Tag Archives: sidewalks

Connecting Uptown and Memorial Park

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I approve of this. The overwhelming task of getting to Memorial Park from Uptown by bike or on foot is poised to vastly improve, provided a $22 million project for a bridge across Buffalo Bayou and underpass of Loop 610 … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, bike trails, Buffalo Bayou, construction, Harris County, Houston, I-610, John Breeding, Memorial Park, pedestrians, sidewalks, Texas, Uptown, Uptown Management District, urbanism | Comments Off

Saturday video break: CityNerd visits Houston

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An urban planner who has mostly heard negative things about Houston visits our city for a couple of days, and finds quite a bit about it that he likes: Found via Evan Mintz. It’s about 20 minutes (there’s about two … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, Election 2023, Fair For Houston, HGAC, Houston, I-45, pedestrians, sidewalks, urbanism, videos | Comments Off

The sidewalk situation

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We have a lot of work to do. Growing up in Gulfton, Sandra Rodriguez walked just about everywhere. Her father took the family’s only vehicle to work, so Rodriguez and her four siblings got used to the southwest neighborhood’s patchy … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged budget, Commissioners Court, construction, Gulfton, Harris County, Houston, Kashmere Gardens, Metro, pedestrians, Sandra Rodriguez, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism | 1 Comment

Another neighborhood road projects/bike lanes update

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Bayou Greenway Initiative, bicycles, Bike Houston, bike lanes, bike trails, buses, construction, Heights, Houston, Houston Parks Board, Metro, MKT Trail, North Main, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism, Vision Zero, White Oak Bayou | 3 Comments

City passes Mayor Turner’s final budget

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready, whoever is up next. Houston city staff will see pay raises, money will go toward sidewalk repairs and residents won’t have to maintain their own drainage ditches anymore. All are part of the $6.2 billion budget that passed through Houston … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged budget, coronavirus, drainage, Election 2023, HFD, Houston, Houston City Council, HPD, Mayor, property taxes, revenue cap, sidewalks, stimulus, Sylvester Turner, The Lege | 16 Comments

A ride down the West 11th bike trail

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged B-Cycle, bicycles, bike lanes, construction, Heights, Houston, MKT Trail, North Main, pedestrians, sidewalks, urbanism | 1 Comment

“More Space: Main Street” permanently extended

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A good outcome for a good idea. Houston will close down traffic on seven blocks of Main Street permanently to allow businesses to maintain outdoor seating spaces initially established during the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to expand the concept to other commercial strips in … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Food, glorious food | Tagged coronavirus, downtown, Houston, Houston City Council, More Space Main Street, parking, restaurants, sidewalks | Comments Off

More on the state of B-Cycle

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I think they will come out of this in better shape, but change is always hard. In a sense, Maya Ford is just trying to get Houston Bike Share back in gear in the hope that it has a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged B-Cycle, bicycles, BRT, buses, Houston, Houston Bike Share, light rail, Metro, pedestrians, sidewalks | Comments Off

A brief 11th Street update

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, bike lanes, construction, Heights, Houston, local control, pedestrians, sidewalks, TxDOT, urbanism | 2 Comments

Metro approves initial takeover of B-Cycle

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m optimistic about this. The Metro board approved a six-to-nine month transition period where operations now overseen by the nonprofit Houston Bike Share will move into the transit agency. Officials said rolling the bike borrowing system into the transit made … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged B-Cycle, bicycles, BRT, buses, Houston, Houston Bike Share, light rail, Metro, pedestrians, Sanjay Ramabhadran, sidewalks, Tom Lambert | Comments Off

A new proposal for adding sidewalks

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’d like to hear more about this. Some homeowners and developers soon may be able to opt out of requirements to build sidewalks and instead pay a fee into a new fund the city would use to build sidewalks across … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged construction, David Fields, Greater Houston Builders Association, Houston, Houston City Council, Houston Planning Commission, pedestrians, Robert Gallegos, Sallie Alcorn, sidewalks | 1 Comment

Will Metro take over B-Cycle?

