A plan that would significantly alter traffic flow on a major Heights thoroughfare is on the verge of being implemented.
If not for the vocal and persistent opposition of some area residents, a reconfiguration of 11th Street might already be underway.
Timbergrove Manor Neighborhood Association president Chris Elliott and Leigh Killgore, another Timbergrove Manor resident who is president of Super Neighborhood Council 14, are among the Heights-area homeowners against the “road diet” proposed by Houston Public Works and the city’s Planning & Development Department. The plan calls for the restriping of 11th Street between North Shepherd Drive and Michaux Street to convert it from a four-lane configuration, with two lanes of traffic going in each direction, into one lane going in each direction with a center left-turn lane and bicycle lanes on the outside of the road.
A median refuge island, which would provide protection to cyclists and pedestrians using the Heights Hike and Bike Trail that crosses 11th at Nicholson Street, also would be installed at that intersection. It was identified by Houston bike advocates as one of the most dangerous spots in the city.
The changes would be funded as part of the Houston Bike Plan, which was adopted by the city council in 2017 and allocates $1.1 million per year to projects aimed at making the city safer and more accessible for cyclists.
“The only reason that the City of Houston is looking at this is because there’s money to do a bike lane,” Killgore said. “A road diet doesn’t make people safe. It just slows people down.”
According to representatives from public works and the planning and development department, slowing down traffic is a means of making the street safer. At Heights community meetings held in March and May, they cited studies and traffic models that show the proposed road diet would have little impact on congestion while reducing speeding, sudden lane changes, other forms of aggressive driving and, ultimately, collisions.
Jennifer Ostlind, assistant director of the planning and development department, said about two-thirds of the community feedback she’s gotten since March is supportive of the plan and she’s leaning toward moving forward with it. She said July 9 that she expected to make a final decision within a “couple weeks.”
Still, opposition from community members such as Killgore is at least partly why Ostlind continues to deliberate. She said she and Ian Hlavacek, a public works engineer involved with the proposal, are considering Killgore’s claim that the city’s traffic models aren’t adequately factoring in projected growth in the area.
Based on platting information she found on the public works website, which suggests upwards of 2,000 homes could be added to the area immediately west of Shepherd, Killgore said there could be at least 16,000 more vehicles in the area within the next five years. Ostlind said it wouldn’t necessarily be reasonable to expect most of those vehicles to travel east and use 11th Street, but the theory is being evaluated nonetheless.
“We want this to work. We don’t want to put something out there that’s going to cause gridlock,” Ostlind said. “So we’re taking our time. There’s no reason to rush it.”
Whether or not 11th Street gets a road diet, Elliott and Killgore said a pedestrian hybrid beacon would be a more effective, safer option for the intersection of 11th and Nicholson. Hybrid beacons are traffic signals activated by pedestrians who press a button at a crosswalk to activate a temporary red light for vehicles.
One recently was installed at Shepherd and 10th Street in response to the March deaths of pedestrians Lesha Adams and Jesse Perez, who were struck and killed by a woman driving a car while trying to cross Shepherd. Killgore said she often drives on that stretch of Shepherd, which is a one-way street going north.
“I think the issue is that 11th street needs to stay with the same number of lanes and a beacon light should go in there,” Killgore said. “If you do a beacon light, I don’t think you need a road diet and I don’t think you need an island.”
That appears unlikely, though. Hlavacek said in May there is a law prohibiting the installation of a hybrid pedestrian beacon within 100 feet of a cross street or driveway, which would take that option out of play at 11th and Nicholson. Ostlind said a beacon also would be more costly than the existing plan.
It’s a plan that seems to be inching toward fruition, even though it has some opposition. Killgore said she agrees that 11th, particularly at its intersection with Nicholson, needs to be made safer.
She also said she’s glad that Hlavacek and Ostlind have been willing to consider her concerns. Ostlind described Killgore as the “most tenacious” of the plan’s dissenters and meant that as a compliment.
“That’s what makes communities good are people out there that are doing stuff about it,” she said.
Maureen Demar Hall says
Traffic won’t slow down because of bike lanes, it’ll slow down because of all the congestion due to not enough lanes……first lanes were taken from Studewood, then Heights Blvd., now 11th…….getting around this neighborhood has become a nightmare!
