District H CIP meeting report

Here's the Chron story on that CIP meeting for District H that took place last week. The highlights:

Jane Cahill West, president of the combined Washington Avenue/Memorial Super Neighborhood Council, said she was glad to see the MKT (Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad) Trail on the current CIP project list.

"But I urge you to extend the MKT Trail right of way to Memorial Park," she added.

The $1.9 million bike trail is being built along the former railroad right of way in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation.

Construction on this trail is well underway - they've dug the path along 7th Street near Heights Blvd, and have poured concrete for some of it. I've been meaning to take a walk on some of it and take pictures.

Cahill West also asked the city to add reconstruction of the heavily trafficked Sawyer Street; upgrades to security and lighting for West End Park, 1418 Patterson; and establishing quiet zones along Houston Avenue and other streets with major rail crossings.

The "quiet zone" issue come up recently. That stretch of Sawyer Street, basically from I-10 to Washington Avenue, is basically everybody's alternate route from the Heights to downtown - it avoids the nasty I-10/I-45 interchange, which backs up traffic as far back as Heights Blvd and beyond. I talked about it a year ago when it looked like there was going to be some imminent residential construction in the area. That hasn't really happened yet, but there are signs advertising what's to come, and the cross streets between Sawyer and Houston Avenue are still seeing action.

Other current projects already on the CIP list for District H include:

• The $10.3 million reconstruction of North Main Street from Interstate 45 to Airline Drive, estimated for completion Oct. 27;
• Replacement of water lines in the Gardendale area, estimated at $8.3 million, scheduled to be completed last month, and north Houston's Ellena Gardens subdivision, $4.46 million, to be completed Sept. 12;
• Market Street paving from Lockwood to Wayside, $7.3 million, estimated for completion Sept. 12; and,
• Little White Oak Bayou Trail, $1.17 million, to be finished in September.

Upcoming projects on the list include:

• A new prisoner processing center in partnership with Harris County, $38 million;
• Hempstead Road and Washington Avenue reconstruction in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation, $23.8 million;
• Yale Street paving from Tidwell to Parker, $10.4 million;
• Yale Street rehabilitation, Phase I, from Interstate 10 to 17th Street, $9.3 million;
• Yale Street rehabilitation, Phase II, from 17th Street to Loop 610, $6.5 million;
• Little York paving, from Airline to Hardy Street, $9.7 million;
• Moody Park Community Center expansion and park, 3725 Fulton, $3.5 million;
and,
• Buffalo Bayou Trail, from Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street, $2.08 million.

What else would you like to see get done? You can contact the District H office at 832-393-3003, or the office of Council Member Melissa Noriega, who ran this meeting, at 832-393-3005, with questions or feedback.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 09, 2009 to Elsewhere in Houston