Swamplot Archives by Category: Freeways and Toll Roads

Popular Stories in This Category:

Monday, March 23, 2009

Grand Parkway Sprawl Stimulus

March 23, 2009 – 11:27 am
   

“The road exemplifies an unintended effect of the stimulus law: an administration that opposes suburban sprawl is giving money to states for projects that are almost certain to exacerbate it. A new master-planned community called Bridgeland is rising on the prairie along the proposed site of the road; once completed, the development is expected to have 21,000 new homes on 11,400 acres. Other developers are eagerly awaiting the new road so they can start building on their empty land, too. . . . [Roger H. Hord, the president of the West Houston Association] pointed out that the road would connect two existing highways and said it would ease congestion on some of Houston’s other beltways. He said that an existing leg of the Grand Parkway, just to the south of the proposed leg, would give a sense of what the new stretch of the Grand Parkway might look like when it is done. The existing stretch is lined with strip malls and gas stations and drug stores and a huge 7,600-acre residential development called Cinco Ranch that is popular with families.” [New York Times]

11:27 am | 4 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Neighborhoods: Bridgeland, Neighborhoods: Cinco Ranch, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Sprawl
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,
Thursday, March 12, 2009

Grand Parkway Segment E: Mall Shopper Express Lanes

March 12, 2009 – 8:55 pm
   

Approvals by the Harris County Commissioners Court this week — along with the timely arrival of $181 million of the state’s stimulus money — means nothing but a new Sierra Club lawsuit now stands in the way of building Segment E of the Grand Parkway toll road. The segment, which will cut through the Katy Prairie between I-10 and 290, will allow shoppers a convenient and direct link from the Katy Mills Mall to the new Houston Premium Outlets mall in Cypress, just west of Fairfield. “Peter Haughton with General Growth Properties said, ‘We need this road to continue the build out of Bridgeland, which we hope will be one of America’s best master planned communities.’” [abc13]

8:55 pm | 15 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Katy, Malls, Neighborhoods: Cypress, Neighborhoods: Fairfield, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,
Friday, February 6, 2009

Katy Freeway Report

February 6, 2009 – 12:19 pm
   

“Has anyone else noticed that traffic on I-10 is still not great? I have a ‘reverse’ commute on I-10 every day. Before the expansion traffic was fine inside the loop outbound in the morning, slow outside the loop. Inbound in the evening it was slow outside the loop, fine inside, except near the 10-45 interchange. Now things are much smoother outbound, no delay at all. Inbound, however, is a nightmare. Traffic comes to nearly a complete stop approaching the 10-45 interchange, and is usually very slow all the way back to Shepherd / Durham. Observing the ‘regular’ commuters across the median, things are of course worse. In the mornings the backup to get onto the loop or through the 10-45 interchange is insane, it’s bad in the evenings as well.” [NeoHouston]

12:19 pm | 17 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink, Traffic
Read more about: , , ,
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Katy Freeway Toll Lanes: Pay As You Go

January 21, 2009 – 2:58 pm
   

Those new HOV-ish lanes in the center of the new Katy Freeway will have a price tag attached to them by around May or so — but Harris County commissioners haven’t yet decided what it’ll be: “The county intends to use a flexible-rate system based on congestion, called dynamic pricing. Initially, certain rates will be set for rush-hour commutes, and different prices may be set for other periods. After about 90-days, the prices may change based on traffic observations. Signs near the entrances to the Katy Freeway lanes will announce the rates. Carpoolers and other high-occupancy vehicles will be able to access the Katy toll road for free during peak hours through designated lanes along the freeway. They will not be required to use toll tags — an electronic toll collection system that drivers display on their windshields — or to register with the county’s toll authority. The Katy Freeway carpool drivers must use the left-lanes only.” [Houston Chronicle, via Off the Kuff]

2:58 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink
Read more about: ,
Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Trans-Texas Corridor Is Dead

