Tag Archives: Heights

Do I really need to worry about West 11th Street?

I dunno, man. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is reevaluating several street infrastructure projects for effectiveness, including the completed 11th Street redesign despite the controversy surrounding the recent removal of pedestrian and cyclist upgrades on Houston Avenue. Whitmire, who took office … Continue reading

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Art Car Museum announces its closure

Bummer. Leaders of the Art Car Museum announced their intention to close after nearly 30 years in its Houston Heights location, according to a statement on its website. The announcement comes not long after both the museum’s founders, Ann O’Connor … Continue reading

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I-10 elevation update

From the Woodland Heights Civic Association January newsletter: I-10 Heights to I-45 Project Update: Community Advocacy Leads to Significant Changes The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has announced modifications to its $347 million plan to elevate a section of Interstate … Continue reading

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Another neighborhood road projects/bike lanes update

Once again, from the Woodland Heights Civic Association. We would like to provide you with important updates regarding the road projects in our area. Firstly, we are pleased to inform you that the construction of the 11th Street project is … Continue reading

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A ride down the West 11th bike trail

I’ve been riding the West 11th bike trail since it opened, mostly to go to some of my favorite lunch places. It’s been great, modulo the occasional hazards like trash/recycling bins out for collection and delivery trucks or construction vehicles … Continue reading

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City donates to Winter Street relief

Good to see. Nearly two months after dozens of artists saw their work and gallery spaces burnt away, the city of Houston offered a step toward recovery. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday announced that the city would donate $250,000 toward … Continue reading

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A brief 11th Street update

From the latest Woodland Heights Civic Association newsletter: 11th Street Safety Improvements: Project Update The WHCA board hosted City officials (David Fields, Lauren Grove, and Colin Lupold) at the January 10th general meeting. We had around 50 or so on … Continue reading

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More on the Winter Street Studios fire

The Chron profiles two artists that were affected by the recent fire at the Winter Street Studios. At Winter Street Studios, red caution tape draped an X pattern over an entrance to the building, a workspace for Houston area artists. … Continue reading

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A walk through four districts, part 2: Now with pictures

In yesterday’s post I described my weird idea to take a stroll into four Congressional districts, something I decided I could do after taking a close look at the new map in Houston. On Wednesday, a bit more than a … Continue reading

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The ribbon is finally cut on the White Oak bike trail extension

I’d been waiting for this. Hike and bike trail connectivity has just gotten better in the Houston Heights area now that work on a new connector is complete. The City of Houston held a ribbon cutting [last] Tuesday to celebrate … Continue reading

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The Winter Street Studios fire

This is so awful. A fire that broke out Tuesday morning at Winter Street Studios has damaged countless works of art and left many Houston artists without workspaces or gallery space. The fire, which began around 6:30 a.m., is being investigated as arson, … Continue reading

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Shepherd/Durham construction update

Good long story in the Chron. When the workers clear — still months away — Shepherd and Durham, along with some major side streets, will be remade, and in many ways reformed. The streets, dual thoroughfares that funnel traffic between Memorial Drive and … Continue reading

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White Oak bike trail extension: The final polish

I haven’t seen a news story or press release to say that the White Oak bike trail extension is now fully open, but what I have seen is bicyclists using the trail. So open it must be. And since the … Continue reading

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White Oak bike trail extension: I think we’re done now?

When we last looked about a month ago, it was clear that the construction on the White Oak Bike Trail extension was almost done, as there was just a small amount of concrete to be poured to connect the trail … Continue reading

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Now we’re dealing with hoax shootings

A new thing we need to be prepared for. Texas and other states have experienced hoax shootings, but experts say these threats shouldn’t be taken lightly. Research shows that if someone is going to commit a mass shooting there is … Continue reading

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Opera in the Heights will stay at Lambert Hall

Good news. The uncertainty is over, Opera in the Heights is staying home. After months of not knowing what the future for the neighborhood staple might hold, a consortium including a longtime Houston singing club and two donors have purchased … Continue reading

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The active shooter hoax at our neighborhood school

This made for a super eventful Tuesday afternoon. Police and panicked parents scrambled to Heights High School Tuesday afternoon, in frantic response to a false report that a gunman had shot 10 people in a room on the 2,400-student Houston … Continue reading

