[Houston Heights] Tollway Considered Through Neighborhood

The traffic needs of millions of Houstonians cannot and shall not be held hostage to the wants and desires of a tiny special interest group. This tiny faction CANNOT impede progress in the city by appealling to our emotions with sob stories about daycare facilities being relocated. Citizens must unite as one to advance the interests of the entire city, not just the interests of a small, aging neighborhood trying to reclaim past glory.

How can this special interest lobby argue against easing congestion in good faith, when these same people voted to earmark an enormous percentage of transportation dollars towards the MetroRail -- a mode of transportation that has been proven ineffective? You simply can't COMPLAIN when you voted for the TRAIN. It's that simple.

Actions have consequences. The voters were duped by charlatans into voting for a toy train that so far has done nothing but wreak havoc throughout mid- and downtown Houston in its construction and now operational phases. Now those voters who were tricked into voting for what they thought was a panacea are now realizing that the reality of Houston's traffic disaster requires them to make a sacrifice. A sacrifice they are unwilling to make for the greater good. This smacks of self interest.

 

When I went to the main bbspage this morning I saw that Trader was the last person to post in the Hangout forum. Somehow, I knew that it was going to be in this thread and about how Jeff needed to stop whining about progress. Sure enough, there are a few such posts.

Color me shocked. Caricature at its best.

 

Rimbeaux, where do you stand on the issue?

 

I love the freeways. They make it much easier for me to get where I need to go. Not sure I understand the problem with that.

Houston is the 4th largest city in the country, not some quaint little neighborhood. That's just the way it is. If that's not your thing, then maybe you don't belong here. I'm not trying to be a smart ass or anything, I'm just saying you shouldn't live in a big city...and then complain about it being a big city.

Complaining about freeways in Houston is sort of like complaining about tall buildings in Manhattan.

 

I lived in Houston since 1984. I love the big city!
The amount of growth and construction that Houstonians have put up with over the years has gotten to a level that they've slowly come to accept...which I think is unacceptable!

Sure, theres "big city" problems we all deal with, even in St.Louis as in San Antonio I'm sure. There is no comparison though.....

Houston is simply put, way the f*ck out of control as a place to live anymore. Getting millions of people to where they want to be just isnt a pretty thing and you guys are running out of room. IMO

BTW, whenever San Antonio had a "bad air" day this past summer, it was because the southern winds blew in pollution from Houston. That should at least give you guys a CLUE.....

Whew! Im so glad I moved though, cuz I really dont belong there.

 

You "love the big city!" but you think growth is "unacceptable"? That doen't make sense.

You can't have it both ways.

 

A rail line through that area of town would be good. It could start from Acres Homes, where a lot of people use public trasportation, down through the Heights and Studewood right into town. And I'm sure the yuppies in the Heights would use it. But I agree with Deckard, it makes too much sense.

 

Why do you care? Do you want to "talk" about it? Or would you rather I take a more adversarial role so that you can stay in character?

 

If you are going to come into this thread and criticize my post and me personally, then you should at least have an opinion of your own.

Please do your best to add to the debate. We were having a nice exchange of ideas until you popped in.

 

It is about intelligent growth. The city shouldn't just throw down highway after highway without thinking about the environmental and structural consequences of doing so. Just look at the craziness that is the San Francisco Bay area.

If they gotta expand transportation, then expand the light rail line. Only when the rail line covers larger areas of Houston will the city really see the benefits of having light rail.

 

If anyone was interested, I would be more than happy to give my opinion. I don't have any hysterics to add to yours, though.

 

Anyone ever drive the Sam Houston toll way between 59 and the Katy during rush hour. There is just as much congestion as on I-10 and to make it worse, they are already having to rip up parts of the toll way to make room for the completion of the new Westpark toll way. Its ridiculous city planning and to make it worse, they had to switch contractors mid project because of problems with the original contractor.

 

If The Heights is this city's "heritage," then we have one piss-poor heritage to crow about... Have you ever driven around The Heights? You'll have like one nice block of homes, then the next block is shotgun shack ghetto, then a nice cafe, next to a hubcap shop, next to a whorehouse, next to a taqueria, next to a halfway house... You get the picture. It's an interesting neighborhood, but not "our heritage."

