freeways but when visiting the TMC earlier this year I experienced the frustration of bottlenecks at all hours of the day.

[MrFubbles]

22 hours ago, astrohip said:

When I drive visitors around, they're impressed with how big our freeways are, and how well you can get around town. Other than peak travel times, our freeways are the secret sauce to the Houston area success story.

I just had a friend from Germany here, and she drove herself from IAH to town, all over town for a day or two, then later to our place in Brenham. She was stunned at our freeways, and specifically commented on the size of the Katy Fwy. None of this was said in a sarcastic or insulting way. Rather, it was amazement at how well we can get around.

This makes the assumption that bigger freeways are the reason why it's so easy to get around town - but that's not necessarily true! It might mean more cars get to sit in traffic every day

See here:

• https://rmi.org/more-lanes-do-not-mean-less-traffic/
• From our very own Kinder Institute https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/what-if-we-spent-billions-improve-access-instead-gridlock

 

1 hour ago, august948 said:

Without the freeways bringing in a lot of the nearly 7 million people, and their money, who live outside the loop every day the 500k who live inside the loop wouldn't have nearly as much fun stuff as they do now.  First world problems anyone?

The reason people live outside the loop in the first place is due to the freeways - it's not like the suburbs existed and we one day decided to connect them to the city.

 

I'm not trying to dunk on anyone. I'm asking what research TxDot is using to justify this relentless pursuit of highway widening

[astrohip]

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

Also, if you live in Brenham you don't have to live with the damage done to Houston by these freeways. You get the benefit and none of the downsides.

I split my time now, but spent my adult career in Houston. Damage? Without our freeways, we don't have Houston as it exists today.

 

2 hours ago, MrFubbles said:

This makes the assumption that bigger freeways are the reason why it's so easy to get around town - but that's not necessarily true! It might mean more cars get to sit in traffic every day

One can assume smaller freeways, or older outdated freeways, wouldn't make it easy. So conversely, the newer ones must help.

[samagon]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:44 AM, astrohip said:

When I drive visitors around, they're impressed with how big our freeways are, and how well you can get around town. Other than peak travel times, our freeways are the secret sauce to the Houston area success story.

I just had a friend from Germany here, and she drove herself from IAH to town, all over town for a day or two, then later to our place in Brenham. She was stunned at our freeways, and specifically commented on the size of the Katy Fwy. None of this was said in a sarcastic or insulting way. Rather, it was amazement at how well we can get around.

funny. when I am a visitor to any city in Europe: Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, etc, I love the fact that I can park my rental vehicle at the hotel and not have to get back in it again until I'm moving on to the next place. I can walk to any mass transit location, hop on, hop off at my destination, drink, be merry, do some shopping, drink, be merry, and so long as I can remain alert enough to figure out mass transit in another language, I can get back to my hotel without any issue, and likely make new friends along the way.

but I'm sure, just as with the 'freedom' that comes with some visitor being able to just 'hop in the car and go' all of that would wash away with every day use, same with my experience with using transit as a tourist.

luckily, I have relatives that live in/around various large cities in the Netherlands, one of these is a city planner, so we do end up talking about traffic, transit, and all the fun stuff, how they live with it over there, vs how we live with our reality.

end of the day, nothing is a panacea, but for their system, at least they have the ability to choose between 4 very effective, and equitably maintained methods of transportation:

1. pedestrian
2. bicycle
3. train
4. single occupant vehicle

usually, it's going to be some mix of any of the above. with us, our only real option is 4 because infrastructure for any of the other methods doesn't exist in any real capacity as to make it equitable to driving.

so yeah, we call it freedom to get in the car and go, but the reality is, we are chained to our cars with no real freedom at all, and all of the sudden the cost of living includes the cost of owning a car (and insuring, and whatever other costs come with it) for every adult in the household.

[astrohip]

22 hours ago, samagon said:

when I am a visitor to any city in Europe: Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, etc, I love the fact that I can park my rental vehicle at the hotel and not have to get back in it again until I'm moving on to the next place. I can walk to any mass transit location, hop on, hop off at my destination, drink, be merry, do some shopping, drink, be merry, and so long as I can remain alert enough to figure out mass transit in another language, I can get back to my hotel without any issue, and likely make new friends along the way.

I absolutely love this also. I have taken public transport in almost every major city I have visited. I would kill to have something like that in Houston.

But we don't. Can we work towards it? Sure. But it doesn't negate the fact we need our freeway system here, or the city comes to a crashing halt.

[hbg.50]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:31 PM, Amlaham said:

Does anyone know if TxDot began acquiring properties again? They're now scheduled to start construction in 2024, and according to their timeline (outdated), it states that they will begin right of way acquisition well before construction begins. Mainly interested in the removal of all of the billboards along 59 near midtown. Just around Midtown/ Downtown, 11-ish billboards will be removed! 

https://mycity.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=15e9cd4512944ddb9b8f6b23fa9a68c6

 

 

Will this billboard ever be removed?  I hate it.

