The Chron has a brief blurb about Rick Perry signing the bill that will allow the CenterPoint rights of way in Harris County to be used as hike and bike trails. See here for the background, and here for a map of the two big rights of way that are in question; the map is [...]
Posts Tagged ‘bike trails’
Bike trails bill
A bill that will clear the way for bike trails to be built on CenterPoint utility rights of way in Harris County has passed both chambers in the Lege and now awaits Rick Perry’s signature. “We are really, really pleased to have finally put the ball across the goal line,” [author Rep. Jim] Murphy said. [...]
Bike trail on utility rights-of-way bills filed
This is a big show of support for making bike trails on CenterPoint’s rights of way happen. Houston voters last fall approved a $166 million bond measure to expand the city’s trail system, to be matched by $105 million in private donations via the Houston Parks Board. About 78 miles of trails would get built, [...]
How much protection from liability do they need?
State Impact asks a good question. The electricity industry is among the biggest of the big spenders on lobbying the Texas legislature. So when bills are introduced giving the industry extraordinary protection from law suits, you can bet somebody’s going to cry foul. “It’s a very unusual bill,” says Andrew Wheat at Texans for Public [...]
Who doesn’t like parks?
The usual suspects – cranks, malcontents, and the Harris County GOP, that’s who. Proposition B on the Nov. 6 ballot asks you to pay for part of that plan, of course. Not with increased taxes, though, [Mayor Annise] Parker insists. The bond measure asks voters to authorize $166 million in borrowing that the city plans [...]
Ashby Heights
Here’s the next frontier in unwanted development. A residential development proposal that’s been on and off in the Heights since 2004 is back on, reviving neighborhood opposition to the project and catching the attention of the mayor. Canadian developer Group LSR is requesting a multi-part variance that, if approved, would allow it to move forward [...]
Bike maps
The Chron has a request about bicycle trails. Unfortunately, navigating via bicycle can sometimes be a difficult feat for people unfamiliar with these neighborhoods – especially downtown. While the central business district’s grid of one-way streets is easy enough, the bicycle routes for getting out of downtown are less obvious. The ideal solution would be [...]
One form of federal funding Texas has not rejected
Funding for bike trails is still welcome in the state. As you may know, under the new federal transportation bill, MAP-21, bicycle and pedestrian projects now have more competition for less money than was available under previous transportation laws. The new bill also gives state officials more latitude in designating funds, and– most importantly– in [...]
The B-Cycle era begins
At long last, Houston’s B-Cycle program officially kicked off last week. Mayor Annise Parker, an occasional bicyclist, called the federally-funded program “a quick, easy alternative to being stuck in traffic or walking long distances in downtown.” She said the bicycles may help familiarize residents with downtown, an area she said many still consider “foreign territory.” [...]
Connecting bike trails
Marty Hajovsky makes a keen observation. Bike trails in the Houston area are all-too-frequently a joke at best and dangerous, hazardous, life-threatening situations at the worst. I’m sorry, but painting a solid white line in the drain gutter on a busy street and calling it a bike lane may get the city federal funds for [...]