From a reader: this photo of the new parking conditions created by construction of the East End rail line in front of Briar Forest Dental at 5208 Harrisburg, at the corner of Edgewood, a block east of Eastwood Park.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
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No wonder any type of publicly funded construction costs 30X what is should.
Related, downtown mobility has taken a punch in the mouth due to the rail construction.
When two rail lines are eventually crossing downtown, there is real potential for some serious gridlock.
Mayor White got it when it came to downtown mobility.
Parker is lost and still amazed she actually won – only in Houston.
So one handicap parking spot is more important then a entire light rail line ?
Road construction often negatively impacts traffic patterns. And it has been known to take out parking spaces as roads were widened. Guess we should stop building roads.
From looking at Streetview, it appears that entire building (and many others along the street) have lost their streetfront parking. I don’t know what modern Main St. looked like before the rail but I imagine there were similar parking spot deletions.
No room for the parking spot anyways, the ROW gobbled it up.
They are doing some dumb things. I agree with Craig. It already takes a lot longer to get around where the rail lines are, and it’s not getting any better. The timing of the lights sucks, too.
No need for the parking space, just take the rail to the drug store.
There will always be some problems that come from putting in a major transpertation structure, however I am concerned about the property owner lossing value on his/her investment. Without proper parking, what can that structure be used for? Somebody at metro planning has not FULLY done there job. I am very excited about the rail lines and fully support our mayor for her efforts. Hopefully metro has already been in contact with the property owner and worked out a deal. Otherwise we are looking at a law suit, or I guess the city would claim imminent domain.
Fail!
Many cities have limited parking in downtown areas. Change is not always bad.
Yes Mel – the timing of the lights is beyond terrible.
White’s Red Light Synchronization program was terrific. It was almost too good for Govt. work.
With four trains passing through downtown Red Light Synchronization will no longer be possible.
If you look down the street on google street view, you can see sidewalk on the abutting property. Unless there was a very odd deviation in the City’s right of way, it is pretty clear that the parking spaces were built on top of the City’s ROW. Cuss about the light rail all you want, but this one appears to fall squarely on the land owner’s shoulders.
This whole Light Rail business reminds me of the “Monorail” episode of the Simpsons.
The same situation happened to alot of businesses that faced old Katy road before they expanded the Katy freeway. They didn’t fail because they lost their front parking spots. I don’t see what the fuss is about.
Still, that’s one funny picture
@Lost In Trans…The fuss is about a bunch of anti rail whiners who need well a reason to whine.
I want the rail, but doing it at grade level is the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Metro has completely hosed traffic in the med center and downtown isn’t any better. What’s wrong with elevating the thing in congested areas?
Briar Forest is in west Houston. So why is there a “Briar Forest Dental” on Harrisburg?
It sort of reminds me of “Lovers Lane Used Cars” lot on Tidwell, which is about 180 miles south of Lovers Lane in Dallas.
Downtown Houston isn’t congested. Take a trip to New York one day. Manhattan is congested. Downtown Houston traffic is a New Yorker’s dream.
Steve, I walk to the rail by Breakfast Klub and zip down to the medical center often. As does my brother in law who lives in Montrose. Try using it sometime. It’s actually pretty cool.
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From the perspective of someone that doesn’t use rail, I can see them not liking it. However, while it does hose traffic a bit, what would the effect be of all those rail riders driving their own cars?
Thomas, that is beyond the point.
At grade buses on rails (AKA Light Rail) negatively impacts traffic in Houston’s CBD and urban core.
I voted for light rail, ride it at least once a month, and lived in Midtown (Jackson @ Dennis) during the ENTIRE construction of the line.
I think the reality of light rail is it’s actually a grand 20+ year + real estate development project.
We are not making the East End attractive so that the working poor have access to rail. We are making it attractive to to get the poor people out, and the DINKS and Yuppie people in.
From a tax base perspective this is not a bad thing, but a funny way to get their via buses on rails.
I’m actually on the hunt for property in the East End – it’s the next Montrose in my book.
maybe I missed someone else catching this, but a handicap space this is not, in texas painting it on the ground isn’t good enough, there has to be a sign posted on the parking space as well that denotes it as handicapped only. Not that this isn’t a silly looking parking space in and of itself…
There appears to be a curb cut right next to the parking spot. All the business needs to do is simply re-stripe the parking space to face the curb cut. Easy.
Who’s going to this dentist-are they going after homeless and medicaid?