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I like the idea and hope Metro can really run with it. The Houston area’s biggest bus operator is considering getting in the bike business, infusing up to $500,000 into the city’s network of docked two-wheelers. Under the proposal, scheduled for a vote … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged B-Cycle, bicycles, BRT, buses, Houston, Houston Bike Share, light rail, Metro, pedestrians, Sanjay Ramabhadran, sidewalks, Tom Lambert | 1 Comment

So what’s the deal with that I-45 deal?

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Still to be determined. Houston, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation have an agreed path forward for rebuilding Interstate 45, and a lot of steps to get there. Details big and small remain works in progress and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Air Alliance Houston, BRT, construction, Federal Highway Administration, flooding, Hardy Toll Road, Harris County, Harris County Attorney, Harris County Flood Control District, Houston, I-10, I-45, Independence Heights, lawsuit, Main Street line, Metro, Sanjay Ramabhadran, sidewalks, Stop I-45, Sylvester Turner, Texas, TxDOT, US59 | Comments Off

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

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Election 2022, Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged bike trails, CD07, CD18, CD29, CD38, Heights, Houston, I-45, MKT Trail, pedestrians, sidewalks, Texas, Washington Avenue, White Oak | 3 Comments

Shepherd/Durham construction update

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, bike lanes, BRT, buses, construction, Heights, Houston, I-10, I-610, Inner Katy line, Memorial-Heights Redevelopment Authority, Metro, pedestrians, Shepherd, sidewalks, urbanism | Comments Off

West 11th construction is about to start

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, Bike Houston, buses, construction, density, Heights, Houston, Metro, pedestrians, Shepherd, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism, Vision Zero | 3 Comments

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

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, bicycles, bike lanes, construction, CURBS Houston, Greg Abbott, Heights, Houston, local control, pedestrians, San Antonio, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, The Lege, TxDOT, urbanism | 1 Comment

West 11th Street will proceed as planned

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, bicycles, bike lanes, construction, CURBS Houston, Heights, Houston, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism | 2 Comments

CURBS Houston

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, bicycles, bike lanes, construction, CURBS Houston, Heights, Houston, Janette Lindner, Memorial-Heights Redevelopment Authority, pedestrians, Shepherd, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism | 8 Comments

The limits of Vision Zero

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A long read about a tough problem. Los Angeles was not the first U.S. city to sign on to Vision Zero: Chicago (2012), New York City (2014) and San Francisco (2014) had already adopted the Scandinavian-born safety movement. But L.A. moved quickly, revamping 18 corridors — including the Hollywood and … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged accidents, Europe, Houston, pedestrians, sidewalks, speed limits, Vision Zero | Comments Off

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

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, bicycles, Bike Houston, construction, density, Heights, Houston, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism, Vision Zero | Comments Off

Stalking Coco, the food delivery robot

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A delightful tale by Chron food editor Emma Balter, who was determined to prove to herself that Coco the food delivery robot actually worked as advertised, even on Houston’s notoriously un-pedestrian (and presumably food-delivery-robot) streets. It took a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged Coco, driverless cars, Houston, Montrose, pedestrians, restaurants, robots, sidewalks | Comments Off

The next street safety project my neighborhood will be fighting about

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

My wife came back from this month’s civic association meeting and handed me a flyer for this, along with more or less the exact words I’ve used in the title of this post. North Main Street runs north from I-10 … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, bike lanes, buses, Heights, Houston, I-45, Karla Cisneros, light rail, Metro, North Main, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism, Vision Zero | 2 Comments

More eating outdoors downtown

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good idea, and I’m glad it’s being continued. DINING IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON CAN be a hassle, what with the limited parking and COVD-19 restrictions affecting seating space at so many eateries. Fortunately, the city of Houston is … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Food, glorious food | Tagged coronavirus, downtown, Houston, Houston City Council, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, More Space Main Street, parking, restaurants, sidewalks, Texas Restaurant Association | Comments Off

