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The Houston-to-Dallas High-Speed Rail Line Might Still Happen

The Houston-to-Dallas High-Speed Rail Line Might Still Happen

Six Suggestions for TMC's Mobility Plan

Six Suggestions for TMC's Mobility Plan

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I-45 Construction to Begin Next Year, Continue for Two Decades

By Jeff Balke
May 5, 2023

The Houston Chronicle published a story Thursday with an apt quote in the title: "Just kill me now." That from a man who lives in Spring and be subjected to the largest freeway overhaul in Houston history for nearly 20 years...assuming he survives. Whatever we have seen in construction to area...
As METRO Brings Back In-House Bus Service, the Call For More Drivers Goes Out

By Faith Bugenhagen
May 2, 2023

After reaching a low of 1,357 bus operators during the height of the pandemic, the greater-Houston area transit system METRO is leaning on incentive payments and provided-training to attract new operators for their Park & Ride express bus services. Despite extending two existing contracts with AFC Transportation and First Class...
Opinion: New Bike Paths Are Great for the Heights, but Not for Arguing Neighbors

By Jeff Balke
Mar 29, 2023

"This is Houston, not Amsterdam." Those were the words of a commenter in a thread on Next Door about the concrete abutments on 11th Street near Yale that were causing a bit of a stir among residents who choose to argue online. Admittedly, a cursory check of that particular intersection...
The I-45 Expansion Is Happening, So Get Out of the Way

By Dianna Wray
Mar 10, 2023

The Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration announced this week that they have struck a deal regarding the federal civil rights complaint that has had the $9 billion I-45 project idling for the past two years. And just like that, the controversial I-45 Houston expansion project is...
Houston METRO to Decide on Partnership with Houston Bike Share

By Faith Bugenhagen
Jan 26, 2023

Next week, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s board will vote on a partnership with Houston Bike Share that they say will increase the city’s connectivity, and help with the company's bike share program, BCycle. BCycle started in 2012 with three stations, and now has 155 stations across the...
Family of Deceased Cyclist Files Lawsuit Against Waste Company

By Faith Bugenhagen
Nov 16, 2022

On October 8 at 6:37 a.m. Bre’Ana Powell, 27, was bicycling home from her work at Hobby Airport. She worked night shifts, while she attended veterinary school. When Powell turned right into the intersection between Broadway and Morley streets, she was struck by a Republic Waste Services of Texas garbage...
Life and Death Rides: Bicycling the Streets of Houston

By Faith Bugenhagen
Oct 31, 2022

David Loredo peers out, watching cars pass on W. Dallas; the breeze ruffles the flowers and letters from loved ones that surround Shane McKinney’s Ghost Bike. Over a week ago, Loredo and other Pride Ride volunteers spent their evening cleaning the spot where their fellow rider had been struck by...
Backing in to Park is Better: 5 Reasons Why According to Twitter

By Jeff Balke
Aug 31, 2022

It felt like an innocuous question. Why are there so many people who choose to back into parking spaces? The topic came up after watching numerous people try desperately with varying degrees of success to back into spots at the grocery store, gym and other locations around town. Some were...
Texas Central Can Use Eminent Domain, Texas Supreme Court Rules

By Dianna Wray
Jun 27, 2022

Well go figure. Just when it seemed like Texas Central—and its ambitious plan to build the state’s first high-speed rail line–was swirling the drain, the Texas Supreme Court has given the company a significant win. That’s right, after years of contention over the company’s plan to use eminent domain to legally force any...
Has Texas Central Gone the Way of the Dodo Bird? [UPDATED]

By Dianna Wray
Jun 23, 2022

Here’s what we know for certain: Texas Central’s CEO Carlos Aguilar, head of the private company with the ambitious (and continually delayed) plan to run a highspeed rail line between Houston and Dallas, recently announced that he’d stepped down from his position—via LinkedIn. “While I could not align our current...
11th Street Bike Plan Approved

By Jeff Balke
Jun 20, 2022

Over the next few years, the Houston Heights roadways will be transformed to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians thanks to an ambitious plan put forth by Mayor Sylvester Turner as part of his Vision Zero plan to end all roadway deaths by 2030. The plan includes adding dedicated...
Carmageddon XXX: The Loop Ramp Closing

By Jeff Balke
Apr 27, 2022

You knew it would happen. We've all been expecting, nay, dreading this day and it is upon us. The continual work on the disaster that is the re-construction of the I-69-Loop 610 interchange is about to get...brace yourself...worse. According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, TxDot is preparing to...
Is the Company Behind the Texas Bullet Train Behind on Paying Property Taxes?

By Dianna Wray
Apr 4, 2022

The hits just keep on coming for Texas Central. Now a number of Texas counties contend that the company behind the planned 236-mile, Houston-to-Dallas highspeed rail line is behind on property taxes. The allegation comes as both sides of the debate over whether or not to run a bullet train...
Bike Lanes in Houston Are a Joke

By Jeff Balke
Jan 10, 2022

Houston is a car city. It always has been and it likely always will be. The massive size alone in all directions makes planning for and building alternate forms of transportation nearly impossible due to the cost and infrastructure needs. But, for all the complaints you'll hear from pedestrians and...
Texas Central Seeking Federal Funds to Jumpstart the Texas Bullet Train Project

By Dianna Wray
Nov 8, 2021

Way back when Texas Central was first formulating its plans to construct a highspeed rail line that would tote passengers between Houston and Dallas in just 90 minutes, company officials made vague, broad promises that they would not be seeking any federal funding to construct the Shinkansen railway. However, that’s...
Downtown Houston Streets Close For Sunday Fireworks

By Houston Press
Jul 2, 2021

Houston's Happy Fourth of July festivities — whether they come off or not depending on which weather forecast you believe — will require the closure of several streets which are listed below. In addition, according to a press release sent out Friday afternoon, unnamed roadways that are near these streets...
Feds Tell TxDOT To Pump Brakes On I-45 Expansion Over Civil Rights & Environmental Worries

By Schaefer Edwards
Jun 23, 2021

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday celebrated a recent move from President Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation to attempt and stop the controversial plan to expand Houston’s I-45 highway from going forward. In a press conference with fellow Democrat and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, Hidalgo shared the contents...
Hundreds of Thousands of Potentially Killer Airbags Still On Texas Roads

By Schaefer Edwards
May 13, 2021

Takata-brand airbags were recalled all the way back in 2008 after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered life-threatening malfunctions that could shoot dangerous metal shrapnel at car passengers when the airbags deployed. But even though 19 people have been killed by these defective airbags and hundreds more have been...
A Truck Tumps Over at 59 South at 288 and Friday Traffic Backs Up For Miles

By Houston Press
May 7, 2021

Happy Friday Houston. A semi turned over while traveling on US.-59 South this morning, and because of how it landed, there was no way to get around it till wreckers could clear it. Traffic backed up for miles as drivers desperately scrambled for some way out of the mess. Or...
A Third of the Way Into 2021 and Houston Highways Are Setting New Records For Crazy

By Jeff Balke
Apr 30, 2021

Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the freeway, the Houston area once again rolls out the red carpet of crazy. Normally, traffic warnings might include freeway closures, hazardous chemical spills, hundreds of nighttime bicyclists or people stopping in the middle of the highway for a marriage...