Upper Kirby District Street Talk

In This Issue:

District Construction

Houston Major Thoroughfare/Freeway Plan

Houston Bike Plan

Upper Kirby Streetscape Initiatives

Before

After

Coming to a Major Thoroughfare Near You!!!

Community Resources:

City Council District C

City Council District G

Contact Upper Kirby

Welcome to the new Levy Park

Construction to begin in March. Visit levyparkhouston.org for more information.

Upper Kirby Update

June 19, 2015

Upper Kirby Construction

Pavement Work Continues on Westheimer

Westheimer Reconstruction: Kirby to Shepherd

Thankfully the recent weather scare did not hit the Houston area too hard. Rainy conditions did slow pavement work this week, but the impact obviously could have been much worse.

Over the past week Reytec Construction has completed roadway excavation all the way to Shepherd on the north side of Westheimer. They have also poured new concrete between Kingston and Persa, placed new driveways at several locations and installed new storm inlets at Westgate. Crews have also continued pedestrian lighting foundations and electrical conduit moving east from Kirby. This work is now past Dickey Place and will continue east over the coming weeks.

Over the next week, crews will begin roadway excavation for the northern lanes east of Shepherd to Hudly St. This area was impacted by City crews working on drainage improvements on Shepherd north of Westheimer. Like the Shepherd intersection, Upper Kirby crews are responsible for final concrete restoration. Pavement work will continue between Persa and Shepherd. There are likely two final pours needed to complete the northern lanes of Westheimer, one between St. Anne's driveway and Shepherd and one between the drive and Persa. The section to Shepherd is expected to be paved this week and the Persa to St. Anne's driveway the following week. It is also expected that lanes will reopen west of Persa this week.

At this point it appears as though City contractors working on Shepherd will still have traffic control obstructing the Shepherd intersection, so once Westheimer work runs into City of Houston traffic control at Shepherd, Upper Kirby crews will have to shift efforts to the center of Westheimer and come back to the Shepherd intersection at a later date.

For more information on Upper Kirby construction and related activities or for construction related issues or concerns, please contact Travis Younkin at 713.524.8000 or travis@upperkirby.org.

Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan

Open for Comment

Amendments to the 2014 Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan (MTFP) are being proposed and several public meetings have been scheduled. One of these amendments includes the reclassification of the right-of-way width along Alabama (a major collector) through the Upper Kirby District.

At this stage, it appears as though there are two Alabama amendments up for comment, one that would reclassify the roadway as a two-lane collector (likely using a continuous center turn lane) and the other would be to define it as a four-lane collector in a 70-foot right-of-way.

These amendments would not mean that any property would be purchased to immediately change the profile of the street, just that the classification would change so that future developments would have to comply with the new classification. Also, the right-of-way width does not define the roadway width and does not have a direct impact on road widening. The items that should be focused on here are the number of lanes and how that impacts the roadway width and overall mobility and function of the corridor in the future.

This discussion is not a detail discussion of the specifics of the reconstruction of Alabama. The City of Houston currently has two projects on Alabama: one between Weslayan and Buffalo Speedway and one from Shepherd to Spur 527. Upper Kirby has a project proposed between Buffalo Speedway and Shepherd and Midtown has a project proposed extending east of Spur 527. All of these projects are currently in early planning stages and are being proactively coordinated between the parties involved. Construction will likely take place along Alabama between 2017 and 2021, so there is ample time for public input and planning. An initial public meeting to discuss the specifics of the Alabama design will be held later this summer or early in the fall. The amendments to the MTFP are simply to classify the street moving forward.

Click here for a PDF of maps for the proposed amendments to the plan.

There will be a public open house on June 25, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM at the United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive, Houston TX - 77007.

For more information on the MTFP amendment process, visit the City website here.

To discuss the future reconstruction of Alabama through the Upper Kirby area, please contact travis@upperkirby.org. Though it is early in the process, emailed comments are welcomed at any time and will be recorded as part of the public comment record for the project and shared with the City as part of the design process.

Houston Bikeways

Participate in the Plan!

About the Houston Bike Plan

The City of Houston is kicking off the Houston Bike Plan, a 12-month planning effort to update the City's Comprehensive Bikeway Plan originally adopted in 1993.

The City and the Houston region have made great strides in improving people's ability to bike to more destinations, earning a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclist in 2013. New trails are being built along our bayous, new protected bikeways have been installed, and more people are riding all over the City.

The Houston Bike Plan will build on these efforts to help make Houston a safer, healthier, more bike-friendly city. The Plan will clarify a vision and goals for biking in Houston and identify future projects to create a citywide bicycle network. This improved citywide network will serve a broader spectrum of people who bike at all skill levels, providing more transportation choices, with both on-street and off-street facilities and building on current efforts such as the recent Bayou Greenways Initiative to create a well-connected citywide bicycle system. The Plan will develop better connections for more people to key origins and destinations like job centers, entertainment venues, parks and schools. The Plan will identify supporting programs like motorist and bicyclist safety education, expansion of end of trip facilities like bike racks and bike share, and improved integration with transit.

Public input will be gathered throughout the planning process. A Bicycle Advisory Committee made up of representatives from Houston's bicycling community, implementing authorities, community leaders, and other representatives will guide the development of the Plan. Citizens can participate at public meetings and through online activities on the project website at www.HoustonBikePlan.org.

The Plan is made possible by the City's funding partners, which include
BikeHouston, Houston Parks Board, Houston-Galveston Area Council, FTA, FHWA, and TxDOT. The plan is scheduled to be completed in spring 2016.

Upcoming Community Meetings

Five community meetings to discuss the goals and opportunities to improve biking in Houston will be held in different areas of the City, starting May 30, 2015 and continuing through June.

For more information about the Plan, future meeting information, and to sign up for email updates, please visit www.HoustonBikePlan.org.

If you have a new business, development or community event that you would like included in the monthly Upper Kirby news, please contact us at 713.524.8000 or submit to streettalk@upperkirby.org

Requests will be posted subject to space availability and appropriateness of content.

Upper Kirby is a constantly evolving urban area marked by an outstanding location, great shopping, unique residential neighborhoods, smart development and a small town feel. It is an area of successful businesses, involved communities and a synergy between the public and private sectors. It is the heartbeat of Houston and everywhere you want to be.