Ginger Stampley takes on the city of Bellaire for whining about some new construction to link the service roads on the West Loop. I have a little more sympathy for the Bellaire folks than she does because my neighborhood recently had to deal with TxDOT doing a Major Investment Study to "specifically study the transportation needs from US 59 at Spur 527, just south of the downtown Houston, north along IH 45 to Beltway 8 in north Harris County." This could have meant widening I-45, which runs east of my neighborhood, which in turn would have meant possibly bringing the freeway a lot closer to where I live. All of the proposed expansion would have had to be in our direction because there's a cemetary on the other side which isn't going anywhere.

The various neighborhood associations sounded a call to arms on this one, and as far as I can tell the MIS has been pretty much shelved. Given the way I-45 flooded during Tropical Storm Allison, I'm glad that no more pavement is going to be created for it. It's my hope, and I know others in my neighborhood agree, that the I-45 corridor will be one of the next in line for rail expansion. If they build a rail line near my house that runs up to IAH, I'm never driving to the airport again.

Thus, I have some sympathy for the Bellaire folks. Of course, the new construction won't uproot any current houses. And I won't be surprised if these folks complain when and if rail expansion comes to the West Loop. So it's not too much sympathy.