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All of the options represent major changes to what TxDOT traffic counts rank as one of the state’s most congested freeways. “The thing that is somewhat astonishing is the amount of traffic going through that is not destined to downtown or around downtown,” said Bob Eury, executive director of the Houston Downtown Management District. “It Continue reading

“We can’t just sit back and have no one step up,” said Hector Garcia, who has ridden in the event since 2005 and manages the group’s online presence. “Everyone is learning. Every group ride faces challenges.” Estimates of the typical number of Critical Mass riders in Houston range from 1,000 to 2,000. Though the Houston Continue reading

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