Are there any Houstonian's in favor of the I-45 expansion? (Dallas: 2015, apartments)

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

Arguably the biggest benefit to me is that it allows the entire urban core to grow together because after it's done there will essentially be no more elevated freeways inside the loop and most of them will be buried in the most urban areas. Add to that the safety improvements, redesign of ramps to eliminate choke points, deck parks, and the potential repurposing of the Pierce elevated into a park, and I think you have a project that'll leave us with a better core than we would have otherwise had 15 years from now.

There's nothing wrong with the Pierce Elevated. I personally think it's beyond stupid to tear it down and even more stupid to make it a park. The City will never, ever, see the proposed cap parks on the buried section that combines 45 and 59. Instead, there will be construction for the next 40 years, lots of concrete, and a worse environment. All done to make the commute faster for people living in The Woodlands.

[SanJac]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

This was recently announced though. Look at the date of the video. That's why I made the thread. And I'm for making downtown more urban and livable but downtown is such a small section of the entire metro. I'm not at the expense of making downtown more urban and livable if it means displacing thousands of other residents out for WIDER highways.

I think they could have found better ways to make downtown more urban and livable but this is Houston and this is Texas after all. Not the best city or state for urban development. But hey more highways will fix anything.

That’s why I said you are a year behind. That video is a year old. What am I missing?

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...mou-nhhip.html

All county and city parties are now in agreement to get the ball rolling again on the multibillion-dollar Interstate 45 overhaul known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project.

During a special meeting on Dec. 22, Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to approve a memorandum of understanding between the county and the Texas Department of Transportation concerning the NHHIP, as well as dismiss the previous lawsuit filed over the project. This comes after Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Dec. 19 press conference with local and state officials to announce the city’s MOU for the project.

“This lawsuit has run its course,” Harris County Commissioners Rodney Ellis said during the meeting. “I’m convinced we made a big project better.”

Included in the MOU between TxDOT and Harris County are 16 terms. The first is related to design changes. In segments one and two of the NHHIP, TxDOT will evaluate designs to reduce the footprint and rebuild within the current footprint where feasible. TxDOT also will work to minimize right-of-way impacts and will communicate with Harris County with results of evaluation prior to a detailed design.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by SanJac

That’s why I said you are a year behind. That video is a year old. What am I missing?

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...mou-nhhip.html

I posted the wrong video. This was the one I was trying to post up which was just 8 days ago.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISlLjkkNL2A

Like I've said before, Houston develops in a way that is never truly revolutionary. It's always half assed "game changing". Houston want's to improve walkability, urbanism and pedestrian infrastructure while at the same time continue to develop infrastructure geared towards the automobile. You can't 50/50 pedestrians and automobiles especially a city/metro like Houston that is completely dependent on cars even it's most "walkable" communities.

Adding more lanes and making them wider while adding detention ponds is the prime example of wanting my cake and eating it too.

Segment 3 of the expansion project is the only segment I see that has some benefits such as the pierce elevated and a couple other proposals listed but that's such a small section of the city compared to what's covered in segment 1 and segment 2.

While other cities across America are committed to removing highways, studying the removal of highways or proposing plans to remove highways, Houston is one of the few cities suggesting that instead of removing or even studying the removal of highways that they can improve existing highways by making them wider and adding more lanes with green space, bikes and trails in close proximity to these monstrosities. LMAO Houston truly follows the beat of their own drum for better or worse.

[LocalPlanner]

Mixed feelings for me. The Pierce is at the end of its life, despite the rehab 20-30 years ago. It does form a barrier between Downtown and 4th Ward / Midtown, though less of a barrier than a surface freeway or a sunken one that doesn't have crossings.

I really want the MAX lanes to help provide better transit connectivity across the region, but it does suck to have to expand the footprint to get them.

What goes unstated is that owners of big office buildings Downtown, who wield a lot of influence, probably want as huge of freeways as possible coming into Downtown, because they think it will help their properties better compete with suburban locations. You can bet that Uptown office owners probably think the same about the West Loop and I-69 / US 59, as do Greenway Plaza owners. It's a fairly myopic view, but I think it's common.

[Htown2013]

I-10 west used to be hell until the late 2000's major improvements made it so much more tolerable.

SW Freeway US59/I69 Galleria interchange has always been hell and causes miserable commutes and gridlock for those just passing through that have nothing to do with the Galleria. Also the HOV/HOT is a joke compared to I10 west. Really want them to fix that before doing anything else.

[Dopo]

Number 1 question - have they identified the issue that they are trying to solve?

Seems to me like is a huge project … without trying to solve the problem (traffic)
Seems to me like the big choke point is 288 and 45
All that sht needs to be demolished and redesigned

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Number 1 question - have they identified the issue that they are trying to solve?

Seems to me like is a huge project … without trying to solve the problem (traffic)
Seems to me like the big choke point is 288 and 45
All that sht needs to be demolished and redesigned

Demolish and redesign is exactly what they're doing. The 288/45 choke point is going to be significantly redesigned and won't exist in the same spot anyway as the Pierce Elevated will no longer be in use. I agree that 288/45 is currently the biggest choke point in the entire downtown freeway system.

Nothing will "solve" traffic in Houston, but I expect this to have a similar effect to the I-10 expansion in that it will significantly decrease delays due to the fact that there will be a lot less turns/more straight sections, wider/redesigned ramps, more merging lanes, the express lanes, etc.

Next thing we need is underground express lanes on the West Loop. That is the biggest bottleneck in the entire southern half of the country outside of Atlanta.

[SanJac]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Number 1 question - have they identified the issue that they are trying to solve?

I think it depends on your interest. For me the focus is on getting rid of the freeway barriers around downtown which will allow for greater connectivity with the surrounding neighborhoods. Think of what Dallas did with Klyde Warren Park, but on steroids.

Others are focused on freeway expansion. To be sure that is needed for both I45 and Hwy 59, but I’m less interested in that.

[hbcu]

Connect the communities

[gwarnecke]

I support it in principle. I45 north of Downtown is one of the most dangerous and congested stretches of freeway in Texas, and while widening it wouldn't "solve" congestion it would certainly increase capacity and overall traffic speeds as the I10W and 290 freeway expansions successfully accomplished.

I'm not wild about the proposed realignment of the stretch of I45 that wraps around downtown, for the admittedly selfish reason that it provides a stunning view of DT from all angles as drivers traverse it.