BigFootsSocks Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Penis. Wait...sorry, thought we were doing sexual puns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) To me, rail in the South (and even West Coast) is like a bar in a supermarket that serves beer and wine by the glass. It's certainly only found in nice grocery stores (like Whole Foods though I think some regular HEB stores do it too) and I often wish there was one in my supermarket, but it's less important than other features, like having decent produce or a clean store. I'd be much less happy with it if it involved raising the prices in the store substantially, cutting selection, or otherwise compromising everything else, because I know it's not a necessity when grocery shopping.And once again Slick, you've undermined your own theory in your goalpost-changing arguments as to how rail is always the answer (I find it frankly amazing that you pretty much are the personification of what philosophically anti-rail opponents think pro-rail people are like). You stated that "rail has to be in the right corridors", citing the abandoned railroad right of ways in Dallas. While I'm not sure if that's the actual reason (I would say that because of spread-out job centers, using a "spider web" from downtown is less effective than it should be), it undermines the argument of putting rail down the center of 288 (and I believe you did say something against rail paralleling 59).But again, I'm not necessarily condemning the idea of tollroads or rail down 288 either way, I just don't like the idea that "we need rail", because as it stands, rail statistically won't help much in easing congestion (sorry), and it's not conducive to what public transit even stands for (transportation for the less advantaged).What are you saying? Look at all the traffic that comes 288 into the medical center and downtown every day. If there was a fast rail service it would take cars off the road. And that's why certain politicians that are backed by special interest groups are hellbent against rail. Having as many cars as possible is in the best interest of car companies, oil companies, construction companies, concrete companies, and others. Notice the never ending freeway construction? It's been going on for more than fifty years. Would rail clear congestion probably not but it would have an effect for sure. This is what I'm saying if people are already traveling these routes putting a good rail system makes sense for a lot of people, not just low income. In fact saying public transit is for low income only is an excuse to make a crappy public transit system. Once it crosses over into the mainstream makes it a success to me.And for all this talk about downtown being irrelevant as a job center why every day is traffic coming into downtown bad in the morning and bad in the evening? Evidently it's still very important in reality.And your grocery store analogy is just nonsensical rambling. Edited November 3, 2015 by Slick Vik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) I think in this context, it means on and off ramps, as that fits the analogy.Even if it is a flawed statistic, it is known that more people=more efficient rail, but the way it stands in the South and West (maybe except the Bay Area), the job centers and density what they are means that rail will be generally inefficient. (If you came to the conclusion of "forcing density" to make rail work, congratulations, you've basically re-affirmed anti-rail's worst fears and polarized the issue further)LA is pretty dense, and it's quickly expanding its rail system and possibly converting bus lanes to rail as well.Also rail has been fairly successful in Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. Also other cities are expanding: Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Denver, in addition to the aforementioned Bay Area and Seattle. There's a reason all these sun belt cities are expanding. But keep thinking you're smart and everyone else is stupid. Edited November 3, 2015 by Slick Vik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdog08 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Pretty much every city outside of Houston disagrees with this. Technically that's right, but that wasn't very central to my point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc05 Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 So what are they gonna do with the trees in the middle of 288? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 So what are they gonna do with the trees in the middle of 288? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) I saw on one of the big message signs that construction on 288 will start this month. It also gave a website for more info: www.drive288.com Edited October 4, 2016 by JLWM8609 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc05 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) About time! What about the trees in the middle? Edited October 4, 2016 by kennyc05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 4 minutes ago, kennyc05 said: About time! What about the trees in the middle? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Looking at the Drive 288 site renderings, there's going to be left lane entrances and offramps to and from the mainlanes of 288 to 610. I wonder why they had to resort to that setup? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) I think the left exit ramps are required in order for the 288 express traffic that is going to 610 to be able to merge with the 288 main lane traffic before going on to 610. Edited October 4, 2016 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 I know the Katy Tollway features similar "left hand exits", but in a way they're more like a smooth lane change and less like requiring you to merge in with the fast lane. Yeah, I know, I hate to see that median space go, but that may just be nostalgia. Either way, it sure is nice to have the 288/610 interchange finally make more sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 This thing is awful. We continue to ruin the inner city in order to make commutes faster for people who choose to not live here. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 1 hour ago, KinkaidAlum said: This thing is awful. We continue to ruin the inner city in order to make commutes faster for people who choose to not live here. In reality, any damage this does to inner city Houston was done several decades ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 3 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said: This thing is awful. We continue to ruin the inner city in order to make commutes faster for people who choose to not live here. So what do you want, 2 hour commutes from Pearland for people who can't afford to live in town unless it's in a tiny apartment? