What’s the Big Deal About Houston’s New Street Lights?
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Kyle Shelton | March 23, 2016
The new bulbs are causing some criticism. But we need to look at the bigger picture.
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- Harris County Commissioner Partners With City to Build Sidewalks Around Schools, Better Roads (Chron)
- Today at Noon: How Houston Can Get to 1 Million Daily Transit Riders (Houston Tomorrow)
- Later Today: A People’s History of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation with TransitCenter and Kinder
- Resolution to Abolish Parking Requirements Proposed at TX Republican Convention Senate District 15 (@photzarelli)
- Distracted Driver Caused Crash That Killed 3 Teenage Girls From Bellaire (Houston Chronicle)
- Driver Runs Over 4-Year-Old Boy Outside Daycare Center (Houston Chronicle)
- Another Report That Says Traffic Is Bad in Houston? Here It Is (Chron)
- New Signal, Restriping to Give Bus Priority at Lavaca & MLK in Austin (Statesman)
- Dallas City Council Stands Up to Lies About Trinity Parkway Boondoggle, Calls for Public Input (Observer)
- Weston Urban Wins $3M County Incentive to Build Tower & Part of San Pedro Creek Linear Park (Rivard)
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
Retired Fire Chief: Make American Firetrucks Fit City Streets, Not Vice Versa
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It’s a sad irony that fire departments, while essential to public safety, are often a major obstacle to safer streets in American cities.
A smaller European fire truck (top) and an oversized American one (bottom). Photos: FireHouse.com
When cities try to redesign streets to reduce traffic injuries and get drivers to travel at safer speeds, the local fire department often steps in to prevent changes that [...]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- Must Watch Presentation Jeff Speck Gave to Most of the Leadership of the City of Houston
- San Antonio: Fill Out the SATomorrow Survey on Smart, Sustainable Growth
- Houston PWE Drops Cumbersome NTMP, Will Just Install Speed Bumps (Houston Chron)
- Listen to James Explain the Proposed Houston Bike Plan in This Video Overview
- Rice Student Teams Pitch Ideas for Improving Mobility in Houston Tonight, 7 p.m., Fondren Library
- Dallas Struggling for Tech Solution to Counting Problem That Discourages Carpooling (Morning News)
- One Car-Based Business Takes All Office Space in Walkable Mixed-Use Development (Morning News)
- $3 Million “Dreaded” Moody Sky Bridge Now Lets You Walk Above UT Street (Daily Texan)
- “As Mayor Seeks Public Input on Trinity Road, It Is Time for the Project to Truly Evolve” (D Magazine)
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- Mayor Turner Appoints Disability Rights Advocate to METRO Board, Keeps Christof Spieler (Chron)
- Traffic Study: Trinity Will Slightly Reduce I-30, I-35 Congestion, Drastically Increase it Elsewhere
- 3 Houston Teenagers Killed, 4 Injured in Crash Near Corpus Christie This Weekend (KHOU)
- From a Guy Who Loves Driving: Why SA Needs to Plan More Transit (MySA)
- Too Many Hoops Keep Carpoolers From Accessing HOV Discount (Morning News)
- Rollover Crash Kills Young Mother, Shuts Down I-30 in Forth Worth, Children OK (Morning News)
- Irving Postpones Rezoning Verizon’s Mixed Office, Apartment, Hotel, Retail Development (Morning News)
- DHA Seeks Mixed-Income, Mixed-Use Development to Revitalize Public Housing Site (Morning News)
- Volunteer to Park Peoples’ Bikes at NCAA Final Four April 1 (BikeHouston)
- TransitCenter Comes to Houston Wednesday to Talk About Advocacy and Transportation Innovation
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
Fed Up With National Politics? 5 Reasons to Move Your Energy Local!
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Are you fed up with national politics? Sad your candidate lost? Just sick of the whole thing? Here’s 5 reasons to turn your eyes local. 1. You can become an expert Issues in national politics can be extremely complicated. Wonks and academics spend lifetimes studying things like healthcare or foreign policy, while partisans spend lifetimes reframing them. There is a learning […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- Big Version Trinity Parkway Plans Head to City Council on Monday (Morning News)
- Transportation Officials Revive Safety Council to Reduce Traffic Deaths and Injuries in Houston Region (Chron)
- Join Gulfton/Sharpstown Neighborhood Workshop to Develop Bike Plan This Saturday
- Changing the Streets: Houston Tomorrow Media Hits 2016
- With Big Bike Events on the Rise, Some Police Officials Have Yet to Adjust (Chron)
- New TTI Study Shows Correlation Between Increased Oil Drilling and Increased Traffic Injuries
- Go Find the WeinerMobile in DFW This Weekend
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
How Atlanta Decided It Can’t Out Suburb the Suburbs
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Andrew Keatts | March 17, 2016
Atlanta's planning department is pursuing a zoning overhaul that would alter the character of the famously sprawling place.
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- 20-Year-Old Clepatrick Palmer Killed on His Bike By Hit & Run Driver on Rural Stroad (ABC13, Houston Chron)
- Christof Spieler: Complete Streets Are the Next Front in Houston’s Progress (UrbanEdge)
- Dallas Morning News: High-Speed Rail Opponents Are Shortsighted
- People Continue to Die on Streets of City With Minimal Vision Zero Effort (Houston Chron)
- Uptown Dallas Developer Replacing Retail Parking Lot With 320 Units (Morning News)
- Texas MPOs & TXDOT Should Get Ready for Meaningful Safety Metrics (Smart Growth America)
- Map Out Your Ideas for the Houston Bike Plan — And Read the 74 Ideas Already Posted
- “Don’t Drink & Drive. You Might Kill Someone’s Kid” (KUT)
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
Dallas’s McKinney/Olive Intersection Is Dangerous Right Now
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There's a fascinating and dangerous (and accidental) experiment going on at the intersection of McKinney Avenue and Olive Street. I was alerted to the issue by C. Troy Mathis on Twitter. Within five minutes of arriving on the scene, I witnessed a wreck.
Apparently, power was cut on the block, and the traffic signals at this intersection, as well as at Olive and Woodall Rodgers, failed. The Olive/Woodall signal is operating as it is supposed to, as blinking reds in both one-way directions. However, the Olive/McKinney intersection signal is frozen. On Olive, which is one-way northbound, it is a solid red. McKinney, which is two-way, is solid yellow in both directions. Troy mentioned that he called the cops only to hear that somebody would respond within 24 hours.
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments- Big Surprise: INRIX Report Ranks Houston 4th Worst Traffic in the Nation (Chron)
- So Far, Hit-and-Run Traffic Deaths on Pace to Be Higher in Houston in 2016 (Houston Chronicle)
- FHWA‘s New Performance Measures Include Bike & Pedestrian Safety (Streetsblog USA)
- Georgetown Council Approves ‘Granny Flats,’ Reduced Multifamily Permits to Promote Affordability (ABJ)
- How Great Bus Stops Can Increase Ridership, Make Wait Times Seem Shorter and More (OffCite)
- Businesses, Community Groups: Adopt a Bus Stop and Make it Awesome! (MobilityHouston)
- Fed’s Decision to Change Signage Font May Make Traffic Signs Harder to Read (WFAA)
More headlines at Streetsblog USA
Houston’s Transit Guru on the City’s Moment in the Sun
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Leah Binkovitz | March 16, 2016
An interview with the Christof Spieler, who may understand transit better than anyone else in Houston.