I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)

[hindesky]

Alamo 1 Demolition started demolishing Temenos Place II.

I had plans to go east of here but the storm changed those. Friend in Deer Park said he lost power twice and it also has hail in it.

 

 

 

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hbg.50]

33 minutes ago, hindesky said:

I'm still in denial that Kim Son will be demolished?  Have you heard anything? 

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, hbg.50 said:

I'm still in denial that Kim Son will be demolished?  Have you heard anything? 

The building in which Kim Son is housed will be demolished.  If the family so desires, they will relocate the restaurant and event space to a different (presumably nearby) location.  Haven't been able to find anything about their future plans. Presumably they are deep in negotiations with TxDoT.

Edited August 9 by Houston19514

[Triton]

This is a complete guess on my end but I would assume they would simply leave this area. Most of the older Vietnamese restaurants that were in this area and in Midtown are simply gone. Plus, this location is nothing compared to their Chinatown/Bellaire location. Kim Son is the only major Vietnamese buffet in the United States and when people come from out of town to experience that, they never go to the downtown location (not a buffet)... they go to the Bellaire one. The Bellaire location is also famous among Youtubers as well (look it up!). So with that being said, I just doubt seeing the family that owns Kim Son wanting to go through the trouble of buying new land and building it how they want. Lastly, the downtown location is generally dead.

Source: Half my family is Vietnamese.

[samagon]

everyone is worried about Kim Son, the real thing to watch is what Huynh does.

that is a treasure this city may not deserve. go order a #70 before it's too late, cause last time I talked to the owner, they were still deciding whether to give it a go in another location, or just move on with life.

source: I like good food.

[Brooklyn173]

Any of these sound familiar?

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/08/12/heres-how-to-debunk-the-need-for-destructive-road-widenings

[kennyc05]

45 is a s*** hole it's long overdue for a widening.

[samagon]

just one more lane, that'll fix everything.

[hindesky]

The region’s two major freeways, however, get the most attention. The first half of projects planned as part of the $11.1 billion rebuild of Interstate 45 are included.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/txdot-utp-104b-highway-construction-spending-19714893.php

[004n063]

On 8/22/2024 at 7:41 PM, hindesky said:

The region’s two major freeways, however, get the most attention. The first half of projects planned as part of the $11.1 billion rebuild of Interstate 45 are included.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/txdot-utp-104b-highway-construction-spending-19714893.php

Imagine what could be done with a hundred billion dollars.

[samagon]

On 8/25/2024 at 7:52 AM, 004n063 said:

Imagine what could be done with a hundred billion dollars.

maybe we could put in 2 more lanes?

[hindesky]

The first major road work set for downtown Houston related to the $11.2 billion-plus rebuild of the freeway core and Interstate 45 remains on track for next year, but at a cost of $80 million more than expected.

Work could start early next year and last for eight years rebuilding Interstate 69 from Texas 288 to I-45, through Third Ward and Midtown. It is the second of more than 15 Texas Department of Transportation projects encompassing the rebuild of the downtown freeway system and widening of I-45 from downtown north to Beltway 8.

Bids on the project, opened Thursday in Austin, show Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction was the apparent low price, with an offer of $695.5 million. That represents an increase of 13% compared to TxDOT’s estimate of $615.7 million. Webber, the only other company to bid on the job, submitted a bid of $1.254 billion, or more than twice than what state officials estimated.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/txdot-i45-rebuild-cost-freeway-widening-19746038.php

[hbg.50]

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

The first major road work set for downtown Houston related to the $11.2 billion-plus rebuild of the freeway core and Interstate 45 remains on track for next year, but at a cost of $80 million more than expected.

Work could start early next year and last for eight years rebuilding Interstate 69 from Texas 288 to I-45, through Third Ward and Midtown. It is the second of more than 15 Texas Department of Transportation projects encompassing the rebuild of the downtown freeway system and widening of I-45 from downtown north to Beltway 8.

Bids on the project, opened Thursday in Austin, show Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction was the apparent low price, with an offer of $695.5 million. That represents an increase of 13% compared to TxDOT’s estimate of $615.7 million. Webber, the only other company to bid on the job, submitted a bid of $1.254 billion, or more than twice than what state officials estimated.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/txdot-i45-rebuild-cost-freeway-widening-19746038.php

These construction companies are like insurance companies - milking the system!

“While state transportation officials have said prices are beginning to plateau, large projects in the major metro areas continue receiving bids 10% or higher than officials estimated.”

 

This was interesting and sobering…

 

“Work is also scheduled to stop and the road reopened in some form when Houston hosts World Cup games in Summer 2026. The soccer matches, expected to draw tens of thousands, will be at NRG Park, but lead to events in and around downtown.

 

“We have all of that in the contract,” Mapes said of the event. “We understand what the World Cup is.”

 

Residents, however, will live with the work for two decades or more. Work is not expected to finish in downtown until 2037, with the planned widening of the freeway to Beltway 8 to add two managed lanes in direction expected to take until 2042 or later.”

[Houston19514]

8 hours ago, hindesky said:

The first major road work set for downtown Houston related to the $11.2 billion-plus rebuild of the freeway core and Interstate 45 remains on track for next year, but at a cost of $80 million more than expected.

Work could start early next year and last for eight years rebuilding Interstate 69 from Texas 288 to I-45, through Third Ward and Midtown. It is the second of more than 15 Texas Department of Transportation projects encompassing the rebuild of the downtown freeway system and widening of I-45 from downtown north to Beltway 8.