I wonder how the economically poor people who make up most of the population of The Heights feel about being driven out of their "heritage" due to the influx of yuppies & developers, who in turn drive up real estate prices & corresponding property taxes, thus driving the people who lived there for decades out of their own homes b/c they can no longer afford them. Same thing that's happening in the 3rd & 4th ward now. Anyway, got off track again.

This is the 4th largest city in America. Again, most of its population lives outside of the loop & needs various paths to get dtown. Thus, they will build paths, & continue to make established paths even bigger to accomodate population growth. We can't all move to The Heights as a way of solving our mobility problems. Obviously most of Houston's population doesn't want to. Different strokes for different folks. If the corridor is too narrow, that's one thing, but to claim such a tollroad would somehow "destroy Houston's heritage" is utterly moronic.

Anyway, a toll road through here would be great (if it would fit), rail extending through the same corridor & along 290 would be even better, but that won't happen b/c Metro is too busy wasting millions of our dollars on a crap rail system that doesn't even cater to commuters.

Oh and pgabriel, the only reason that traffic is so bad on Beltway 8, on that one stretch right now, IS because of the contractor's f-up. It was NEVER anywhere NEAR that congested before the idiots left the project half-built, and it won't be once they find a new contractor to finish the job. Beltway 8 probably doesn't even have 5% of the traffic of 10 or 59, and you misrepresented why that one stretch of it has gotten screwed. Please don't try to make your point by making things up. Tollways work.

P.S. I love how people trash the TxDOT, yet heap praise on the useless light rail line & the ultra corrupt & incompetent Metro...

 

I think I know a little bit about the Heights. Some of my family lived there before it was part of Houston. My Grandmother's wood frame house floated about a block down her street during the 1900 hurricane, with her in it. My mother lived there as she grew up, and rode the trolley Downtown. My Grandfather had a restaurant across the street from the old Ford plant. If it's "moronic" to want to preserve what little is left of old Houston, I plead guilty as charged.

I hope you enjoy your commute.


Jeff, I didn't know there were that many restrictions on the right of way. Maybe a hike and bike trail with a greenbelt is the way to go.




Keep D&D Civil!!

 

Wait...just to clarify...i don't think Jeff is saying there should be no more road construction...he's just critical of this particular location for that development...and rightfully so, I think.

 

Here's my idea.

Take the tollway down the railroad track as far as Durham and Sheppard. Then use eminent domain to take out the land between the two one-way streets to Memorial drive. Then turn Memorial Drive from Sheppard to downtown into the rest of the tollway.

 

My commute is about 15 minutes now, thanks to the Westpark Tollway. Tollways work, thank you very much. Again, with all due respect to your grandparents & their floating home, there's nothing "historic" about The Heights today that would be destroyed or impacted by this tollroad. It's this simple: if it's poorly planned or won't fit, and would be a mess just like the poorly planned light rail line, then it shouldn't go in. No need to blow millions on a half-ass "solution," the way Metro did, if it won't be big enough to handle the traffic. That doesn't mean that a solution for 290/249 commuters through that part of town shouldn't be explored.

Saint Louis, I love your idea. Memorial b/w 610 & dtown is already like a racetrack - it's almost as fast as 10 through that stretch, but for the 2 or 3 stoplights. I'd bet a million bucks though, that if that logical solution were proposed, the rich & powerful living along Memorial on that stretch would crap themselves & find all sorts of reasons as to why it shouldn't be done. Then they'd sit on their hands, and speak of the city's "progress" when a similar proposal would cut through one of Houston's downtrodden areas...

I guess I'm shocked at the poorly reasoned uproar (even a Chron editorial on this today) over this. It's all emotional - "On no, not The Heights!" Even the Chron editorial is devoid of solid technical reasons as to why it shouldn't be done. Again, if they were talking about laying this down through the East Side or the Wards, none of you - and certainly not the Chron - would give a rat's ass.

Anyway, a greenbelt a la Hershey Park WOULD be nice though. Hell, better than a crappy light rail system that won't meet the needs of NW side commuters - and no, light rail is NOT commuter rail. My neighborhood borders Hershey, and I know that my enjoyment of this "undiscovered" equivalent to Memorial Park, is shared by many living on the west side.