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The slow but steady march of Houston’s non-car transportation infrastructure

Good story. When he arrived in Houston two years ago, what David Fields saw belied what he had heard. The nation’s fourth-largest city has long been known as car-centric and geared toward commuting, with a web of wide freeways that … Continue reading

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West 11th construction is about to start

Get ready, here it comes. City staffers are finalizing a plan to add protected bike lanes along 11th Street in the Heights and reduce the number of driving lanes, despite pushback from some residents in the area. Crews will begin … Continue reading

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More on A Tale Of Two Bridges

After I wrote about the effort to get two new bike and pedestrian bridges built in the Heights area, with the intent of making some new connections across the White Oak Bayou and to the existing White Oak Bayou Trail, … Continue reading

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Woodland Heights Civic Association opposes I-10 elevation proposal

That’s my neighborhood, and this is the email they sent out on Thursday about it. In recent weeks the WHCA has challenged TxDOT on their plan to elevate I-10 near our neighborhood between Heights Blvd. and I-45. Due to the … Continue reading

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White Oak bike trail extension: Getting close to done

It’s been a bit more than a month since the last update, and as you can see a lot has gotten done. As you can see, the trail itself is about 90% done, with only the far west end still … Continue reading

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Yes, let’s build more bike trail bridges

It’s all about connectivity. Stopping for a water break on the normal blistering-hot Houston day, bicyclist Reagan Smithers, 33, can see the tops of the trees along her street from the White Oak Bayou Trail. As the grackle flies – … Continue reading

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Elevating I-10

My antennae are up about this. A state proposal to elevate Interstate 10 near White Oak Bayou is raising concerns among neighbors, who worry about the effects a higher freeway would have on noise and drainage. The $347 million project, … Continue reading

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White Oak Bike Trail extension: Look! Concrete!

A few days after the Fourth of July, I saw this on the White Oak Bike Trail extension: See here for the previous update. That’s the view from where the current trail had ended. I actually saw this bit of … Continue reading

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Multiple restaurants hit by “bad Google review” scam

This is on Google to fix. Multiple Houston restaurants are being targeted by a scam involving one-star Google reviews and a demand for digital gift cards to remove the negative post. The number of restaurants being extorted has grown in … Continue reading

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White Oak Bike Trail extension: Over the culvert we go

We have a bridge from one side of the construction to the other: You can see the outline of the overpass in my previous photos; you can also see how quickly an expanse of blank concrete can get graffitied. I … Continue reading

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Is there one last twist in the West 11th Street saga?

This was posted as an update to the change.org petition in support of the West 11th Street project: The opposition to making 11th street safer is asking TXDOT to stop the project-we need your help! The group that has organized … Continue reading

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West 11th Street will proceed as planned

Good. Plans to narrow 11th Street in the Heights, which have divided residents wider than the four-lane road some are trying to maintain, will proceed, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Tuesday. “This change isn’t easy and won’t satisfy everyone,” Turner said … Continue reading

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OK, now I know what the White Oak Bike Trail extension will look like

In my last post about the construction of the White Oak Bike Trail extension, I said that I couldn’t quite envision what the finished product would look like. That was partly because there were three things that looked like they … Continue reading

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CURBS Houston

In my last post about the West 11th Street project, I’ve noted that opposition to the project has been featured in news stories about it, but I have not seen any mention of organized support from the neighborhood – BikeHouston … Continue reading

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I don’t really know what the White Oak Bike Trail extension is going to look like

There’s not a whole lot of change since the last update a month ago, at least in terms of how things look and what the final shape of the update might be. There are two particular areas of question for … Continue reading

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Yeah, we’re still talking about West 11th Street

We can’t help it, sorry. When Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner assured concerned Heights residents he’d take “a closer look” at plans to reduce 11th Street to one lane in each direction, he likely didn’t expect a sightseeing tour to give … Continue reading

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The MKT Bridge has reopened

This pleasant surprise came out on Thursday evening. A vital and long-unused bridge in a buzzing Houston neighborhood is set to reopen. The M-K-T Bridge, located in The Heights near White Oak Bayou, will be accessible to users on Friday, … Continue reading

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