Highway 288

[rechlin]

That's a registration sticker, not inspection, and registration requirements have been suspended due to the pandemic (and until 60 days after the governor ends the emergency declaration) so there is no need to spend the money on registration at the moment.

[Ross]

5 hours ago, rechlin said:

That's a registration sticker, not inspection, and registration requirements have been suspended due to the pandemic (and until 60 days after the governor ends the emergency declaration) so there is no need to spend the money on registration at the moment.

Technically, it's both registration AND inspection, since you can't get the registration without the inspection. Stupid change to the law that screwed me out of the free year of inspections over the life of a car by getting it done a month late every year. I suppose that is the epitome of a first world problem.

[mollusk]

As with many of the State of Texas responses to the pandemic, the actual effects of the orders and proclamations are less than clear, less helpful than they sound, and contain a bit of a Catch-22. 

 

While the registration requirement is abated for the time being, it does not appear that the inspection requirement was likewise abated.  Registration stations have been open throughout this whole ordeal.  Once your vehicle is inspected, you can renew registration online.  With the paranoia ingrained from growing up adjacent to the Villages (and the VoPos) followed by the Ps moving to Jersey Village, and coming of driving age as a long haired hippie type freak during the Herman Short / Harry Caldwell / prisoners in the bayou / throw down guns era, and knowing that the status of your registration, insurance, and inspection are all now tidily stored in a DPS database that any beat cop can access at any time the mood strikes them, IMHO the prudent thing is to go ahead with the renewals if you're going anywhere that the cops are often looking for a reason to pull people over.  Same thing applies if you have personal characteristics and / or a vehicle that make you more vulnerable to being stopped for "investigation" of the possibility of suspicion of suspicious activity (i.e., a pretext stop).

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

If you're ever in Houston
Well, you better do the right
You better not gamble
Yeah, you better not fight at all.
Or the sheriff will grab ya
And the boys will bring you down.
The next thing you know, boy
Oh, you're prison bound.

 

Oh, let the midnight special
Shine a light on me.

Ledbelly wrote his version of that song while stuck in the TC Jester Unit in Sugar Land

[Ross]

8 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

If you're ever in Houston
Well, you better do the right
You better not gamble
Yeah, you better not fight at all.
Or the sheriff will grab ya
And the boys will bring you down.
The next thing you know, boy
Oh, you're prison bound.

 

Oh, let the midnight special
Shine a light on me.

Ledbelly wrote his version of that song while stuck in the TC Jester Unit in Sugar Land

Couple of corrections:

 

The TDCJ Jester Unit was named after Beauford Jester, a Texas Governor from 1947 to 1949, long after the song was recorded. TC Jester was the Pastor of the Baptist Temple on 20th Street in Houston.

 

Lead Belly was imprisoned in the Central Unit in Sugar land. 

[Highrise Tower]

I've been wanting to take a photo of the rebar cage on Almeda for a few months.  Stopped by today.

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

[Highrise Tower]

Toll cameras.

 

[X.R.]

I love how they spent all this money and all this time, dug something of a pond around the lowest part of 288, and after the initial rain from Beta 288 was flooded again. I don't know how many people at work and in my personal life was like "they spent how much? and took how long? and it still flooded after some rain?"

 

It seemed like they were finally working on the portion of 288 closest to the 610 interchange this weekend since they closed all northbound lanes but one on Saturday and Sunday. It looked like they were putting up signage and working on some road elements. Given the length of time, I don't care what txdot says, as someone who was living near and around Pearland, and has family and friends in Pearland, the 288 construction ruined my pre-covid commute and many weekends. I don't want to imagine what i-45 construction would do to the city. I compare it to 1-45 cause, as stated above, this company has a financial interest in completing a widening of a  relatively short stretch of highway (with some additional exits and bridges being reworked) and its taking forever and a day. Imagine gov't money not only widening by burying, lol. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by X.R.

[JLWM8609]

On 9/30/2020 at 11:24 AM, X.R. said:

I love how they spent all this money and all this time, dug something of a pond around the lowest part of 288, and after the initial rain from Beta 288 was flooded again. I don't know how many people at work and in my personal life was like "they spent how much? and took how long? and it still flooded after some rain?"

 

 

288 floods by design. That's going to happen regardless of any improvements due to the freeway being depressed and having a low crossing over Brays Bayou. As a 30+ year resident of Riverside Terrace, I'd rather see 288 flood in a big rain event instead of Riverside Terrace, South Union, and the Med Center.

[JLWM8609]

Anyone know when the Southmore overpass is reopening? I thought its opening would be imminent back in August. It's been looking ready to go with street lights, traffic lights and all installed since late August. 

[Highrise Tower]

The Almeda ramp will be awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

[Triton]

On 10/16/2020 at 11:23 PM, JLWM8609 said:

Anyone know when the Southmore overpass is reopening? I thought its opening would be imminent back in August. It's been looking ready to go with street lights, traffic lights and all installed since late August. 

From what I can tell, looks like 288 is going to open any day or any week now. I saw police officers and probably construction workers smoothly driving down the tollroads yesterday. Most of it clearly looks finished.

[Highrise Tower]

 

[JLWM8609]

The Southmore bridge finally opened up today. Photo taken by me.

Edited November 11, 2020 by JLWM8609

[asubrt]

On 10/18/2020 at 4:25 PM, Triton said:

From what I can tell, looks like 288 is going to open any day or any week now. I saw police officers and probably construction workers smoothly driving down the tollroads yesterday. Most of it clearly looks finished.

