The newly LED-equipped crossings over US-59 between Shepherd Dr. and Midtown should be getting officially flipped on around 8 pm tomorrow, after a few weeks of on-and-off testing. The 2 Gandys of Gandy² Lighting Design tell Swamplot that the lights will likely run from sunset to sunrise; the tentative plan in the leadup to the Super Bowl is for the bridges to show off the competitors’ team colors. The Patriots’ red-white-and-blue are demoed above, but here are some shots of what else the new fixtures can do, now that all the tuning up is largely finished:
***
- Previously on Swamplot:Â New Colored LEDs Now Periodically Exposing Themselves on Bridges over 59;Â Never Mind the Lawsuit; Montrose Management District Still Marking Its Territory;Â Comment of the Day: A Low-Cost Lighting Option for the 59 Bridges;Â What It Would Cost To Get Those 59 Bridge Lights Working Again;Â Swamplot Street Sleuths: Giving 59 a Light Twist
Photos: Gandy² Lighting Design
Getting Turned On
I hope they’re still testing as I noticed a part of the arc on the west side of Dunleavy was not lit as I drove home tonight. It would be a total fiasco if these don’t work any better than the originals.
Beautiful! Can’t wait to get a look up close.
Pretty distractions for drivers on the always crowded Pierce Elevated Southwest Freeway below, hope it does not cause more wrecks than we already have down there.
Could think of a better way to blow $3 million hard earned tax dollars the local businesses were forced to pay.
Who pays for the maintenance when the lights go out?
I Wonder if the MMD Board Member Spenders of Tax Dollars invited the 1000 or so commercial property owners paying for the 4 Mil plus Neon Bridge Lighting to the Grand Opening?
Ooooo….pretty shiny things. What a waste of taxpayer money?
If I recall correctly the original installation of lights was not maintenance friendly/inexpensive. Has there been any improvement. I doubt it.
I’ve heard there were four (4) recent resignations from the Montrose Management District Board.
One of the 4 resignation was supposedly Kathy Hubbard, Mayor Parker’s significant other. (Maybe their spending more time in Colorado?) How can the District “survive” without her expertise?
I guess Hawes Hill needs “new” Neon Lighting Experts or Sign Experts on their MMD Board since I’m sure Hawes Hill wants the $30K in their monthly managing fees to continue indefinately?
These lights are going to be a big distraction and a maintenance nightmare. Too bad the little Mom and Pop businesses got stuck with the bill of over 3 million bucks. At least they have the judges ruling that the district was formed illegally and the little guy is supposed to get their money back. To make sure of this a class action suite has been filed and another suite has been filed to dissolve the district. They never figured out they were not dealing with just any ordinary housewives!
Some facts about the costs: the total cost is $3.7 million. $1.4 of that was contributed by TX-DOT and HGAC (Houston-Galveston Area Council). That leaves $2.3 million by the MMD.
FWIW, TxDOT kicked in $1.4M and the Houston-Galveston Area Council paid about $700k, so the MMD share is about $1.6M.
@ Skeptic: I’d like it even better if your figures were correct, but according to the reporting I’ve seen, it’s as I stated earlier.
.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/houston-celebrates-relighting-montrose-bridges-140000070.html;_ylt=A0LEVu7dK5VYXzIA3UQPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByaWg0YW05BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM4BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–