Tag Archives: I-45

What can we really do about I-45?

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Urban planner Jeff Speck is once again warning us about the negative effects of widening I-45. TxDOT cites three principal motivations for advancing the I-45 project: reducing traffic congestion, improving driver safety, and improving air quality. These laudable goals are … Continue reading →

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More driverless trucks

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Look out on I-45. When Don Burnette worked at Otto, a self-driving truck startup, his team hit some pretty big milestones. It recorded the first shipment of cargo delivered by a self-driving truck: 50,000 cans of Budweiser in 2016. It … Continue reading →

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Metro referendum is set

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members voted Tuesday to ask voters in November for permission to borrow up to $3.5 billion, without raising taxes. The money would cover the first phase of what local leaders expect to be … Continue reading →

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HGAC makes its pledge to TxDOT for I-45

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of pushback, but not enough to change the outcome. Local transportation officials now have skin in the game when it comes to widening Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston, approving on Friday a $100 million commitment for the project … Continue reading →

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HGAC gives initial approval to TxDOT’s funding demand

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Approval with concerns. There will be opportunities to revisit this. Plans to overhaul Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston inched forward this week, but not without some hesitation and a slew of caveats by some local officials who have been … Continue reading →

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Another manifesto against I-45 expansion

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

They’re fun to read, and my heart is with them, but we all know how this works. The I-45 project is likely to do irreversible damage to our city’s finances and ecology. It will reduce the city’s tax base by … Continue reading →

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TxDOT wants H-GAC to commit money to the I-45 project

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t understand this. To demonstrate local support for the mega-project, the Texas Department of Transportation is asking the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council, the committee that doles out state and federal money controlled by local officials, to commit … Continue reading →

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In defense of the I-45 expansion

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Jeff Balke rises in opposition to the anti-I-45-expansion clamor. We have seen comments on social media and rantings about how our city should be more bike friendly and pedestrian safe. How we need commuter rail, better bus service and rapid … Continue reading →

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What if we didn’t expand I-45?

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an awful lot of money that comes with a ton of negative effects and which, if the I-10 expansion is any guide, will have short-lived positive effects. So maybe we should just, like, not do it? A massive remake … Continue reading →

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Still filled with dread about I-45

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone got a paper bag I can breathe into? Strip away the enormity of rebuilding Interstate 45 and the promise of speedier trips along downtown Houston freeways, and two questions about the once-in-a-generation project remain: How many negative effects are … Continue reading →

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Independence Heights and I-45

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes, with everything else that’s going on in the world, I forget that the I-45 expansion is still out there, looming like a battleship in the harbor. But there it is, and we can’t not worry about it. For Tanya … Continue reading →

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What’s wrong with the I-45 expansion plan?

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Urban planner Jeff Speck, in a recent lecture in Houston, lays out the following problems with the planned I-45 expansion: The brief list of negatives include: I-45 will wreck your bayou parks. I-45 will destroy wildlife habitat. I-45 will make … Continue reading →

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The World Cup and its possible infrastructure effects

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Assuming Houston does get to be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, that could spur some major projects, for transportation and recreation and who knows what else. Houston will not receive final word on the bid until … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder, the I-45 construction is going to be massive

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t quite wrp my mind around the scope of it. I suspect a lot of us feel the same way. Birds flitting in and out of the grass and trees along this strip of marsh pay no heed to … Continue reading →

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From the “we don’t want those people coming here” files

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Stay classy, Spring. The headline wasn’t subtle: “Stop Metro from coming to Spring.” The article,published July 15 on the website Spring Happenings, warned that bus service would “give criminals an easy way in and out” of the north Harris County … Continue reading →

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The process for I-45

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This time it’s different, more or less. The region’s largest looming highway project – a massive rebuild of Interstate 45 from the Sam Houston Tollway to downtown Houston – has a lot of people looking into the rear-view mirror, pressing … Continue reading →

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Try to wrap your mind around what I-45 will look like post-construction

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot is here to help. HAVING TROUBLE SIFTING through some of the massive freeway jumbles in the latest plans for that major I-45 reroute between Downtown and the Beltway? This new video (making the rounds this month as TxDOT hosts a set of public meetings … Continue reading →

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TxDOT public hearings on I-45 widening scheduled for May 9th & May 11th

