Traffic Congestion in U.S.: Houston ranks 6th worst

Amersterdam laughs at tour no subways in Houston do to flood zones comment.

 

i've always felt like this was some nonsense

 

Point taken, but not really sure that they are threatened by sudden rising water as much as Houston is(ie Hurricanes, Gulf Moisture, and poor water outlets)

I just keep thinking of the disaster of the medical center. And look at the damage it caused at a place like NY with sudden rise in water levels and constant rain??? NYers dont deal with that all the time, but i feel everytime it rains in houston for more than 20 minutes...it floods...lol

 

Engineering. Look at the Washburn Tunnel. Been around for over sixty years and only flooded once, and that was during the unique Hurricane Ike. Subways can be built in Houston. Now, maybe not a full fledged subway system like New York, but you can tunnel the heavy rail in areas like Downtown, or Uptown. Shortsighted planning is what has Houston traffic the way it is. Why the hell is there a tollway in the middle of the Katy? That should be a two way heavy rail line, with five lanes of freeway each way. There are times when the tollway is slower than the freeway.

 

Whoever desogned Washington's roads should be hung from a tree, makes no sense at all. Not surprised its number one

 

it's not flood zone...it's water table and the soil as i understand it. Houston is largely transformed swampland and wetlands. It's water from below the surface that is the problem.

i'm a proponent of mass transit in houston. but a city this big in terms of square miles...you can't go underground for rail and connect anything meaningful. the cost of that would so far surpass any reason for doing it that way.

 

I feel for everyone back in Houston. On the rare occasions I have been back, it seems a lot worse than it was 15-20 years ago. And no easy way to move everybody, particularly when they are all going to different places. In an ideal world, IMO, all the industry and commerce wouldn't be concentrated in city centers with multi-millions of people and would be spread out a bit. Too many people living in one place. I live in a small city of less than 200,000 with plenty of space. I can go to/from work in less than 10 minutes no matter what time it is and I don't live particularly close. For those of us who like the freedom of our personal vehicle, it's not as wasteful in this situation.

 

Blame this guy.

 

Same argument could've been made against highways 50 years ago.

 

I read the list and thought exactly that!