If you ever intend to drive downtown for any reason, please read and follow these tips. My road rage level is increasing and I feel that I must enlighten people. The single most important thing to know: In Texas, it is legal to turn left on a red light from the left lane if you are turning off of a one-way onto a one way. Read that again slowly to make sure you absorb it. Not only is it legal, it is imperative that you do so. This is because while the light in front of you is red, the lights in the opposite direction is green. If you need to turn, do so on the red light and you'll catch the following lights green. This keeps the flow of traffic moving better. If you wait till the light in front of you is green, the next light you encounter after the turn will be red. So you'll wait till one red light is finished only to turn into another red light (and so will the poor guy behind you, which is usually me). It is legal in Texas to turn right on a red light from the right lane (neither street has to be a one-way). This may sound like common sense, but I am astounded at the number of people that wait for the light to turn green before they turn. That stuff makes my blood boil. Stay off of Main if you don't know what you're doing. Main street is very tricky, even for those who are familiar with downtown driving. I'd recommend staying off of Main entirely - it's difficult to know where you can turn off of it and where you can't, and it's very easy to accidentally go the wrong way down a street or through an intersection. Now that we have a train downtown, the consequences of making a wrong turn are much more severe. Know the grid system. Downtown is really just a grid of one-way streets. If you can't turn left at one intersection, you can almost definitely turn left at the next one (don't forget about rule no. 1). Don't block intersections. If traffic is thick, stop before entering an intersection. Let the car in front of you cross the intersection, and do not proceed forward until the car in front is moving forward to give you space ahead to get through the intersection. This is especially important when crossing Main St. - block an intersection there, and may get hit by a train. Follow this rule, and you will help traffic flow smoother, avoid accidents, and avoid receiving a ticket (yes, they do write them). Don't park in a lane and turn on your hazard lights, blocking the lane. If you need to stop and park do not block a lane to do so. Drive around the block a few times to find a place to park. IF you can't find one, you may have to park a couple of blocks away and actually use your feet to walk a little farther (or the person you're picking up will). You guys need the exercise anyway. Avoid being in the right or left lanes if you don't intend to turn. People turn a lot downtown, left and right at red lights, and they can't do so if you're in that lane and not turning. Stay in the center two lanes until it's time for you to turn, and then get over. Slow down and obey the laws. You must be alert to red lights, blocking intersections, pedestrians walking all over the place, one-way streets (don't go the wrong way on a one-way), trains, police, stupid drivers, buses, construction, potholes, fountains, and a bazillion other distractions. Speeding dramatically increases the chances that you'll kill someone (or yourself). Don't drive in the diamond right lanes during rush hour. The right lanes are used only for buses and people who are turning right. If that ain't you, don't drive in those lanes. It makes it hard for those behemoth buses to get around, resulting in slower traffic flow. Know where you're going before you go there. If you're unfamiliar with your destination, look it up on a map. Don't just look at the location, but also take note of which direction the one-way streets flow around it. Also take not of what side of downtown your destination is on, where you're going to enter downtown, and which one-way street you will use to get there. This will make it a lot easier on you, will help you to stay on the right path, and will keep you driving at 2mph wondering where you need to go.[/list=1] -- droxford
11. Never drive on Main Street if you can avoid it. This is the one to keep in mind. If you take Main Street downtown (from say the Med Center area), move to a parallel street before you get to 59. Otherwise, you will be unable to make a left turn off of Main street due to the light rail line. What I have learned to do is figure out which side of Main Street my destination is on. If it is on the west side (like Bayou Place), I cutover to Louisiana. If it is on the east side of Main (like Toyota Center) I cutover to Crawford, or often bypass Main street altogether and take 288.
I follow most of these...although I avoid Main like the plague. Although I'm a bit guilty of driving in a turning lane . Others are just so friggin slow to go anywhere. I can't stand moving roadblocks 2 cars on the whole road...2 lanes... both going at the exact same speed, at the exact same time, going for blocks and blocks before one eventually has to turn.
