Houston Chronicle transportation writer. Shifting paradigms in the streets, alternative modeling in the sheets. You are traffic. dug.begley
@houstonchronicle
.com
Elton Robert rode out
#Laura
with his dog Bruce in Orange, about four blocks from the Sabine River. No power, surrounded by 14 inches of water, but he’s fine. So is Bruce. They found a toy.
Donovan Robinson, 16, won’t be eligible to vote until 2022, but spent his morning helping elderly and disabled voters cast ballots from their car. “I wanted to help out the community.”
Harold Jackson got off his job
@Port_Houston
around 9:45. By 10:45 he’d voted closer to his home in north Houston. With polling places with typical hours, he’d have needed to shuffle his work hours or risk not voting.
Houston’s hottest club is UNDERPASS. This club, built beneath a historic home that became a Frenchy’s then a Mattress Firm, was the creation of promoter Ima Boss Hogg. It has everything: An alligator that survived Ike living at Ike Turner’s house, a Beyoncé wig, 1980 Tony Buzbee
What would happen if an airport lost three 737s to fiery crashes? Well, Houston area road have that many deaths each year. So enjoy your commute. First in our series... Out of Control: Houston’s roads, drivers are nation's most deadly
So we’re at the point in the evening where
@HarrisVotes
polling places are resetting their machines so they can get a Thursday count and then restart with voters on Friday. So folks are waiting in their cars to vote. Behind a church. At midnight. Near the Beltway.
So with Dallas now officially in the throes of a
@TxDOT
debate, now every metro area is having some form of fight with the highway department.
Houston: I-45
Dallas: I-345
Austin: I-35
San Antonio: Broadway
So coming on 7 years ago, I and
@_SusanCarroll
were tasked with coming in at 4 a.m. on Saturday. Hobgoblin that she was, Susan instructed me to drive her from her home because she didn't like rain.
So I show up dutifully and Susan hops in, all ready to go. It's just rain.
Board of
@METROHouston
approves requiring masks on all buses and trains, effective immediately. Drivers will provide masks for those who do not have them.
Guys, it's happening.
In the dead of night. On a Friday so the news doesn't cover it.
He's going to wipe out all the infrastructure improvements one project at a time.
Anyway, I keep thinking about that dark drive in the rain and the rhythm of her work. How she would cross a flooded city to get back to her kids and cross it again to tell other people they were in danger.
The beat feels a little off, but I can find it.
About 200 folks already lined up for
#GeorgeFloyd
memorial when doors do not open until noon. That includes Brett White, who drove four hours from Dallas with his painting that took four days. 1/2
Every single time some store/restaurant/bar fails in Houston, the tendency of the conquered business owner or industry analyst is to blame parking for it. Never does anyone say "that store kinda sucked" or "the food was meh" or "the owner was a tool"
Never change, Houston. Never change. The first comment on the
#outofcontrol
package calls for less ticket writing for speeders, more ticket writing for people slowing down traffic.
"Cities... have literally hit the infrastructure iceberg & don’t know it because they have not accounted for any of it... They’ll talk about pensions & firefighter settlements ... but it is their insolvent development pattern that is grinding them down."
City Council transportation committee is meeting.... and two of the council members are stuck in traffic.
It's like raaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin on your wedding day...
Three years ago,
@_SusanCarroll
tried to murder me by blinding me with a camera flash while I was driving on Loop 610 in
#Harvey
floodwaters. Unable to finish what she started, she had
@HoustonChron
management transfer me to Orange before
#Laura
hit it. BUT I’M STILL ALIVE SUSAN!
"Houston City Hall is starting to look like the political equivalent of Major League Soccer, the last stop before retirement for superannuated stars such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi."
Houston Is Young and Dynamic. Its Next Leader Won’t Be.
Pres. Bush's father helped found an investment house w/ a longtime
@UnionPacific
board member. Then he befriend a transportation secretary that went on to oversee the railroad.
He stayed on track, right to end. Soon, a train will take his body for burial
Wherein we break down how
@TxDOT
is going to spend three times what it cost to develop, build and repeatedly launch the Space Shuttle so Texans can mostly drive...
"There are a lot of people who are willing to have a few people die to save two minutes on their commute."
@christofspieler
sums up some of the issue with pedestrian safety in Houston area.
Not sure this warrants me typing something, so I'll just report here.
#brandimprovement
I asked
@METROHouston
& this is what I got:
“Since most of the new board members haven’t had a chance to review the proposed projects, we wanted to pause items that appear to be advocacy.”
RE:
@TxDOTHouston
I-45 project,
@SylvesterTurner
says "A survey is not public engagement. Further, this survey is framing a false choice,. We do not intend to play their game... The take it or lose it position being offered by TxDOT is not helpful in getting this project done."
I’ve been trying to think of a way to quantify or state this and I think I finally settled on this.
If you do not think
@Mizanur_TX
is one of the 7 best journalists breathing air in Houston, working for anyone, you are either ignorant or stupid.
Suddenly removing an editor of color who is widely beloved/ respected in Texas/ beyond and knows Houston the best, as well as the only investigative reporter on staff - a
@PulitzerPrizes
@LivingstonAward
winner - is, at the very least, deserving of more answers.
So
@USDOT
released update on road safety efforts.
"At a time when it is safer to fly across the country than it is to walk across town, we must all act to address the crisis on our nation’s roadways,"
@SecretaryPete
said.
