The struggle over protection enhancements alongside eleventh Street in Houston Heights is heating up, with the newest victory apparently going in want of local Canyonero drivers.
Months after their of entirety, parts of the arguable eleventh Street redesign had been got rid of in reaction to motive force backlash and alleged protection considerations cited by means of Houston METRO staff. Constructed this spring in the north and southbound lanes of Heights Boulevard, a couple of floating bus stops have been created for the aim of offering a protected, increased place for pedestrians looking ahead to bus rides. The concrete slabs have been additionally supposed to offer a barrier towards automobiles for cyclists in Heights Boulevard motorbike lanes.
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By the center of remaining week, the areas the place the island stops as soon as stood might be noticed stripped away, in some portions right down to the unique brick street underneath.Â
These zones will now be reverted again to their authentic configuration, with lanes restriped and pickup zones painted crimson for buses pulling to the aspect for passengers at the sidewalk. METRO spokesperson Tracy Jackson mentioned the removing of the islands will value $150,000 and is derived in reaction to neighborhood considerations and a security analysis undertaken by means of the dep..
“The stops were removed following an on-site evaluation by METRO’s Chief Safety Officer as well as concerns raised by community members,” Jackson mentioned Thursday. “Safety will always dictate everything we do at METRO.”
Despite being designed in particular to permit protected passage for METRO buses, native drivers seem to have struggled to steer clear of the intense yellow, sidewalk-high lip of the island stops.
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“Whoever put those there clearly drives a sub-compact car,” native resident Michael Reese told the Houston Chronicle’s Dug Begley previous this week. “The first time I pulled up I didn’t think I would fit.”
News of the bus prevent demolitions brought on birthday party and guffaws from customers in Nextdoor’s West Houston Heights community workforce.
“How sad that poor drivers make for changes,” one person wrote. “I saw someone last week hit it. On a clear day at 10:30 am while taking a right into the dish society building. Hit it dang near dead on too.”
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“Glad those death traps are being removed!!” any other spoke back.
Greenlit by means of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in June of 2022, the eleventh Street overhaul spanning from Michaux to Shepherd noticed the four-lane thoroughfare winnowed down to 2 lanes with curb-protected motorbike paths added on each side. The “road diet” used to be championed as a way of accelerating pedestrian and bicycle owner protection alongside a key path in one among Houston’s maximum walkable neighborhoods, however continues to attract the ire of walk-and-rideability skeptics, who consider the new infrastructure will best result in extra vehicles bombing down residential streets.
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