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 3 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said: This thing is awful. We continue to ruin the inner city in order to make commutes faster for people who choose to not live here. I hear you, but 288 already did its damage to Third Ward/Riverside in the late 60s when all those homes were bulldozed and the grid was cut up. People are still moving back into the area, and the proposed HEB at N. MacGregor really has the area buzzing. Most of the project will be within the current ROW. The only thing I know of that'll be demolished for this project is the Mobil Station between Holcombe and OST on the 288 feeder when the Medical Center access ramps are built. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 6 minutes ago, Ross said: So what do you want, 2 hour commutes from Pearland for people who can't afford to live in town unless it's in a tiny apartment? At least! They need to be punished for being too poor to afford high-rise living. Peasants. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarface Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Why not build a lightrail line to connect to pearland instead of this crap? Man, Houston just keeps repeating the same ol' crap over and over. Widening freeways and concrete for a cheap buck. SMH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, scarface said: Why not build a lightrail line to connect to pearland instead of this crap? Man, Houston just keeps repeating the same ol' crap over and over. Widening freeways and concrete for a cheap buck. SMH They're not widening the freeways for extra chump change, that's for sure, although when 288 was planned, those were to be free express lanes. Anyway, the reason they can't build a light rail to Pearland (even if TxDOT was entirely up to the idea) is that Pearland is outside Harris County, meaning that in terms of funding Brazoria County would have to come up with a way of funding any sort of joint project (at best, good luck getting that county on voting for it), or Pearland literally gets a free ride in terms of rail. (There was a thread about two years ago on this topic I think, plus see page 1 of this topic). Plus, even if things did work out in terms of funding and a commuter rail-type light rail was being laid down 288, then this quote could just as easily apply to that rail system. 5 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said: This thing is awful. We continue to ruin the inner city in order to make commutes faster for people who choose to not live here. Edited October 5, 2016 by IronTiger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 288 Northbound TMC flyover ramp to Holcombe is going to have very interesting setup. IIRC, there's a gas station and Burger King in the way of all of this? How does this all help if there's a freight line that could stop traffic just west of all of this lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 11 minutes ago, tigereye said: 288 Northbound TMC flyover ramp to Holcombe is going to have very interesting setup. IIRC, there's a gas station and Burger King in the way of all of this? How does this all help if there's a freight line that could stop traffic just west of all of this lol The Burger King will be spared by the ramp, but not the gas station. Additionally, Ardmore St. will be severed, which sucks because I occasionally use that as a back entrance into the neighborhood from OST. I say occasionally because the intersection of Ardmore and Holcombe is a bit hairy sometimes. I agree with you about the freight line. I rarely see trains on the line, and when I do, it's just an engine moving about 4 or 5 cars. It could've run all the way into downtown had Southern Pacific not ripped up the Columbia Tap rail line from 288 to Downtown in 1985. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 The freight line is a non-issue, it's just a really long spur, and if GSC is still going to move (at least before C&S anyway) then it will probably no longer cross Holcombe or OST...not with trains anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 47 minutes ago, IronTiger said: The freight line is a non-issue, it's just a really long spur, and if GSC is still going to move (at least before C&S anyway) then it will probably no longer cross Holcombe or OST...not with trains anyway. Say, Tige, may we have an acronym translation? Maybe I'm just not adequately caffeinated, but all I can think of are Grocers Supply Company and perhaps the Conroe & Southern Railroad. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 1 minute ago, mollusk said: Say, Tige, may we have an acronym translation? Maybe I'm just not adequately caffeinated, but all I can think of are Grocers Supply Company and perhaps the Conroe & Southern Railroad. Thanks. Sorry. The rail line in question used to go up into the downtown area until the 1980s, but since then, it's just been a rail spur servicing an increasingly dwindling number of industries (for example, it also used to serve the defunct Nabisco plant). The line "ends" at Grocers Supply Company, and if Grocers Supply Company moves out of their current location (they were supposed to move to a new industrial park near Greenspoint IIRC), then the rail spur becomes useless. C&S Wholesalers, a larger wholesaler that bought them about a year ago and plans may have changed. Either way, that railroad receives very little traffic as it is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 It's also used by the circus - but I'm sure that circus traffic isn't enough to keep it active 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 1 minute ago, cspwal said: It's also used by the circus - but I'm sure that circus traffic isn't enough to keep it active Probably not considering the Westpark line was dismantled east of Edloe & Westpark in June 2001 because the circus train was still active, but then the Summit closed around that time, and it was gone within six months. I would give a 35% chance that by the time this project is finally complete, the crossings at OST and Holcombe will be no more than a memory and a paved-over patch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 That will probably be what happens. I wonder if they extend the Columbia tap trail? It would be interesting to ride it all the way from Holly Hall to downtown, though it isn't the most direct route Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Yes, those poor people of Pearland. They have it so much worse off than the folks in Sunnyside or the Third Ward that they speed by everyday. Please, people move to Pearland for many reasons but poverty isn't one of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADCS Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 18 hours ago, Ross said: So what do you want, 2 hour commutes from Pearland for people who can't afford to live in town unless it's in a tiny apartment? Choices have consequences. We can't subsidize the suburbs forever. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 2 hours ago, ADCS said: Choices have consequences. We can't subsidize the suburbs forever. Tell us again what those subsidies are? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.