More on the 11th Street project

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorial board mostly approves of the city’s plans for 11th Street in the Heights. Ever since Mayor Sylvester Turner unveiled his Vision Zero Action Plan — an ambitious program to end traffic fatalities by 2030 — the city … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged bicycles, Bike Houston, Christina Morales, construction, density, Election 2006, Heights, Houston, John Culberson, John Whitmire, Karla Cisneros, light rail, pedestrians, Penny Shaw, Richmond, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, University line, urbanism, Vision Zero | Comments Off

The 11th Street makeover

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna be interesting to see how this turns out. A main thoroughfare through Houston’s Heights is the latest street where city officials are preparing for fewer car lanes, in an effort to consider more ways that people get around. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged bicycles, Bike Houston, construction, density, Heights, Houston, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism, Vision Zero | 2 Comments

The Shepherd and Durham Major Investment Project

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for some major construction, but the end result will be well worth it. Beginning next month, those who travel along North Shepherd Drive and Durham Drive in the Heights are going to have to cope with road construction … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Abbie Kamin, bicycles, bike lanes, buses, construction, Heights, Houston, I-10, I-610, Memorial-Heights Redevelopment Authority, Metro, pedestrians, Shepherd, sidewalks, urbanism | 1 Comment

Downtown kiosks

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure yet how I feel about this. City Council on Wednesday will consider a plan to install up to 125 interactive digital kiosks around the city, a proposal that has drawn support from city officials who tout the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged Andy Icken, billboards, downtown, Edward Pollard, Houston, Houston City Council, kiosks, pedestrians, Sallie Alcorn, Scenic Houston, sidewalks | 9 Comments

Scooters banned from sidewalks

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Fine by me. Houston has scuttled scooter rentals along city sidewalks, and kicked riders of the two-wheel transports in busy areas into the street. City Council on Wednesday approved changes to Houston’s codes outlawing any rental activity that impedes public … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged B-Cycle, bicycles, Bike Houston, bike lanes, bike trails, downtown, Glyderz, Greg Travis, Houston, Houston City Council, Medical Center, pedestrians, Robert Gallegos, scooters, ScootsTX, sidewalks, Uptown | 1 Comment

Houston’s scooter problem

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Wait, when did we get scooters? A plan in Houston to prohibit vendors from renting motorized scooters on city sidewalks has suppliers of the two-wheel contraptions revved up, and city officials holding the line to have scooters clear the way. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Austin, bike trails, Dallas, downtown, Glyderz, Houston, Maria Irshad, pedestrians, San Antonio, scooters, ScootsTX, sidewalks | 1 Comment

Bike lanes for the Red Line

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I approve. The belief that Northside Houston residents will bike to buses and trains if it is safer to do so is bringing more curb work to Cavalcade, paid for out the same pot of federal money that brought the … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bicycles, bike lanes, bond referendum, buses, construction, Election 2019, Houston, light rail, Main Street line, Metro, sidewalks | 3 Comments

Eating on the street

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This makes a lot of sense. Main Street bar owners are expected to take to the streets now that the city has given them the OK. City Council on Wednesday approved, after some delay, plans for the More Space Main … Continue reading →

In which Houston becomes more walkable

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. On 19th Street, one of Houston’s most enduring strips of shops and restaurants, there is a vacant lot tucked between two stores, about a block from the landmark “Heights” sign. When developers recently expressed interest in putting … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Local politics | Tagged density, Houston, Houston City Council, Houston Planning Commission, Midtown, Near Northside, parking, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, urbanism | 3 Comments

City moves forward on Vision Zero

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Tuesday adopted a plan that aims to end traffic fatalities and serious traffic injuries in Houston by 2030. The “Vision Zero Houston” plan is considered a significant step in the city’s mobility strategy and will … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged accidents, bicycles, Bike Houston, Houston, Metro, pedestrians, sidewalks, Sylvester Turner, TxDOT, urbanism, Vision Zero | 22 Comments

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