Are there any Houstonian's in favor of the I-45 expansion? (The Woodlands: apartment complexes, how much)

[oil capital]

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.

Saying wider highways will displace "thousands" of residents suggests something far greater than is actually happening. To be clear, estimates are that it will require displacing residents of a little more than 1,000 residential units, mostly apartments. The vast majority (more than 800) of those are apartments in the area immediately surrounding downtown and, FWIW, a good portion of those have already been "displaced". (Lofts at the Ballpark - 375 units- Everyone has already moved out. Clayton Homes (some of which had already been displaced by flooding, but are nevertheless being purchased and replaced by TXDoT) 296 units, many have already been "displaced".) Another bunch already has (better) replacement housing under construction.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

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.

I don’t see how removing the I-45 section on the West side of downtown is going to improve traffic on 288/45

The 5 Wackiest Images from TxDOT’s Plans To Reroute I-45 and Abandon the Pierce Elevated

[hbcu]

Originally Posted by oil capital

Saying wider highways will displace "thousands" of residents suggests something far greater than is actually happening. To be clear, estimates are that it will require displacing residents of a little more than 1,000 residential units, mostly apartments. The vast majority (more than 800) of those are apartments in the area immediately surrounding downtown and, FWIW, a good portion of those have already been "displaced". (Lofts at the Ballpark - 375 units- Everyone has already moved out. Clayton Homes (some of which had already been displaced by flooding, but are nevertheless being purchased and replaced by TXDoT) 296 units, many have already been "displaced".) Another bunch already has (better) replacement housing under construction.

They already wiped out the original folks

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don’t see how removing the I-45 section on the West side of downtown is going to improve traffic on 288/45

The 5 Wackiest Images from TxDOT’s Plans To Reroute I-45 and Abandon the Pierce Elevated

The westside portion of I-45 is being redesigned not removed and of course it will not be called I-45 anymore, I presume. The Pierce Elevated is on the southside of DT and will be removed.

BTW isn't TexDot pretty much doing the same thing in Dallas removing their downtown elevated

Instead, TxDOT now recommends tearing down the elevated freeway and rebuilding it in a 65-foot-deep trench that will contain 10 travel lanes and cost more than a billion dollars. An article by Matt Goodman in D Magazine outlines the agency’s proposal to bridge local streets over that trench to reconnect the neighborhoods, instead of creating a boulevard to distribute traffic and create neighborhood streets that build wealth in a people-centered design.


https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/...owntown-dallas

[oil capital]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don’t see how removing the I-45 section on the West side of downtown is going to improve traffic on 288/45

The 5 Wackiest Images from TxDOT’s Plans To Reroute I-45 and Abandon the Pierce Elevated

More lanes; no tight turns and dips as currently exist.

[atadytic19]

I 100% approve of the plan.

I don't think highways should go through Downtown's but since it is unavoidable I'm on board for at least having stretches serve double duty than having downtown completely circled by highways.

Also 45 is always congested. It gets bad even at night and weekends. 45 definitely needs an upgrade.

Further, the stretches from downtown to the airport on 45 is hideous. I am sure the redesign will be accompanied by plantings so the trip from the airport into the city will hopefully don't look as bad as it does now.

[Mescalero]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

Further, the stretches from downtown to the airport on 45 is hideous.

Mattress Mack will never financially recover from this lol

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by Mescalero

Mattress Mack will never financially recover from this lol

The actual building is set back quite a bit. How much ROW will the Highway need?

Most of the other businesses around there are right up on the feeder road but GF is easily about 300ft from the feeder. Maybe it's time to invest in a parking garage.

Mattress Mack can afford it, but some of those other places are goners.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

The actual building is set back quite a bit. How much ROW will the Highway need?

Most of the other businesses around there are right up on the feeder road but GF is easily about 300ft from the feeder. Maybe it's time to invest in a parking garage.

Mattress Mack can afford it, but some of those other places are goners.

I have no sympathy for business owners. The laws of business involve risk. A rail line or highway moving hurting traffic? Being a business owner is inheritedly a career that involves risk taking. We’re prioritize them over improving the local community so a set of business owners can have better balance sheets?

Not to mention, they get assistance from the government as it is when projects like these happen.

[texas7]

What a waste to reroute it. Let it be.