January 6, 2009 – 10:39 am
   

But maybe it’ll come back, with a new name! “In response to public outcry, the ambitious proposal to create the Trans-Texas Corridor network has been dropped and will be replaced with a plan to carry out road projects at an incremental, modest pace, a state transportation official announced today. ‘The Trans-Texas Corridor, as it is known, no longer exists,’ said Amadeo Saenz, Jr., executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation a forum in Austin. The state, he said, will carry forward with modifications to proposed projects and will rely heavily upon input from Texans through more town hall meetings and an updated Web site. He also made clear that, should toll lanes be added to various roads, tolls will be assessed only on those, and not existing lanes. The renewed effort now will operate under the name ‘Innovative Connectivity Plan.’ Saenz also said the state will continue to pursue various projects, including the Interstate 69 project. If, however, more lanes are needed along U.S. 59, the state will simply widen that roadway, Saenz said.” [Houston Chronicle]

10:39 am | 8 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
Read more about: , ,
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Developers “Not Likely” To Build Homes in Proposed Path of Grand Parkway

November 12, 2008 – 11:57 am

Lakes of Avalon Village Subdivision, Spring, Texas

The attorney for Lakes of Avalon Village developer Robert A. Hudson is now saying that economic conditions make it “unlikely” that Lennar Homes and J. Patrick Homes will build on homesites in the path of a new proposed route for Segment F2 of the Grand Parkway in Spring.

But there’s no need to give up hope entirely: Lennar and J. Patrick apparently encountered few difficulties building and selling 60 homes sitting on the new highway’s earlier proposed route, in a different portion of the same subdivision. The developer’s stated reluctance to repeat the trick means the homebuilding market must be pretty tough now.

The new route would swing around the homes that have already been built and into not-yet-developed areas of Lakes of Avalon Village and neighboring Willow Trace.

Continue Reading This Story >

11:57 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Hazards, Homebuilders, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Lakes of Avalon Village, Neighborhoods: Spring, Neighborhoods: Willow Trace, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Katy Freeway Construction Officially Done

October 29, 2008 – 11:42 am

Aerial View of I-10 West at Sam Houston Tollway, Houston

Let the Great Katy Freeway Lane Rush begin! More than 5 years and $2.8 billion in the making, West Houston’s new 18-car-wide and rail-free Main Street is at last officially complete — and open for more traffic than ever! The tollway on the four inside “managed lanes” won’t be instituted until April. Until then, those lanes are meant for cars with more than one passenger.

Photo of I-10 West and Sam Houston Tollway interchange: Flickr user Rustypicstx

11:42 am | 4 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Neighborhoods: West Houston, Transportation
Read more about: , , ,
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

More Shopping Centers Lie in Wait for the Grand Parkway

October 28, 2008 – 1:38 pm
   

Under previous owners it was going to go residential, but now all the site at the southeast corner of Kuykendahl and Spring Stuebner in Spring needs is an offramp: “Steve Gregory, president of Hopkins Commercial, said the site is a long-term investment for a retail center that will be built, possibly in one to three years. The site is attractive to the company because a leg of the Grand Parkway that will start construction in late 2010 will go by the 56 acres. The site is just north of a big collection of retailers at FM 2920 and Kuykendahl, including Wal-Mart SuperCenter, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Kroger, Palais Royal and 24 Hour Fitness.” [Houston Business Journal]

1:38 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Development Strategy, Freeways and Toll Roads, Neighborhoods: Spring, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing, Retail, Shopping Centers
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Ride-for-Less-Than-a-Grand Parkway

October 15, 2008 – 9:33 am
   

“Fort Bend County officials Oct. 14 signed off on a joint resolution with numerous government entities to establish a set of terms and conditions to build the Grand Parkway as a toll road. . . . The agreement stipulates the scope of work, initial toll rate and methods to increase toll rates as the Grand Parkway, also known as Texas 99, is constructed as a 180-mile road looping around Houston. Under the terms, the project will be a tolled, two- to six-lane road with overpasses at major intersections and direct connectors at interchanges with other major thoroughfares.” [Houston Chronicle]

9:33 am | 4 Comments | Read more about Fort Bend County, Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink
Read more about: , ,
Friday, October 10, 2008

Packing Them in at the 99 Ranch

October 10, 2008 – 4:39 pm

Former Fiesta Mart at I-10 and Blalock, HoustonFiesta Mart closed its I-10 and Blalock location when the Katy Freeway was expanded because too much of its parking got eaten up by the wider freeway. So how is the new 99 Ranch Market going into that space going to deal with the parking problem?

Suzanne Anderson, a regional leasing director with Weingarten, says the parking lot will be restriped to maximize the number of available parking spaces.

“We’re going to have to re-lay out the parking,” she says. “It’s still going to be under what the typical grocery store might have.”