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from Jim Weston of the I-45 Coalition: The I-45 Project – Planning Stage is coming to an end!  This next meeting is a HEARING –  much different from the public meetings that TxDOT has been holding. This … Continue reading →

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Get ready for lots of road construction

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Because a lot of money is fixing to be spent on it. A sweeping revision of state highway plans adds nearly $9 billion in new funds for improving Texas roadways, including a $1.32 billion infusion in the Houston area for … Continue reading →

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Get ready for more I-45 chaos

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Lord have mercy on our souls. Relieving one of Houston’s worst bottlenecks will come with some lengthy complications for northbound drivers on Interstate 45 headed into Houston’s central business district, starting Friday night. After years of delay, work is starting … Continue reading →

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TxDOT accelerates I-45 construction timeline

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Gird your loins. For many long-suffering Houston drivers, a solution to the infuriating bottleneck on Interstate 45 through downtown is likely something they thought they wouldn’t live to see. More than a decade ago, a plan pitched to solve the … Continue reading →

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Texas Central releases ridership study

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From their website: A comprehensive ridership study conducted by L.E.K Consulting has confirmed that Texas is ready for a privately developed Bullet Train line serving North Texas, the greater Brazos Valley and The Greater Houston Metro areas. According to this … Continue reading →

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The Food Bank’s new home

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them all the best at their new address. The giant “End Hunger” message emblazoned in green on the Houston Food Bank building just north of downtown will soon go away as the charitable organization plans to start cooking … Continue reading →

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I-45 onramp closures coming

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Texas Department of Transportation will close the Houston Avenue southbound and Allen Parkway eastbound entrance ramps to I-45 southbound on Friday, July 8 to begin construction on new ramps that will improve traffic flow and enhance … Continue reading →

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Still waiting for a design for I-45

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Pull up a chair and relax, this could take awhile. After 15 years of discussion, study and ideas for improvements ranging from enormous tunnels to a massive circulating freeway loop, planners are still at least six months from unveiling their … Continue reading →

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Woodland Heights neighborhood traffic management plan

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Of primary interest to the folks in my neighborhood only, though I will note that as Mayor Turner has made it easier for neighborhoods to request traffic-calming measures like speed cushions, this could be in your future as well. Tonight … Continue reading →

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I-45 update: North St Bridge and more

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The latest update from the I-45 Coalition: Dear I-45 Coalition member, October 2015 was the last update … it’s now May 2016 … several things have changed in the past 8 months. As a quick summary, TxDOT will be rebuilding … Continue reading →

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The Purple City plan for I-45

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Check it out. Should a major freeway plan consider the needs of cyclists? Of transit riders? And if we’re going to tear down and reconstruct the entire downtown freeway network of the fourth-largest city in America, shouldn’t the final result … Continue reading →

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Turner wants to rethink transportation

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I like the way he’s thinking. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in less than a month on the job, has hit the streets at full speed. First he tackled potholes. Last week he tackled a state transportation department that’s spent the … Continue reading →

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Know any good, solvent highway construction firms?

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

TxDOT is looking for a few. Drivers on Interstate 45 will wait longer for better connections to Loop 610 and U.S. 59 because a Woodlands-based contractor will have to be replaced. The jobs, totaling about $102 million, were won by … Continue reading →

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Here comes I-14

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t hold your breath waiting for it, however. This will take awhile. Texas is getting a new interstate, as part of a long-term federal transportation bill. Interstate 14 will be cobbled together mostly from U.S. 190 and other existing roads … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of the Montgomery County bond referendum

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The voters there are engaged in this issue, that much is for sure. Life is on hold in the parking lot that is Rayford Road, 4 miles of too many cars squeezing into too few lanes. Even when it isn’t … Continue reading →

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Three I-45 updates

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From The Highwayman: Texas Transportation Commission members on Thursday approved a $3.6 million contract with Main Lane Industries, based in Houston, to replace the entrance ramp from Allen Parkway to southbound I-45. The ramp, which whips drivers through a steep … Continue reading →

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I got those reverse commuting blues

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Woodlands is growing as en employment center, which means it is also seeing a lot more traffic in what used to be the reverse commute direction. There is no longer a simple drive to this onetime bedroom community, which … Continue reading →

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