Slick Vik Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) Fascinating http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/10/what-old-transit-maps-can-teach-us-about-a-citys-future/381149/ Edited October 11, 2014 by Slick Vik 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 >inb4 another pointless rail fightIt's pretty amazing/depressing how close our current rail system is to this planned one. If this was the way we were always going to build why couldn't we have started much earlier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Maybe I'm just reading into this a bit much, but the lines for the most part seem to be on existing railroad right of ways, many of which still exist. Would they run on freight tracks/newly built standard gauge tracks, or a heavy rail system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Didn't METRO own land on Westpark Tollway ROW? One of these lines follows that same route so maybe they were going to use the existing lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Didn't METRO own land on Westpark Tollway ROW? One of these lines follows that same route so maybe they were going to use the existing lines. Yes they do. When they bought the rail line, they managed to trade half of it to HCTRA for their tollway and kept the other half for rail-based transit use. It's possible that it could've paralleled it (since it would've followed the same line) but that wouldn't work for other lines (like the Katy, unless they replaced the high voltage power lines that were also displaced in the widening) You will notice that it goes straight through downtown, possibly on Main Street. If it wasn't light rail, though, it would've been enormously disruptive either way--probably far more than the light rail ended up being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Yes they do. When they bought the rail line, they managed to trade half of it to HCTRA for their tollway and kept the other half for rail-based transit use. It's possible that it could've paralleled it (since it would've followed the same line) but that wouldn't work for other lines (like the Katy, unless they replaced the high voltage power lines that were also displaced in the widening) You will notice that it goes straight through downtown, possibly on Main Street. If it wasn't light rail, though, it would've been enormously disruptive either way--probably far more than the light rail ended up being. Actually, whether they own the Westpark ROW or not now is irrelevant because that's certainly not what the case was in 1973: that was definite freight rail owned by freight rail, as with the Katy line at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Yes they do. When they bought the rail line, they managed to trade half of it to HCTRA for their tollway and kept the other half for rail-based transit use. It's possible that it could've paralleled it (since it would've followed the same line) but that wouldn't work for other lines (like the Katy, unless they replaced the high voltage power lines that were also displaced in the widening)You will notice that it goes straight through downtown, possibly on Main Street. If it wasn't light rail, though, it would've been enormously disruptive either way--probably far more than the light rail ended up being.Well it may have been above ground or elevated. There were a lot less people in 1973 so disruption would've been less anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Well it may have been above ground or elevated. There were a lot less people in 1973 so disruption would've been less anyway Ah, no, not really. In 1978 (since Google Earth doesn't have 1973) you can see that the sprawl extends out to about the Beltway (well, it wasn't the Beltway as we know it today, but it was still a wide surface boulevard) except for the northeast and south parts (which are still mostly un/underdeveloped today). By 1978, development had jumped across the Beltway in the west part and the north part. Downtown has most of its taller buildings along Main, though not so much the South side (the Houston Center development tore down most of the southeastern part of downtown, and because the project shrank so dramatically, most of that became parking lots). Sprawl had already taken hold of FM 1960, too. Obviously, the Inner Loop still had some homes that hadn't been torn down for denser developments yet, but as far as people goes, yes, there still would've been considerable disruption on all counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Vik Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Ah, no, not really. In 1978 (since Google Earth doesn't have 1973) you can see that the sprawl extends out to about the Beltway (well, it wasn't the Beltway as we know it today, but it was still a wide surface boulevard) except for the northeast and south parts (which are still mostly un/underdeveloped today). By 1978, development had jumped across the Beltway in the west part and the north part. Downtown has most of its taller buildings along Main, though not so much the South side (the Houston Center development tore down most of the southeastern part of downtown, and because the project shrank so dramatically, most of that became parking lots). Sprawl had already taken hold of FM 1960, too.Obviously, the Inner Loop still had some homes that hadn't been torn down for denser developments yet, but as far as people goes, yes, there still would've been considerable disruption on all counts.Houston population 1978 was lower than it is today so less people would've been disrupted. Do you think infrastructure projects cause zero disruption? Freeway expansions cause headaches too for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Freeway expansions today cause far less disruption than they used to. The I-10 East expansion that started in the 70's ran on for 10+ years, and was not well done at all. The temporary lanes were all asphalt with poor markings, and nearly impossible to drive on at night. The recent Katy Freeway expansion was hardly noticeable by comparison. The fact is that freeqay traffic is subjectively far better today than it was in the days when the freeways were all 2 lanes each way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I don't think total population is a good indicator for disruption. Unlike Eastern seaboard cities, Houston doesn't have set borders and thus the density is likely exactly the same in '73 than in today, barring any redevelopment (specifically Montrosr, Midtown) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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