99 Ranch Market is owned by Tawa Supermarket and is the largest Asian American supermarket chain, with 25 stores in California. The 84,000-sq.-ft. store opening on Blalock next summer will be the company’s first store in Texas.

Photo of former Fiesta Mart at 1005 Blalock: Weingarten Realty

4:39 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Spring Branch, Parking, Retail
Read more about: , , , , , ,
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Grand Parkway Homes by Lennar

August 20, 2008 – 11:22 am

Lakes of Avalon Village Subdivision, Spring, Texas

Some brand-new houses sold by Lennar Homes will be very convenient to the new Grand Parkway!

Robert A. Hudson, a Spring developer who partnered with Lennar on the project, said builders knew the highway might come through the subdivision.

“We are not up there on a daily basis to make sure that the builders make it clear to everybody else,” he said.

Plans for the Grand Parkway have been on the books for 25 years, but only 28 of its proposed 185 miles have been built. Environmental and neighborhood groups have opposed the project.

It would include 11 segments traversing seven counties. The 12.1-mile Segment F2 would cut directly through the Lakes of Avalon Village, a subdivision with several hundred homes located on FM 2920 just west of Kuykendahl Road.

About 60 homes are in the right-of-way and would have to be demolished to make way for the parkway once construction began, [executive director of the Grand Parkway Association David] Gornet said.

Talk about offering transportation options! But it’s not just Lennar . . . J. Patrick Homes also is selling models in the Lakes of Avalon Village subdivision.

But hurry! The subdivision is in “close out”!

After the jump: pics of a Lennar Homes model for sale in this quaint little village in Spring!

Continue Reading This Story >

11:22 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Hazards, Homebuilders, Homes for Sale, Master-Planned Communities, Neighborhoods: Lakes of Avalon Village, Neighborhoods: Spring, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Why We Need the Grand Parkway Between 290 and I-10

July 22, 2008 – 2:41 pm
   

“If the commissioners approve it, it’s because they want new subdivisions built in the open space of the Katy Prairie. We’re building a highway for people who don’t live here yet in hopes that developers will build houses for them and that they will want to live on a toll road 30 miles from Downtown in a world of $4 gas.” [Intermodality]

2:41 pm | 9 Comments | Read more about Development Strategy, Freeways and Toll Roads, Katy, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Sprawl
Read more about: , , , , ,
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Katy Freeway Construction: End in Sight

July 15, 2008 – 11:47 am
   

“The eastbound main lanes are wide open all the way into downtown for the first time in more than 36 months. . . . Having this long stretch of roadway open paves the way for the final completion of the entire project slated for October 2008, a grand total of 23 miles.” [abc13]

11:47 am | 5 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Openings and Closings, Quicklink
Read more about: , ,
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Left Behind on the Lost Highway: Evacuation Is the Only Option

May 21, 2008 – 9:46 am

Closeup of Stranded Porta Potty on Old Beltway 8 Onramp

Stuck in traffic on I-10 near the Beltway 8 interchange, Lou Minatti spots this construction leftover, stranded on an old onramp that’s already being torn down at both ends.

After the jump: the long view.

Continue Reading This Story >

9:46 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Demolitions, Freeways and Toll Roads, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Shadow Oaks
Read more about: , , , ,
Monday, November 19, 2007

Metro Chief Very Excited About Sprawl

November 19, 2007 – 11:52 am

Aerial View of Wolff Companies Projects Along I-10

Sure, Metro talks a lot about transportation in this city’s central districts. But a Houston Business Journal profile shows us Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman David Wolff is also enthusiastic about Houston’s westward spread:

Many developers are building various types of commercial properties west of Houston and beyond.

The city of Katy, with an estimated population of 205,000, sits square in the path of Houston’s westward growth pattern.

“The whole city is going that way,” Wolff says. “I think Katy is going to be the next Sugar Land.”

He recalls the creation of Park 10, and how much the area has grown over the last three decades.

Says Wolff: “It was just rice fields. That was really the edge of the world then.”

After the jump, the METRO Board Chairman’s exciting projects way out west, plus how to get folks in the “next Sugar Land” to build freeway on- and off-ramps for your developments!

Continue Reading This Story >

11:52 am | Read more about Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Freeways and Toll Roads, Katy, Land Development, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing, Sprawl, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,