Bids on the project, opened Thursday in Austin, show Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction was the apparent low price, with an offer of $695.5 million. That represents an increase of 13% compared to TxDOT’s estimate of $615.7 million. Webber, the only other company to bid on the job, submitted a bid of $1.254 billion, or more than twice than what state officials estimated.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/txdot-i45-rebuild-cost-freeway-widening-19746038.php

I don’t know why they say the rebuild of this segment will last 8 years.  The current timeline shows between 5 and 6.

i think TxDoT messed up by making NHHIP all one “project”, which will encourage Houston whiners (and Houston has more whiners per capita than any city I’ve ever spent time in) to complain about the project taking until 2042 to be completed, as if all segments will be under construction for 17 years.  

[Nate_56]

This bid only going 13% over projection is honesty pretty normal nowadays for these big freeway projects.

[samagon]

On 9/7/2024 at 1:28 AM, Houston19514 said:

I don’t know why they say the rebuild of this segment will last 8 years.  The current timeline shows between 5 and 6.

i think TxDoT messed up by making NHHIP all one “project”, which will encourage Houston whiners (and Houston has more whiners per capita than any city I’ve ever spent time in) to complain about the project taking until 2042 to be completed, as if all segments will be under construction for 17 years.  

1 project means they only have to get approval once, they only have to ignore local residents once. they only have to do studies once.

so we get a single project that will last until many of us are in our 70s.

also, if there's 3 projects, rather than 1 project that is staggered, even if all 3 got the approval today, they aren't releasing funding today (otherwise they'd be taking bids to do all the segments in parallel). as we see with local METRO projects, it's easy to get a project that is planned and has money set aside (but not yet started) canceled, but if a project is already underway, it's harder to stop.

Edited September 9 by samagon

[hindesky]

Plumbing and building demo permits.

 

 

[Triton]

So bizarre that they are going to construct two temporary 3 lanes bridges here in Midtown during this project.

[JLWM8609]

21 minutes ago, Triton said:

So bizarre that they are going to construct two temporary 3 lanes bridges here in Midtown during this project.

I guess they learned partially their lesson when they trenched the formerly elevated 59 over Montrose and went from 5 lanes to 3 lanes during construction. I say partially because there's no shoulders for these temporary bridges. All it'll take is one breakdown to bring it to a halt. Makes you wonder if 2 lanes with a shoulder would've been better?

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Harper Bros Construction will be doing the utility, drainage and stormwater work along Saint Emanuel St. They are setting up their lay down yard with office trailers and equipment.

Harper Bros. did the 72" waterline thru my part of Montrose, Midtown, Downtown and Eado.

https://www.harperbro.com

https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/project-sites/nhhip/docs/i45-nhhip-exhibits-segment-3b1.pdf

 

 

 

[rechlin]

I noticed this noon they had a big setup for a groundbreaking ceremony:

[hindesky]

The $13 billion project to transform Houston's highways and downtown area won't be fully complete until at least 2038, but the first step is underway.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/10/16/txdot-i45-improvement-project-nhhip-breaks-ground.html

[editor]

On 10/17/2024 at 8:25 AM, hindesky said:

The $13 billion project to transform Houston's highways and downtown area won't be fully complete until at least 2038, but the first step is underway

I'm having a hard time getting excited about this.  It feels like more of the same.  Yet another freeway.  More concrete bridges.  More cars.  More of the things that kill cities.

Am I missing something about this?  Or am I just not interested because by the time it's done, I'll be long dead, and they'll just pick another slice of the freeway to rebuild.  Lather, rinse, repeat, wipe hands on pants.

[hbg.50]

2 hours ago, editor said:

I'm having a hard time getting excited about this.  It feels like more of the same.  Yet another freeway.  More concrete bridges.  More cars.  More of the things that kill cities.

Am I missing something about this?  Or am I just not interested because by the time it's done, I'll be long dead, and they'll just pick another slice of the freeway to rebuild.  Lather, rinse, repeat, wipe hands on pants.

I’m excited about the deck parks which will connect currently disconnected neighborhoods from downtown (EADO, Midtown, 4th Ward) and the demolition of the Pierce Elevated.

None of my business but don’t you have a young child?  Will you really be dead in 15 years?

[samagon]

42 minutes ago, hbg.50 said:

I’m excited about the deck parks which will connect currently disconnected neighborhoods from downtown (EADO, Midtown, 4th Ward) and the demolition of the Pierce Elevated.

None of my business but don’t you have a young child?  Will you really be dead in 15 years?

after 60 years now, the areas you mention as being connected again have been so long severed they have are truly different neighborhoods.

removing the pierce elevated will allow for downtown to spill into midtown, that's about all we'll see in the next 60 years that will happen from this project.

this isn't like the Berlin wall coming down and brothers who happened to be on the wrong side of the street haven't been able to see each other in 30 years are being reunited. it's a freeway being removed, people who were on the 'wrong side' have long since moved, and the areas have since grown in their own separate ways as a result.

hopefully it doesn't take 15 years for the downtown section to be completed, especially since (at the moment) the entire project is said to take 18. if they complete the project in under 20, I'll be shocked.

20 years from now is a long time, the needs of the region will have completely changed by then.

Edited Friday at 05:19 PM by samagon

[hindesky]

Harper Brothers is building a chainlink fence around their complex.