[City Planner] Is It Time To Reroute 1-45 East Of Downtown?

You can already go around on the East side on 59. I never ever go on the Pierce elevated.
http://www.ih45northandmore.com/

I would be a mess for a decade but probably would be better once it's done. The I45/610 interchange is ancient.

 

Was just looking at this in the spring time. The idea is to reroute 45 and have it aligned with 59.

Then turn the pierce in to an "elevated park" like the one they have in New York and Paris.


This is suppose to connect midtown with downtown.

 

Midtown has grown a lot even with the Pierce elevated there.

sounds like an irresponsibly expensive beautification project to get rid of it.

 

I mean why the hell not. 45 has been under construction my whole life, why not keep it that way.

 

TxDOT had a huge plan for this that came out earlier this year. I will have to find it (it may have been posted here) but there were a few options that they were going to choose from. Some included turning the current Pierce Elevated into a linear park or a wide boulevard and reroute traffic over to 59 or 10 depending on which direction you're coming from.

A lot of this is coming up because of pressure from developers in both downtown and midtown. Downtown has changed a lot and people are finally seeing it as a place to live. That Pierce Elevated is an eyesore and the 59 elevated is one too, but that can spruce that up easier with the stadiums and convention center right there.

Edit: Link to the plan - http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/n...-major-redesign-i45-freeway-downtown-houston/

 

Developers are building residential in downtown primarily due to the tax breaks and other giveaways mayer Porker is offering them

 

Those definitely helped and kick started what we see now. New development was already surrounding Downtown on three sides, so it was bound to happen.

 

The Feds have to fix the transportation appropriation process before this ever happens. TxDOT will never find enough money to fund a project like this. You'll need the Federal Government to chip in as well and that wont happen anytime soon.

The time to strike for something like this was 2009 when the stimulus was being written. It'll be a while before there will be another chance for this. For example, when San Francisco demolished the Embarcadero Highway, it took a fair amount of federal funding from a much more friendly Democratic majority Congress (with a Democratic president). I think the end result was worth it as the Embarcadero Highway was such an ugly blight on the coast but it definitely wasn't cheap.

 

Freeways going into and through any central business district is so stupid. No one "goes through" and continues past downtown area if they are heading in that direction. They stay in the area. If they are heading in a direction that takes them to the other side of downtown then you take either 610 or BW8 and go around.

I would terminate all freeways just outside of downtown/midtown branching into multiple Spurs for each termination. Similar to Spur 527 off 59. Use that reclaimed space for parks (a giant ring park) and maybe a free elevated single lane people mover connecting all Metro stations downtown and other downtown destinations like City Hall, Theater District, UHD, Courts, Minute Maid, GRB, Toyota Center, etc... Similar to what they did in Miami which has been a huge success.

I think this would also encourage more metro ridership since the red line terminates at 610 for a hybrid commute of sorts. Green and Purple terminate just inside 610 as well. The planned Blue Line will also terminate outside 610 allowing the same options.

 

I've been juking around Downtown this way for decades. 45 through Downtown Houston is for suckers and tourists, like a turn signal.

 

Which Spurs though? I would definitely make sure Aldridge is used the most, followed by Parker, Duncan...all of their starters, really.

 

They can take 249 off that list. They finally opened up the flyover to 8 West from 249 South that they have been building for a year and a half. I didn't go below 65 on my way in this morning. I know it won't be like this everyday but it sure was nice.

 

Fix 45 south headed to Galveston. That place is a mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

They're fixing it now, expanding the area between 2351 south past Bay Area Blvd.

 

Now that there are rich people in Midtown, we'll think about taking down Pierce?

But, I'm not too keen anyway. Traffic is pretty thick now. Removing a major thoroughfare like Pierce makes that worse, not better. I'd rather improve it than remove it. Even Midtowners would miss it if it were gone.

And, if we were to reroute it, I wouldn't favor an elevated park or crap like that. I've seen the one in NY which is pretty cool. But, I'd much rather remove the structures and reclaim the real estate to do stuff at grade. It'd still act as a barrier and eyesore even as a park.

 

Good idea - Elevated park favors the rich. Just charge an entry fee.

 

To answer the question, NO don't re-route it. Just destroy it.