Kell Freeway

[Dominax]

US 82/277 Kell Freeway

WICHITA FALLS

FREEWAY CONSTRUCTION

http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/2006...hita_falls.aspx

[WTx]

Wow, talk about a phot tour! This has to be an expensive hobby with gas prices being the way they are. However, some highways can have some good architecture. I never really thought about it until I saw this. Nice website though! I liked the tour of Texas.

[pineda]

Hey WTx-

Thanks for posting that link under your post!

I didn't know Wichita Falls had their own forum.

We (Klein Oak) played Rider High recently in the state soccer play-offs and lost.

I hear they have a helluva long-time coach over their soccer program up there.

Thanks again for the link!

[The Great Hizzy!]

One thing that is consistent about TxDOT: when they and their contracted firms start construction, there's often a mess. Parts of the completed Kell Freeway look similar to the Grand Parkway out in Katy with the median and the sporadic trees/shrubs sitting in them.

[WTx]

Hey WTx-

Thanks for posting that link under your post!

I didn't know Wichita Falls had their own forum.

We (Klein Oak) played Rider High recently in the state soccer play-offs and lost.

I hear they have a helluva long-time coach over their soccer program up there.

Thanks again for the link!

No problem! Although I live in the DFW area I grew up in the WF area and visit often. I started Wichita Falls Talk a little over a year ago and never thought it would have gone over as well as it has. Good moderators are as good as gold and I have two outstanding ones! Rider High does seem to have an outstanding soccer program. I'm not sure how long the coach has been there?

Parts of the completed Kell Freeway look similar to the Grand Parkway out in Katy with the median and the sporadic trees/shrubs sitting in them.

This is actually a program of the City of Wichita Falls. The city plants trees and flowers all over town in medians. To save money the city grows the trees from seedlings. This program was statred over 20 years ago and has greatly enhanced areas of the city where trees and flowers are more scarce than a places like Houston. The down side is that the tree lined areas are nice places to set up speed traps.

[pineda]

(looks like the Rider High soccer coach just got a big promotion!)

Exploring new turf

Catney only fourth AD in WFISD history

By Nick Gholson/Times Record News

June 27, 2006

For the past 20 years, Kenny Catney has been the only boys' soccer coach Rider High School has ever had.

Beginning July 10, he will be only the fourth athletic director the Wichita Falls Independent School District has employed in 45 years.

Catney was named AD for the school district on Monday, replacing Ronnie Faulkner, who recently resigned after 13 years on the job.

The late Joe Golding became AD in 1962 when the WFISD went to a multiple high school system. Bill Jeter took the job following Golding's death in 1979 and stayed on until his retirement in 1993 when Faulkner took over.

Catney, 43, is the first AD not to have a football coaching background.

"I know the spotlight will be on me, but I won't be calling plays on Friday night," he said.

Faulkner said, "Nowadays about the only input the AD has with football is in the hiring process."

"The way I look at it, if you can coach, you can coach anything," he added.

Catney has definitely shown he can coach soccer.

His Rider teams made the playoffs for 20 straight years and won 18 district championships. His overall record is 399-63-34 and his playoff record is 49-18. He took three teams to the state tournament, winning one title and finishing second this past season.

Catney explained that although he has only coached at Rider and been the campus coordinator there for the last three years, he will be fair to all the schools.

"I've been loyal to my teams at Rider, but now that my assignment has changed, I will be loyal to Wichita Falls athletics," he said.

-snip-

As a coach and campus coordinator at Rider, Catney has been out front in the choice program, keeping a high profile in the junior high schools and encouraging other Rider coaches to do the same.

"I think we should focus on the positives of the choice program," he explained. "I want our coaches to be seen and heard. If kids are going to make a four-year investment in our high schools, they need to know whom and what they are going to be around."

-snip-

Sports Editor Nick Gholson can be reached before 4 p.m. weekdays by calling (940) 720-3447 or 1-800-627-1646 (ext. 447). Or you can email him at gholsonn(at)timesrecordnews.com

[CDeb]

I notice in these photographs that some traffic lights are mounted horizontally, and that others are mounted vertically. Does signal mounting depend on who builds and/or maintains the roads? Or is it simply a visibility issue? Or is there any rhyme or reason whatsoever to signal mounting? I've noticed that in San Antonio, for instance, signals along city streets tend to be vertical, whereas those along feeder roads are horizontal. In Houston and Austin, on the other hand, almost all traffic lights seem to be horizontal.

Just curious.

Signal heads may be placed horizontally or vertically as long as they are within certain heights above the road surface. I'm not aware of any research showing either orientation to be any type of safey benefit over the other, so I believe it's just a matter of local practice. Typically most local agencies strive for consistency within their jurisdiction.