Jason Hochman says
Hi Maureen, I don’t recall lanes taken from Studewood, or from Heights. I seem to remember Studewood having a third lane for some years, the center lane used for turns or it changes direction based on traffic flow. Heights, in my recollection has always been one lane each way, except at intersections that have turn lanes. The large center median and on street parking are the reason for less lanes on Heights. What I recall causing a lot of traffic congestion is the retail complex at Yale and Heights just south of I-10. This added new traffic lights and more vehicles.
Tami Moschioni says
Lotsa bikers in Heights!..I personally avoid riding down 11th. The bike trail needs an offical lighted traffic signal there desparately like the one on Yale!
Jason Hochman says
Hi Tami, I typically avoid riding on 11th, too. I usually go east/west on 14th. but the Heights Bike Trail is another option. My only worry about the road diet is that it would increase traffic on the other cross streets. I agree that I signal would be nice. About one year ago, I talked to Ian Hlavacek and mentioned that many of the intersections were a pedestrian or bicycle trail intersects with a street should have a dedicated signal for pedestrians and bicycles only, since many drivers are not paying attention when motor vehicles are not crossing the intersection. I like your art work by the way.
Alan Jackson says
Some of us fully in favor of the plan could not be at the meeting, but let them know our support by e-mail. I am sick to death of the war on pedestrians in Houston with automobiles being given complete carte blanche. I cannot count the number of times I have been winded by someone breaking the law and refusing to stop while I am in a crosswalk trying to get across the street. Houston drivers are the worst I have seen, and I have walked in cities all over the country (and world for that matter). Streets and sidewalks need a serious redesign to make them safe for pedestrians, and this is one step along that path. People are literally being killed because drivers can’t wait 10 seconds.
Bob Choate says
Adam, did you mention to Mrs. Ostland the results of your straw poll at the SN 14 meeting? Hardly confirms her “2/3 in favor” declaration, IMO.
Adam Zuvanich says
I did not. And I didn’t include that in the story because it was only a straw poll and some of the people at that meeting weren’t familiar with the plan for a road diet. The comments on today’s Facebook post would support Ostland’s statement, indicating that more people are for the plan than against. Both are small samples.
Jason Hochman says
The road diet sounds like a good idea. The city solution for making this intersection safer was to paint a green stripe on the pavement. Not really very effective. I love the quotation from Killgore: “A road diet doesn’t make people safe. It just slows people down.” Did you know that slowing down decreases your stopping distance? Also, crashes at slower speeds are less violent? The NTSB has determined that speed is one of the greatest risk factors in collisions. Perhaps you shouldn’t be driving if you don’t understand that.
I believe that women should not be allowed to drive. They are so obsessed with getting there on time, and they have a different way of perceiving from men. I would go further and suggest making cars dangerous again. Maybe then people would pay more attention while driving. I would shrink down the bloated SUV, which of course causes much more injury to pedestrians and bicyclists when it hits them. I would remove air conditioning, back up cameras, entertainment systems, and airbags. Maybe then helmets could be made mandatory for driving a car. Then, I would ban automatic transmissions. That would take a few million drivers off the road, at least for a while, until they figured out how to operate a manual transmission. Should I decide to run for city council, and in the unlikely even that I would be elected, I would turn Durham into the bicycle highway, and make Shepherd two lanes, one northbound and one southbound. There is no need for the greater Heights to be bisected by two super speedways.
Let’s face it: there are too many cars on the road. Our society has been brainwashed to subsidize the automobile. Houston has 30 parking spaces for every resident, much of this based on laws rather than demand. I have to walk down streets that have no room for walking because they have cars parked along them. Why should my tax dollars go toward storage of private property (automobiles) on public streets. Carry your weight and park on private property. Why should car buyers get a tax rebate for buying a new car that is electric or hybrid. I am sick of helping YOU buy your Audi or Tesla and then YOU act like you own the street.
We can have better laws, but typically the government will listen to the subsidized wealthy and maintain the status quo.
Someone Better says
Kockman this is why you will not be elected into office, and yes I spelled your name right….
Jason Hochman says
someone better, why don’t you stop living off my taxes, I am tired of carrying so much dead weight.