IronTiger

I also noticed that the ground is being flattened: the southern segment of Wellborn Road and the section of frontage road west of Jones-Butler is taking shape. Also, wooden "clamps" are being installed on the retaining wall.

Well, I did say almost exclusively commuter rail use. In terms of commuter rail to Cypress, a second track could be easily added. In the case of College Station commuter rail, there is an abandoned ROW that continues to follow 290, which could be used as a siding. Furthermore, there's space in the former I-GN R.O.W. in Navasota and southern Brazos County, which could continue to where the rails come really close in College Station. But that's another topic, really. ---- As for the mass transit detractors, I try to be in a suburban commuter's shoes. Suppose I live in Cypress and work in a big office tower downtown. Traffic is bad on 290 and I don't have any people to be in the HOV lane. My wife is a teacher and stays local (relatively) to the city. As it stands, I often get held up from going from the Loop to Interstate 10. By the time I actually get downtown, my blood pressure is kind of high, and the coffee doesn't help. Then I have to go BACK to Cypress. Commuter rail would be a more convenient solution, I board, and after a small ride watching the original Hempstead Highway zoom past, I board the light rail at the Northwest Transit Station. Alternatively, a light rail stretching all the way out to Fairfield (the outlet mall) would not require a transfer, but might be slower. Then again, if I was that bent on avoiding the freeway, I would ride the P&R bus. It's a toss-up, isn't it?

Would be a bad idea if UP was to sell the line between Navasota and Houston (where it meets with the former MKT) to almost exclusively commuter rail use?

I don't really care (or know) about them that much...it was mostly my reactions at seeing H-E-B go against Randalls in a city where there was none. Well, like I said, there was a Randalls, but it closed 12 years ago.

After the construction started on the overpass on FM 2818 in May, train traffic has gone down in that stretch of track, which stretches from College Station to Houston. I'm sure the industrial spurs are still in use, though.

In terms of commuter rail, couldn't they just build a separate line paralleling the freight line for commuter use? That would make sense to me...

I don't live in Houston, and have scaled back my posts as such. But I was at the local H-E-B today and there was a large placard displaying H-E-B prices vs. Kroger with the Kroger card and H-E-B prices vs. Randalls with the Randalls card. Given there are no Randalls in College Station (the only Randalls converted to Albertson's in 1997, and now that's the last Albertson's in town), I figured those things are all over the Houston H-E-Bs as well. What say you?

The Uptown line is going to share ROW with Post Oak Road, right?

I think that soon Galleria III will see a major redevelopment, with practically everything gone.

Wow, Fox Sports Grill closed! It was a pretty empty place back in March 2008...and that was when Sharper Image was open, too.

Yes, this was relating to College Station, not Houston. Sorry for the mix-up. Anyway, on Election Day, College Station voted down the red light cameras set up in a dozen intersections. The good news is that it did cut down on red light runners and accidents. The bad news is that they would often catch people making 1 MPH right turns on red. The other really bad news is that an Arizona company set up the things in the busiest (not necessarily most dangerous) intersections to get the most money.

I'm literally a day late on this, but red light cameras have been banned. Although I won't speak my piece on it until tomorrow, what are your thoughts on it?

Went there again today. Besides the store being packed with college students, families, and people in Halloween costumes (this includes employees--the dressing room attendant was in this weird goth costume, complete with the fishnet and the detached "sleeves"), I noticed that the east wall has been completely boarded up. I also stole a glance at the closed Vision Center through a gap in the drywall. It was strange...one part had the ceiling tiles removed, one section had a gaping hole blasted out (parking lot visible), and there was some abandoned merchandise.

Menil is one of the few neighborhoods I've actually been to in Montrose, but according to Google Maps, there's no streets that are currently closed and will be reopened per the plan.

Isn't kind of the goal of high-speed rail anyway, or would costs be astronomical for that?

I thought commuter rail for Cypress and Sugar Land was to be a reality by 2012 or so. Guess I was wrong.

The pillars for the ramp going southbound from Harvey Mitchell Parkway are taking shape. One even has the yellow mold on it.

Quick update: noticed orange construction fencing on upper area of main incline.

Maybe it could go in the old Sharper Image, and provide a draw for Galleria III. Maybe.

I used to use an ad-blocker, I don't anymore. I'm kind of glad I did in retrospect, as excessive ads when I visit a site (especially one I haven't visited at all) turn me off.

I still haven't paid attention to the strange sticks, but it appears there's FINALLY progress on the frontage road west of Jones-Butler. It's still not a "road" yet. Also: there's some survey sticks between Welsh and Wellborn, north side.

I'm almost certain they'll remodel the existing side. Anyway, I was there today. What a mess. Here's what I noticed: - The old pharmacy is completely blocked off. - The Vision Center is now closed. You can see how they moved the old red-yellow-blue milk freezers in front of the drywall where the benches used to be. - The new pharmacy is open for business. It's a bit weird how there's a pharmacy surrounded by clothing. - The "road" in front of the store is closed, and some parking spaces have been sacrificed for the new road. It's a bit weird with Wal-Mart having a large pedestrian walkway in front of it (the old road). - Most exciting is the wall going up on the east side of the store. Some ceiling tiles have been removed near the area, with a glimpse of what the Wal-Mart ceiling will look like with construction is done. - An employee says it will be done by April 2010. I do remember it being "brown". You can actually see it being expanded in 1995. http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=14&X=3794&Y=16939&W=1&qs=Valley+View%7cCollege+Station%7c%7c&Addr=Valley+View+Dr%2c+College+Station%2c+TX+77840&ALon=-96.3082423&ALat=30.5966213

I recently acquired a Houston road map that shows all sorts of old railroad spurs, but a spur that crosses Dincans and North Blvd. intrigued me. Here is where the spur crosses Dincans, for example. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=29.728167,-95.420637&spn=0,359.998377&z=19&layer=c&cbll=29.728077,-95.420636&panoid=lFCFn-I3VODiXUmzi_SM4Q&cbp=12,0.76,,0,35.79 Even in 1973, you can see where the railroad spur was, but not the fact that it crossed North Blvd. http://www.historicaerials.com/?poi=7824 Yet my map (and Google Maps Street view) show the remnants of a spur crossing North Blvd. Can anyone help me?

Well, I've gotten from a reliable source that the checkouts have moved forward six or so feet forward and the "road" in front of the stores is closed. I bet that closing that makes for miserable parking lot access. Hopefully next time I go I will take pictures.

Well, the East Side does have dirt, but there's just a strange pile separating the original road from the detour road. But it appears to be moving soon. West of Jones-Butler seems to be getting slow progress. There appears to be some rebar planted in the road. What's going on?