Author Archives: dug begley

TxDOT leaves a tip for restaurant chain: Don’t mess with our trademark

A Baytown-based Mexican restaurant group thought it had come up with a catchy, perfectly cheesy phrase for its newest billboard: Don’t Mess with Tex-Mex. El Toro’s corporate leaders were so taken with it, they applied for a trademark on the … Continue reading

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TxDOT’s $7 billion plan to shorten your I-45 commute may displace hundreds of families

Wherever Armando Litchenberger looks around Urbana Recording Studio, there are memories. The stool Jose Feliciano sat on to record a couple tracks. Goldie Hawn used the studio to mix the soundtrack for a TV movie she directed. Duran Duran re-cut … Continue reading

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A Texas family torn apart by fatal crash put back together by hometown

Standing in the front yard, ringed by family and friends that are practically family, Bryston Ferguson knew Thursday morning that he had landed a $20,000 scholarship that will help him realize his dream of becoming an orthodontist. The scholarship and … Continue reading

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Grand Parkway debate comes east with construction three new segments

Houston is a faraway place on FM 1413 in southern Liberty County, where a driver is more likely to see a pony munching on grass than a shop on the corner. If not for the trees and an electrical transmission … Continue reading

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Bayou City Initiative demands improved planning from TxDOT to avoid freeway flooding

Resilience to heavier storms requires freeways that can handle flooding without becoming impassable, leading a local group to demand more of state and federal transportation officials. Bayou City Initiative, a nonprofit aimed at raising awareness of the challenges as Houston … Continue reading

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Massive I-45 project will remake Houston freeway spine, but at what cost? 

Strip away the enormity of rebuilding Interstate 45 and the promise of speedier trips along downtown Houston freeways, and two questions about the once-in-a-generation project remain: How many negative effects are acceptable in one neighborhood for other people’s faster commutes? … Continue reading

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Plastics Road lives up to its name as Dow debuts new asphalt recipe

Plastics Road at Dow Chemical’s Lake Jackson campus is now, perhaps, the most plastic road in America. If it holds up, drivers could find themselves rolling atop discarded shopping bags in no time — and with little notice. As a … Continue reading

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Metro plan’s mix of transit, services a nod to differing Houston-area demands

Transit officials have a starting point for $7.5 billion in investments to Houston’s roads, bus systems and rail lines meant to move the region in a new direction — with the stated goal of moving some of those future commuters … Continue reading

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Last ride a fitting end for Bush funeral procession

Locomotive 4141 can pull 1 million pounds across most of America with ease, but its biggest job will be a 70-mile trip Thursday from Spring to College Station to take President George H.W. Bush to his last stop. Bush, who … Continue reading

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Out of Control: In Houston’s traffic carnage, design makes a difference

The tight curves of older freeway intersections such as Loop 610 and Interstate 69 northeast of downtown, for example, force motorists to lean on the brakes to avoid a barrier or railing. In the merge lanes along frontage roads parallel … Continue reading

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