extending highway 249, hardy toll road, highway 225, and highway 5 (Houston, Pearland: safe area, taxes)

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by diablo234

Sharpstown was built after the freeway was constructed. The Harrisburg Freeway would essentially tear through an existing neighborhood.

I was alluding to developers buying up land. If there are a few developers who buy up massive quantities in the East End, let them donate most of the land along the 1970's corridor like with the Grand Parkway. I don't want the public to deal with the costs of aftermath of the mess created for their short-term gain. The freeway may alleviate externalities of increased traffic from increased population associated with the developer's short-term gain by having at least half of the costs borne by the developers, in the form of land, to build a freeway. (The new freeway would be a conventional 8 to 10-lane freeway with feeder roads without the massive median of the 1970's design, e.g. SH 288 South Freeway.)

Anyways Houston has enough freeways as it is. Right now it needs to focus on expanding mass transit.

Didn't Obama say "All of the above"? I'm all for expanding light rail and getting a commuter rail system to Houston, so the Park and Ride buses can stay off the crowded freeways.

[dwrecker]

In my opinion, the only route on the north side that needs to be extended is the Hardy Toll Road from 610 into downtown. That will eventually happen, since there is an existing ramp from 59 merging onto 10 west downtown. Other than that, the focus should be on expanding 290, which is in progress, and expanding 288 from 610 to Manvel, since people are flocking to Pearland in droves, and as far south as Alvin. That region is growing just as fast as cypress, if not faster. We do not need anymore new routes, especially tolls, like the proposed third loop around the metro area(grand parkway-99), which will only benefit suburbans, and then put more traffic on the main arteries to downwtown as a result. This is more of a disadvantage than an advantage. The main priority should be public transportation over building new routes. The new metro rail routes are in progress from downtown, which will benefit east siders and north siders in the inner loop. The problem is the early urban developers did not think to make bypass routes around downtown to prevent half of the traffic on every freeway, as well as not implementing light rail in the 80s as planned, instead of making additional loops and tolls. Ford Bend Toll Road has the same problem as 249. Its gridlocked at South Main Street and has nowhere to extend to, putting the Missouri City, Fresno, Arcola traffic onto South Main to go either downtown or the galleria. The north side, in general, is overpopulated and not much else can be built to go further away from the inner city into suburbs.

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by MikeyAusmus

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but extending TX-249 south of BW-8 as a controlled access facility isn't going to happen, ever. Let's say one day TxDOT wants to extend mainlanes south of BW-8 (there's actually a greater chance of being attacked by flying pigs), it will follow the exact route of present day uncontrolled access highway of TX-249 to end at IH-45 between BW-8 and SS-261.

US-290 is fully funded to be reconstructed between TX-99 and IH-610 so it will help with traffic to the NW side, but won't be complete until at least 2020. The Houston district of TxDOT has saught interstate designation of US-290 from TX-6/US-290/BU-290 in Hempstead, TX to IH-610 and would probably be called IH-310 if approved (being IH-110 is already used in El Paso, TX).

Whatever happened to this? Are they really applying for interstate designation on 290?? If so, they should make it a continuation of I-12 in Louisiana. 12 could run concurrently with 10 from Baton Rouge to Houston and then split off and go up 290 to Austin. That would give Austin a second interstate and options for future loop numbering of those tollways around town, 212, 412. 12 could either end in Austin or follow current 290 out to where it remerges with I-10 in west texas.

[SouthernBoy205]

What about interstate designation for the GP and the BW?

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

What about interstate designation for the GP and the BW?

Both were at one time or another proposed to be how I-69 went through Houston. Now they just signed it all the way through 59. So... I dunno. I believe there are restrictions on giving interstate designation to tollroads now that didn't used to be there when we built the DFW turnpike (I-30... now a freeway), or turnpikes in Northeastern states or Oklahoma. Now, I believe, there is some legislation against giving that designation to toll roads that don't already have it.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by chad.roper

The state needs to extend highway 249 all the way to downtown using the same very long ramps it has between beltway 8 and springcypress. They also need to redo the exchange at betway 8 to make it a full one. It would cross 610 where shepard road is with a full exchange then continue to downtown where it will cross interstate 10 just to the east of downtown. It would continue south parallel to interstate 45 but just to the east where it will cross 225 with a full exchange. From there it will head back to the west crossing interstate 45 and becoming highway 5. It would cross 610 as a freeway and go south where monroe road is with exits for airport road, almeda genevia road, broadway road, and beltway 8. Then they need to take highway 290 and run it to interstate 10 because people over there drive like its a madhouse. The way 249 is set up right now people living in tomball and around 249 on louetta road or jones road have to go out of the way to get to downtown or anything south of downtown. It would cut down on traffic on interstate 45 and beltway 8

We are in Texas, where spending money in infrastructure is "Wasteful spending"
unless that infrastructure is given to a corporation to make money (toll road)

[intencity77]

Originally Posted by chad.roper

The state needs to extend highway 249 all the way to downtown using the same very long ramps it has between beltway 8 and springcypress. They also need to redo the exchange at betway 8 to make it a full one. It would cross 610 where shepard road is with a full exchange then continue to downtown where it will cross interstate 10 just to the east of downtown. It would continue south parallel to interstate 45 but just to the east where it will cross 225 with a full exchange. From there it will head back to the west crossing interstate 45 and becoming highway 5. It would cross 610 as a freeway and go south where monroe road is with exits for airport road, almeda genevia road, broadway road, and beltway 8. Then they need to take highway 290 and run it to interstate 10 because people over there drive like its a madhouse. The way 249 is set up right now people living in tomball and around 249 on louetta road or jones road have to go out of the way to get to downtown or anything south of downtown. It would cut down on traffic on interstate 45 and beltway 8

People living in Tomball more than likely made the choice to live in an area without direct access to downtown Houston, so too bad they have to "go out of the way". No one forced "people" to live out there. Your plan sounds like nothing more than a highway enthusiasts wet dream. Unrealistic and will never happen! Besides, don't expect inner-loopers to take to lightly to having their neighborhoods chopped up by new freeways any more than they already are.

[chris_ut]

If you want a faster drive then live closer to work, why should everyone else have to suffer the cost of more freeways to convenience you.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by Dopo

We are in Texas, where spending money in infrastructure is "Wasteful spending"
unless that infrastructure is given to a corporation to make money (toll road)

Harris County owns most of the toll roads I think, thru the HCTRA. Which means we own them, assuming you live in Harris County.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by astrohip

Harris County owns most of the toll roads I think, thru the HCTRA. Which means we own them, assuming you live in Harris County.

what happens to HCTRA profits from toll roads?
Are they given back to taxpayers?

Might be a goverment agency, but is run like a corporation.