Thanks for asking. The
@HEB
at Washington/Heights calls itself "Buffalo Heights" and the shopping center at Studemont/I-10 is "Lower Heights" so i refer to the neighborhood between the two as Tenderloin Heights... it is inevitable the entire Loop will one day all be the Heights.
One of the most active people against the
@TxDOTHouston
plan for I-45 is aiming for state senate gig. if she wins, she'd definitely get to speak at
@TxDOTCommission
meetings earlier.
To the best of my knowledge, the Houston City Council has spent more time publicly as group talking about six blocks of a bike lane along Austin Street than they have about
@TxDOTHouston
I-45 project. Raging debate right now about city bike plan, losing parking & other concerns.
All the folks out there hitting the like button on this tweet aren't thinking about the economic consequences. By that, I mean me. No traffic means no transportation reporter. I have no other skills. I'll end up doing pie charts for
@_SusanCarroll
and live a meaningless existence
You gotta wonder why there is a statue of Columbus in Houston and not one (to my knowledge) of Willis Carrier. Equally vital to the history of this bog.
I’m offering lunch to whomever pulls this off in Houston and provides video evidence and affirms it is not staged.
DISCLAIMER: Dug Begley & Hearst are not responsible for injury or assault. This is Texas. People could be packing.
Berutora, a middle-aged tiger who permanently wears a seatbelt and has traffic lights on his hat, is the road safety mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.
BREAKING:
@TexasCentral
says it has clearance from
@USDOTFRA
to develop Houston-Dallas rail line. Likely to face intense opposition from opponents even with hurdle cleared.
New Hou council member
@CMPlummer4
releases letter she sent to
@TxDOTHouston
with key statement: “I am left to conclude that the benefits do, in fact significantly outweigh the project’s negative externalities—but only for suburbanites not living in the City.”
One month until the release of Liftoff! Early reviews are super positive.
"Readers interested in business and entrepreneurship, as well as outer space, will find Berger’s book irresistible."
Light rail line connecting Green/Purple a big part of
@METROHouston
discussions to finalize long-range plans. A big notable change, however, is more light rail past small courthouse extension, taking it to Washington & Heights. That'd be a big connection and change to plan.
Houston, a city with 2.3 million people, garnered fewer votes in its mayoral election than Seattle, a city with 750k people, a third (!) of our size.
Seattle saw 267,414 voters in its November 2021 election. Houston this year: 251,987
Not! Good!
Strong pushback to
@TxDOTHouston
I-45 project from few members of
@HGACmpo
transportation advisory committee. "I find this project disgusting" says
@airallianceHOU
exec. director Bakeyah Nelson. She and
@HumanitarianDip
ask to pull all approvals of all segments. 1/2
Once the northern phase is complete, Houston will have the mother of A-B tests of road safety on its major streets. 15th Street is going to be a divider.
Houston city officials halt major part of Shepherd and Durham redesign, risking millions in funding
There's a lot of discussion by people who don't use transit about what should be done to improve it. Perhaps listening to the actual users, like Janis, needs more attention.
Known in the community as the “Bus Lady,” Janis Scott has been riding
@METROHouston
all of her life. It's her "lifeline to the world." In pt. 3 of our
#KIUrbanEdge
series on race, equity & public transit, Scott explains what transit equity means to her.
Lawyer for driver in Waller crash calls boy a new & inexperienced driver, says Waller PD talked to him "and did not issue him a traffic citation. Clearly, they decided a crime had not occurred."
@BikeHouston
) via
@houstonchron
If you don’t subscribe, I will ruin your commute. Nothing but orange cones, wedged spools and an endless stream of pickups carrying 175 wooden pallets waiting for a bus that’s waiting at a red light for a train to pass by.
Make the world a safer place for facts. Buy unlimited digital access to until Memorial Day for 99 cents. (Not per month. 99 cents. Total. For six months. Yes really. You're welcome.)
Congratulations to our Transportation & Drainage Operations Multimodal Safety and Design team on receiving the 2024 In-House Project of the Year, Transportation award for 11th Street Safety and Bike Lanes from
@APWATexas
.
#HouStreets
#TransportationTuesday
“Dozens of stories bombard us every week about how we humans are haplessly warming the planet. This is why I came to the meeting today. I am a grandmother and I want a safe future for my grandson.” via
@houstonchron
I-45 certainly has safety issues, no dispute, but these fraud studies need to stop. It is the “nation’s deadliest highway” or whatever they call it because it’s the freeway that links two huge areas and is <300 miles long. It’s like calling NYC the marriage capital of U.S.
Actually a strong safety argument for the 45N NHHIP....
@DugBegley
Houston stretch of highway named most deadly in the U.S. by new report via
@culturemap
People getting in and off a bus in downtown Houston, 1943. There are so many fantastic details here. Check out the boy with the striped shirt and the trombone case. The older men in their hats. The buildings, the composition ---- exquisite. John Vachon took this photo.
Updated
@METROHouston
piece about UBRT w/ comments from
@GilbertGarciatx
"Why have we only recently realized these financial challenges? Avoiding a formal board vote & engaging in a com tour after the fact is both inappropriate and woefully inadequate."
I'm not doing to this to say any life is more important than another, but just to note it because of the timing. 8 people were killed in Houston at Astroworld Friday. On average lately, 11.5 people die daily on Texas roads. Those road deaths get scant attention compared to today.