13. This applies not only to Downtown driving, but driving in general. If you haven't been to an area, park your car, and enjoy the sights OUTSIDE of a car, not while you are driving. People who look around at the sights aimlessly while driving make me crazy. You know what it is? It's the blatant inconsideration some drivers have for other drivers. It's as though they are on the road for their own pleasure, and to heck with what anyone else is doing.
I kinda covered this generally with number 3. Main St. has quirks: a) you can't turn left off of Main (it's been like this LONG before the rail was here). In downtiown, you can only get off Main by turning right. b) on some intersections you can't turn right or left (i.e. no-turns). You have to go to the next street and maybe you can turn right. c) part of Main is permanently closed to thru traffic because of the Main St. fountain. there are others. Rather than go into too much detail and confuse people, and rather than telling people when and where to get on/off Main, I wrote number 3 to say "avoid Main St." -- droxford d)
14. Avoid driving from Sugarland to North Houston. Can't use 59 N (Spur construction). Can't use 610 N through the Galleria (construction). Can't use the west Belt (construction).
I agree with all of the above. People do not know #1 and it DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!!! I work on Main. I drive on it every day. I just dont see how its confusing (except maybe the crossover near UH Downtown). These idiots that hit the train should stay away from downtown. I hear Sugarland has everything you could ever need. Also, on Travis past Foleys heading north, the bus lane merges into the 2nd lane. Don't be cute and ride the bus line next to me because I am not letting you in and you will end up in the lobby of the Reliant Building. That lane is for busses and trolleys only. Read the signs.
LMAO!!!! I don't let people in either (if they're trying to zoom their way around traffic). -- droxford
Again, these bus lane travelers are the same people who don't care that you've had to sit through all the slow moving traffic. It's all about them, to heck with following the rules, and participating in civility, they have somewhere important to go to. Sheesh, I'm building up a bit of road rage from my cubicle!
What about when you combine 1 and 5? Your trying not to block an intersection yet the person w/ the red light seems to think you are stopping to let them in, thus forcing you to proceed ahead and block the intersection.
If there is no room on the other side of the intersection for your car, do not enter the intersection at all. If a guys turns left on a red, and there's no room in the lane for him to turn into, he will end up blocking the intersection and then he's got a problem, not you. The trick is... wait until the car in front of you (who should be through the intersection) begins to move forward. That means that there's about to be enough space for your car (watch for a red light first!). If people occassionally get in front of you, lump it. -- droxford
#10 is extremely important and would really help out with all the other rules. I am absolutely sick of the idiots driving around Midtown/Downtown with no clue where they are going. They come to almost a complete stop at each intersection in an attempt to read the street sign, then they just continue going straight when they realize that's not the right street to turn on.
#Whatever the next number is: Move to Indianapolis where there is absolutely no traffic and people do not have the spirit of death in their eyes when they drive. Live in the suburbs and only take 25 minutes to get to work where in Houston it would take 4.5 days. I do not miss Houston traffic even a little bit. Here is an example of Indy. Last year they did construction on the main intersection of Interstates in downtown. They completely closed down where I-65 and I-70 met in the middle of downtown for 2 months. It would be the equivalant of shutting down where I-45 and I-10 met in Houston. It was originally slated for 3 months but they completed the task ONE MONTH EARLY!!!!! That is unheard of in Houston. Also, I never noticed any traffic build up because of this construction. I am definitely going to miss the traffic, or lack there of, in Indy.
#16: If you are about to miss your turn, just keep going and pull back around. Don't come to a complete stop and wait for traffic to go by and then cut accross 3 lanes of traffic. By the way, this also applies to freeway driving. If you are about to miss your exit, just get off on the next one and do a u-turn...please!
mateo.. maybe you would know this. I know number 1 is legal in Texas but do you know if it's legal in Nashville. Of course I'm from Texas so I'll go by Texas laws in any state I am in, but it would be nice with all the one way streets not too far from here if I wasn't doing it if it is not legal.
