Bill to use land under powerlines to connect Houston Bike Trails

This is a no-brainer. If you know anyone working for Centerpoint Energy who can help, ring them up.

For more info

Bill moves ambitious bike trails plan closer to fruition

Map showing Utility Right of Ways in Houston

By Mike Morris

May 3, 2013

 

An ambitious vision to create a grid of "bicycle interstates" across Harris County using the idle land under more than 100 miles of power lines moved closer to reality this week.

 

With the approval Wednesday of the Texas Senate, and earlier passage by the House, a bill allowing hike and bike trails to be built in utility right of way now awaits action from Gov. Rick Perry.

 

The bill had stalled over questions about how much liability local electric utility CenterPoint Energy should face for opening its land for recreational use. Bill author Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston, first filed it in 2007 to mirror the laws of many states that waive all liability for landowners for recreational uses, but he said the measure has improved through compromise.

 

The bill, which applies only to Harris County, would make CenterPoint liable only for a serious injury or death caused by its "willful or wanton acts or gross negligence." It also would grant the utility expedited appeals and enable it to require partner governments to provide insurance to cover its litigation costs.

 

North-south trails

 

"We are really, really pleased to have finally put the ball across the goal line," Murphy said. "Now, we can start building these trails that are sorely needed at a fraction of the cost."

 

Though CenterPoint spokeswoman Alicia Dixon said there are 923 miles of right of way in the county, including 410 in the city of Houston, Murphy said about 100 miles run under large transmission lines, which make the most sense for trails. Brad Parker, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, which helped negotiate the compromise bill, said there are 142 such miles of local right of way available.

 

"If you think about our bayou system, they run west to east, not a whole lot of north-south," said Mayor Annise Parker. "Using utility easements will allow us to vastly expand the opportunities for hike and bike trails and put some really critical connectors north-south."

 

Houston voters last fall approved $100 million in bonds to expand the city's trail system along bayous, to be combined with private and grant funds as the $205 million Bayou Greenway Initiative.

 

'This is the answer'

 

"What is so important about this is (that) these, along with the bayous, will serve as our bicycle interstates," said cyclist Tom McCasland, director of the Harris County Housing Authority and former lobbyist for the Houston Parks Board. "For those people who don't want us out on the busy roads, this is the answer. Let us ride these, and then we'll jump to the side roads to get to our final destinations."

 

Houston Parks Board Executive Director Roksan Okan-Vick said the bill would help put under-utilized land to good use. She said there is much to be done, however, from signing agreements with CenterPoint and determining which utility corridors make sense to funding the trails.

 

County Commissioner Steve Radack has greatly expanded parks and trails in the 24 years he has represented west Harris County. He said it is unclear precisely what CenterPoint will want in its agreements, and whether it will charge for use of its right of way.

 

"It gives the opportunity, if it all works out, to be able to have an incredible system of trails," Radack said. "Potentially, it could be a great thing, but it doesn't mean it's all going to work out to be the coup that some people think it could be."

 

Dixon said discussions have envisioned governments agreeing to build and maintain the trails.

 

Clark Martinson, a cyclist and general manager of the Energy Corridor Management District, said his group's plan for west Houston includes a north-south utility corridor west of Beltway 8 that would go from Brays Bayou all the way into Bear Creek Park.

 

Safer routes

 

"There's an amazing number of people that are riding the existing trails. This just opens up safer routes for more neighborhoods," Martinson said. "With these utility corridors, we'll be able to tie in neighborhoods that are north of I-10. It gives closer-to-home, safe routes for families, too, not just the commuters."

 

Tom Compson, of Bike Houston, said the extension of a trail along a north-south utility corridor that parallels the railroad tracks through Memorial Park and the Galleria would allow a safer route for Galleria bike commuters, keeping him from "taking my life in my hands" in the bike lane on Wesleyan.

 

"It's very encouraging," Compson said. "I don't think you could find a bike advocate that would be opposed to it."

 

Though a spokesman said Perry will review the bill when it reaches his desk, Murphy said his staff has been told the governor supports the item.

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...hp?cmpid=atfpm

 

Hershey Park Bike Trail from Primary Loop

 

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This ride was a tough one to scout out. Any more direct route means sharing the road with you know who. The bike riding at Hershey Park is beautiful.

Hermanneutics Loop

 

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Relaxing ride with Rice Canopy through part of it. Stop for coffee at Solentos on Rice Campus.

 

See James Turrell's "Twilight Epiphany" at Sunset or Sunrise. It's on the bike route.

 

 

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Tiny No. 5 Loop

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This Loop starts on the Primary Loop and veers off to meander through Bellaire and Weat U. A primary attraction is that it passes Tiny No 5 Restaurant which has some healthy food selections. Unfortunately the eggs are still from tortured chickens. According to the manager this may change. Ask to speak to Andrew and register your wish to treat chickens compassionately.

 

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Another Loop Trail

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Haven't ridden this yet but it looks interesting.

You can take the Braes Bayou Trail instead of Braeswood - the more off the streets the better!

How does Holland do it?

 

Posted on Oct 31, 2012 by Zach Vanderkooy, PeopleForBikes.org

When it comes to making the bike a safe and comfortable choice for everyday transportation, no place on the planet has had more success than the Netherlands.

There are a lot of reasons why the Dutch are world leaders in getting people on bikes for everyday trips. The history, cultural context, and political decisions that led to bicycling being a rational and mainstream mode of transport in the Netherlands offer many relevant lessons for American cities, and the Green Lane Project is helping to share those lessons.

