dug begley

The executive order will help officials avoid planning and design mistakes that confound some residents. Parker pointed to a photo of a sidewalk built to the city’s 3-foot design standard but marred with obstructions. “We have seen fit to take that barely adequate sidewalk and put ‘no parking’ signs down the middle,” she said. The… Continue reading

“We’ve never seen anything like this in our state’s history from the level of consumption of the highway system,” said Phil Wilson, director of the Texas Department of Transportation. He spoke during a state Senate committee hearing to explore a controversial plan to widen and apply an emulsified gravel surface to 83 miles of state-maintained… Continue reading

The Hardy and Elysian Street projects are complicated by nearby railroad tracks, which carry heavy volumes of freight in and out of the region. Toll agency officials opted to buy Union Pacific Railroad land, eliminate a set of tracks and rebuild the rail’s main lines so the tollway and trains can run parallel. In addition,… Continue reading

The handful of friends Aaron Alexis had in Texas are wondering if they ever knew the man at all, unable to reconcile how the kind, quiet playboy morphed into the vengeful killer in Monday’s attack at the Washington Navy Yard. Watching photos of his victims on a television screen just above where Alexis used to… Continue reading

Houston’s downtown street grid has 108 different parking signs telling drivers when they can and cannot park, when a certain space is a loading or commercial zone, and time limits for on-street parking. Part of the change includes dropping the variety of signs to 22 and using red covers for parking kiosks to denote when… Continue reading

Houston\’s boom times are worsening the area’s notorious bumper-to-bumper traffic, new state congestion figures indicate, as the area reaps the benefits of population and job growth that’s putting an added strain on local freeways. “With the economic boom comes the bad stuff, and that is congestion growth,” said David Schrank, a researcher for the Texas… Continue reading

The frantic fumble through the glove compartment during traffic stops will come to an end for some Texas drivers on Sept. 1, when motorists will be able to reach for their phones rather than a piece of paper. Prompted by drivers who have moved much of their personal information online, state lawmakers in May approved… Continue reading

A long-discussed, fiercely disputed light rail line between the University of Houston and the Uptown area remains shelved for lack of funding, but the project gained an important ally Tuesday in Washington. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, whose district shifted earlier this year to include portions of the area where the planned University Line would run… Continue reading

“Were going to see more and more discussions of toll roads,” Fort Bend County Commissioner James Patterson says.A $334 million, 12-month plan call for improvements and additions across Harris County, ranging from work along the southern section of the Sam Houston Tollway to major upcoming construction along Texas 249 south of Tomball. Officials with the… Continue reading

According to the city of Houston, Texas Avenue, one of the most traveled and historic streets in Houston, does not exist. Except it obviously does. “It’s been called Texas Avenue from the beginning when the city was laid out,” said Dorothy Houghton, chairwoman of the Friends of the Texas Room, a Houston history and research… Continue reading