Sorry, Telephone Road. You should have thought about the possibility of the next Mayor being a bike hater when you began this work five years ago.
What was and now will not be
The Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority has tapped the brakes on approving a scaled-back $12 million redesign of Telephone Road in the East End that has been in the planning stages for years after a sharp pivot in city policy.
The board that oversees Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 23 had been expected to vote Monday on a plan once envisioned as a model for multimodal infrastructure. Community members now fear that Mayor John Whitmire’s administration’s overhaul doesn’t match that original intent.
The board postponed its decision until after an upcoming community engagement session, even though the delay could put some funding sources for the project at risk.
The Telephone Road situation mirrors recent controversy around the Montrose Boulevard redesign, where the city’s mobility directives similarly led to the removal of bike lanes and a shift back to vehicle-oriented planning, despite earlier community-supported designs.
TIRZ 23 officials and city representatives explained at the meeting how the project had been reshaped by the Whitmire administration, which has directed all roadway improvements across Houston to align with the mayor’s “guiding mobility principles.” Those principles prioritize maintaining traffic lanes while removing bike lanes and center medians, which the city says interfere with emergency response access.
The redesign will add about $438,000 to the project’s original $12 million price tag.
[…]
Public comments during the meeting reflected widespread dissatisfaction with the redesign. Many residents criticized the revised plan as a retreat from years of community planning.
Lindsey Williams, president of the Greater Eastwood Super Neighborhood, said the redesign was discouraging, particularly given how often she sees children crossing the road using the now-eliminated center turn lane as a refuge.
“I am hearing regularly that there is very strong concern about not having that center lane and not having an option for residents to stop in the middle on their way across Telephone Road because four lanes is very difficult to cross,” Williams said. “Especially if we are talking about kids crossing the road, that is a terrifying moment.”
Kevin Strickland, co-founder of Walk and Roll Houston, said the redesign fails to address the core safety concern: drivers speeding through the corridor. He argued that the original plan’s three-lane configuration was intentionally crafted to calm traffic.
“At no point have you heard either from Gage or the city justify why you need this project,” Strickland said. “They’ve simply described the new project.”
East End resident Lisa Hunt questioned the added $438,000 expense, calling the redesign a political and financial stewardship problem.
“That is a waste of tax payer money,” Hunt said. “And it’s not being done in the name of safety or beauty or progress for the East End.”
Just so you know that it’s not only about Montrose and the Heights. I didn’t follow the gutting of the West Alabama bike lanes, so add that to the tab as well. Putting aside the Mayor’s obsessions for a moment, what really bugs me about all this is how years of collaborative and cooperative work are just tossed aside because one guy says no. I don’t like making gratuitous comparisons to what’s going on with the federal government, but this just adds to the overwhelming feeling of not having control over one’s lives anymore. And it costs extra money, to boot. It sucks and I hate it.
You all know how I feel about our terrible mayor, so I am doing more bike education. I am often carrying bags of groceries when riding, and at four way stops drivers often try to wave me on through despite me getting there later. What they don’t realize is that I cannot see through their tinted windows. So we both sit there. I appreciate the courtesy, but please, just follow the rules and go in your turn. I can’t see if you are waving me on or flipping me off. Also, please, please signal turns. Unexpected turns are bad for everyone but especially bike riders. At a red light a driver opposite just sits there when the light turns green. Is he planning a left turn to hit me, waiting for me to go on, looking at his phone or what? Too much guesswork, and I cannot see him thru the dark windows.