 

288 toll lanes open Monday (11/16) per Fox26 report. Free for the first two weeks through 11/29.

[JLWM8609]

 

[JLWM8609]

I tried out the new lanes today. I went outbound from the start at Southmore to Magnolia Parkway in Pearland. Inbound from FM518 to Holcombe. I know one of the main objectives of this project was access to the Medical Center, but it would've been helpful to have an exit from the northbound toll lanes to the northbound mainlanes somewhere between 610 and Holcombe so toll lane users can easily access the N./S. MacGregor, Calumet/Binz and Southmore exits. Otherwise you have to exit at Holcombe and use Almeda to get to those streets, or take the exit to the mainlanes near I-69/US 59 and hop off at Chenevert and hop back southbound via Jackson. I guess part of the reason for no exit to the mainlanes there is to take those vehicles that would normally use MacGregor to access the Medical Center and put them on Holcombe instead?

[MaxConcrete]

1 hour ago, JLWM8609 said:

I guess part of the reason for no exit to the mainlanes there is to take those vehicles that would normally use MacGregor to access the Medical Center and put them on Holcombe instead?

I seem to recall that the original plan was to have the toll lanes connect into MacGregor, but there was substantial opposition so the MacGregor connection was nixed. The Holcombe exit was then proposed and was acceptable to the community.

 

Good point about an exit to the main lanes where you suggest.

[JLWM8609]

19 hours ago, MaxConcrete said:

I seem to recall that the original plan was to have the toll lanes connect into MacGregor, but there was substantial opposition so the MacGregor connection was nixed. The Holcombe exit was then proposed and was acceptable to the community.

 

Good point about an exit to the main lanes where you suggest.

I remembered that the original plans from the 60s called for the inside express lanes to have no exits from 610 to Downtown, so despite the Holcombe exit, maybe that's keeping in the spirit of the original intent?

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

 

[hindesky]

4 parked trucks with wind turbine blades on the shoulder of Hwy 288 southbound were causing a big traffic jam.

[samagon]

now that this is open, getting from downtown to places southwest of Houston (Sugarland area) farther out than BW8, it is a faster trip to go down the 288 toll to bw8 to 59. at least during peak rush hour.

 

google maps still doesn't show a direct connection from 288 to bw8 (the ramps are open), so it is even faster than Google says.

[X.R.]

Anyone know if they will be planting trees and stuff in the median/on the exits? I liked that 288 had some green once you passed 610, and some of the newer bridges had trees underneath them in the mockups. 

[Triton]

1 hour ago, samagon said:

now that this is open, getting from downtown to places southwest of Houston (Sugarland area) farther out than BW8, it is a faster trip to go down the 288 toll to bw8 to 59. at least during peak rush hour.

 

google maps still doesn't show a direct connection from 288 to bw8 (the ramps are open), so it is even faster than Google says.

 

Yea 288 makes travelling a lot quicker now. It seriously bypasses a lot of the traffic during peak rush hour but you're definitely going to pay for it.

The only dangerous point I see so far is at 288 to the Chenevert St ramp near downtown. I've seen several wrecks almost occur there. If someone wants to get to that exit, they have to do it very very quickly across multiple lanes if they didn't take the 59 exit (from the toll lanes) earlier.

[cspwal]

21 hours ago, Triton said:

 

Yea 288 makes travelling a lot quicker now. It seriously bypasses a lot of the traffic during peak rush hour but you're definitely going to pay for it.

The only dangerous point I see so far is at 288 to the Chenevert St ramp near downtown. I've seen several wrecks almost occur there. If someone wants to get to that exit, they have to do it very very quickly across multiple lanes if they didn't take the 59 exit (from the toll lanes) earlier.

Both times I've taken the lanes into downtown, I had to just take 45 to Scott, since that exit is WAY too close to get to safely 

[Triton]

2 hours ago, cspwal said:

Both times I've taken the lanes into downtown, I had to just take 45 to Scott, since that exit is WAY too close to get to safely 

Yup. Way too close.

 

For those that don't know, to get to the Chenevert exit you essentially have to cut across two lanes immediately and hope there are no cars there when you do it. I am hoping TXDOT quickly realizes how dangerous this is and adds some traffic delineators to prevent people from trying to make that exit.

 

[Triton]

On 10/17/2020 at 7:38 PM, Highrise Tower said:

The Almeda ramp will be awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone know how this is supposed to look (schematics) ?

[JLWM8609]

Here's a few problems I've noticed from this project.

1. They placed a brand new I-610/Hurricane Evacuation Route sign on 288 NB at Bellfort, but the arrow on the sign points to the right toward the old exit location even though the exits to 610 have been moved to the left. Link showing the sign not present during construction: https://goo.gl/maps/vALTD5Ex7FLwY5PQA

2. The highway sign pavement markers at 288NB and I-69/US 59 say TX-59 instead of US 59.

 

3. At the same interchange, the pavement markings and the overhead signs don't match. The pavement and a sign shows the 2 left lanes will take you to I-45. In actuality, the #1 left lane turns into a lane that allows you to either go to I-45 or exit at Chenevert, while the #2 left lane is an exit only lane for Chenevert.

Pavement says this lane will take you to I-45, but the overhead sign says otherwise.

Driving along, you enter the #2 lane to access I-45 based upon this sign and the pavement marking in the previous photo.

The next sign shows your lane is going to Chenevert instead of I-45.

Exit only? You'd better get over now if you want to get on I-45. Forget what that sign said 1/2 mile ago!

Edited January 15, 2021 by JLWM8609