In my opinion, the biggest reasons for Dutch success are physical. The land use arrangement of cities creates short trip distances ideally suited to bicycling. The terrain is relatively flat. And the continuity of the network and design choices on the street makes a trip by bike a very inviting, safe choice. I’m not talking about cultural incentives, political will, or microeconomics. I’m talking about bricks, asphalt, and traffic signals.

And here's the best part: it’s not that complicated. While Dutch traffic engineering is among the most nuanced in the world, the core ingredients of the bicycling network are quite simple (and replicable).

It comes down to three basic ingredients:

1. Quiet, low-speed residential streets
2. Protected lanes (aka cycle tracks or green lanes) on busy streets
3. Off-street pathways

 

1. Quiet, low-speed residential streets (Also called: 30 km zones, bike boulevards, neighborhood greenways)

Design features include:

• Raised threshold crossing – Present when turning off of a higher-speed road to a 30 km (about 19 mph) zone. This and other traffic calming measures like speed humps ensure slow automobile speeds and indicate a transition from busy street into a neighborhood. Color, texture and grade differences are sometimes used to further reinforce the change.
• Permeability for bikes – These streets usually provide local access only for residents in cars, but often provide a direct, convenient route to another part of the city for people on bikes.
• Cars and bikes share the road – No special infrastructure for bikes is necessary because speeds are very low and car traffic is light. This keeps things simple and inexpensive to maintain.

2. Protected lanes (Also called: cycle tracks, green lanes, separated lanes)

Design features include:

• Physical separation – People in cars, on bikes and walking all have defined space, created with buffers such as curbs, planters, parking or bollards.
• Sophisticated intersection designs – Intersections are the most critical points for safety, and Dutch engineers use bike-only signals, roundabouts, pavement markings and other techniques to provide clear and safe directions to all users to minimize the potential for conflict. Right turns on red are prohibited in most cases.

3. Off-street pathways (Also called: rail-trails, cycle superhighways, multi-use paths*)



Design features include:

• Complete separation – Paths are fully separated from car traffic.
• Continuous and fast – Whenever possible, designs allow people on bikes to continue without stopping by using tunnels, bridges, or roundabouts at intersections.
• Smooth, wide surfaces – Paths are sufficiently wide to allow side-by-side riding in both directions and safe passing by faster riders.

*Note: In the U.S., people on bikes and on foot are often mixed (along with strollers, rollerbladers, pogo-stick riders and every other form of non-motorized movement) on multi-use paths. In the Netherlands this is rarely the case; bikes and pedestrians are provided distinct, separate space on paths.




That’s it. There are variations in the details, but 95% of the Dutch network looks like one of these three street types. All three of these facility types are part of the family of low-stress infrastructure we call green lanes. And all three exist today in the toolbox of American cities, ready to be used.

Primary Houston Bike Loop

View Map at MapMyRide. MapmyRide has an iPhone app that lets you download maps to consult on the ride.  

Learn this loop to access all the trails discussed here.

I call this the Primary Houston Bike Loop because it can be used as a way to bike to interesting Bike Trails in Houston including the Memorial Park, Buffalo Bayou Park Trails, and the Brays Bayou Trail. In future posts, I will show how you can access the Tap Rail Trail, the Heights Trail, and the beautiful White Oaks Trail from off the Primary Houston Bike Loop.

Brays Bayou

The Loop shows Houston off quite well except for a short portion through a light industrial area near Bellaire. But these areas are where the work is done so they have their interest. The Loop passes through Rice University, the University area, Bellaire, near the Galleria, through Tanglewilde, Memorial Park, and Montrose.

Memorial Park Trail

West side of loop... the tricky part.

The trickier part of the ride is the West side of the loop. The reason is that I had to be a trailblazer. The official bike routes don't work for me here because of their ugliness and they are straight-shot highly trafficked roads. So here is a neighborhood route sans traffic.

West side of Loop

.

 

Leave the Brays Bayou Trail At Moonlight.

 

Moonlight to Braesvalley. Right on Braesvalley.

 

Left on Manhattan.

 

Right on Jason.

 

Immediate left on Ferris.

.

Keep on Ferris past Beechnut.

 

Ferris past Beechnut and Bellaire High school to Jessamine. Right on Jessamine.

 

Left on Fifth.

 

Cross Bellaire.

 

Go straight and Cross little parking lot and then cross Bissonnet.

 

Take Fifth to Elm. Left on Elm.

 

Right on Royalton through the Wasteland.

 

Right at Westpark. Ride on the concrete under the Westpark Tollway to avoid Westpark traffic.

 

Left on Rice crossing Westpark.

 

Veer left off Sage staying on Rice.

 

Turn off Rice left onto Beverly Hill.

 

Turn right onto Yorktown.

 

Cross Richmond onto sidewalk and go left.

 

Yorktown picks up half a block west on Richmond. Right onto Yorktown.

 

Follow Yorktown to gate. You can now follow the bike route signs and the MapMyRide Map to Memorial Park trail to continue around the Loop.

When you reach Woodway stay on the sidewalk. It will turn into a bikeway.

Where to eat on the Loop.

Ziggy's at the corner of Taft and Fairview is pretty organic, at least their eggs are. Hard to find organic food near the loop.

 

Ziggys caters to bikers. Here is an embellished soy latte.

Also Baba Yega's is close to the loop and they have good breakfasts and lunches. They are a couple blocks south of Fairview and one block east of Montrose.

 

Have fun on the Loop. Leave a comment if you have a suggestion. Nothing is real. Enjoy the ride.

 

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