[august948]

3 hours ago, steve1363 said:

Will this billboard ever be removed?  I hate it.

Ikr, it should be advertising St. Arnold, not Coors.

[Big E]

On 9/15/2023 at 2:00 PM, samagon said:

end of the day, nothing is a panacea, but for their system, at least they have the ability to choose between 4 very effective, and equitably maintained methods of transportation:

1. pedestrian
2. bicycle
3. train
4. single occupant vehicle

Its not like those options aren't available. You just have to work a little harder to get them.

You can take the bus...but who really wants to ride a bus everywhere? Especially in the wake of COVID where mass transportation was one of the easiest vectors for transmission?

You can live close enough to your job to walk if you are willing to put in the effort to do so (and possibly pay more money to live where you want to)…but once again, why would you want to walk anywhere in freaking Texas? Its hot as fish grease out here!

For most people, biking is a leisure activity to be done in the fall or the early morning for exercise. You could, once again, move close enough to your job to do so, but why would you?

Options may be more limited than a European city, but they aren't nonexistent, its just that nobody would necessarily consider these options better than driving an air conditioned car or worth the extra effort to attain.

[Amlaham]

55 minutes ago, Big E said:

Its not like those options aren't available. You just have to work a little harder to get them.

You can take the bus...but who really wants to ride a bus everywhere? Especially in the wake of COVID where mass transportation was one of the easiest vectors for transmission?

You can live close enough to your job to walk if you are willing to put in the effort to do so (and possibly pay more money to live where you want to)…but once again, why would you want to walk anywhere in freaking Texas? Its hot as fish grease out here!

For most people, biking is a leisure activity to be done in the fall or the early morning for exercise. You could, once again, move close enough to your job to do so, but why would you?

Options may be more limited than a European city, but they aren't nonexistent, its just that nobody would necessarily consider these options better than driving an air conditioned car or worth the extra effort to attain.

Speak for yourself. Some of us like fresh air, want to move our bodies and get some steps in, and don't mind the weather. It's literally 84 degrees right now (at 8:30pm). The "its hot" argument is soo overdone, our weather isn't 100 degrees 24/7. Also, have you been or heard about summers in Southern Europe? Rome, Athens, Milan, multiple other cities legit reached near the 100s for weeks (Athens actually reached 108 for a few days straight).......and people legit walked or metro'd everywhere. Also, I work near Greenway, an area that supposed to be dense and walkable, yet the sidewalks are so narrow and in horrible shape, you have to walk an entire block before being able to cross the street since cars are zoom 50mph down Richmond and the only cross walks exists at street lights. Also, lots of people can be seen walking outside, even in our HOT summers, you just have to slow down in your AC'd car to see them :)

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Amlaham

[Big E]

37 minutes ago, Amlaham said:

Some of us like fresh air, want to move our bodies and get some steps in, and don't mind the weather.

I don't deny that some people do. Now, do the majority? That's a different question entirely.

 

38 minutes ago, Amlaham said:

The "its hot" argument is soo overdone, our weather isn't 100 degrees 24/7. Also, have you been or heard about summers in Southern Europe? Rome, Athens, Milan, multiple other cities legit reached near the 100s for weeks (Athens actually reached 108 for a few days straight).......and people legit walked or metro'd everywhere.

I'm sure summers in Europe are not the same as summers in muggy, humid Houston, just like there's a difference between 100 degrees in Houston and 100 degrees in Arizona. And just because Euros are willing to walk in 100 plus degree weather doesn't mean that everyone is.

39 minutes ago, Amlaham said:

Also, lots of people can be seen walking outside, even in our HOT summers, you just have to slow down in your AC'd car to see them 

Once again, I never denied that people do in fact walk. They sure as hell don't make up the majority, not even getting into whether or not those people have to walk because they lack a car (the poor unfortunate souls).

[samagon]

9 hours ago, Big E said:

Its not like those options aren't available. You just have to work a little harder to get them.

You can take the bus...but who really wants to ride a bus everywhere? Especially in the wake of COVID where mass transportation was one of the easiest vectors for transmission?

You can live close enough to your job to walk if you are willing to put in the effort to do so (and possibly pay more money to live where you want to)…but once again, why would you want to walk anywhere in freaking Texas? Its hot as fish grease out here!

For most people, biking is a leisure activity to be done in the fall or the early morning for exercise. You could, once again, move close enough to your job to do so, but why would you?

Options may be more limited than a European city, but they aren't nonexistent, its just that nobody would necessarily consider these options better than driving an air conditioned car or worth the extra effort to attain.

the key to my statement was "equitably maintained".

you can give whatever reasons you want beyond that, but if the city/state doesn't put enough effort into providing these methods of moving as solutions, they will never be solutions for exactly the reasons you state.