Residents face T.C. Jester road projects

City to build bike lanes, add left turn bays, and improve water, sewer infrastructure

As design plans move forward on two road reconstruction projects along T. C. Jester Boulevard, residents in the area and other interested people recently offered input to Houston city planners about the work including creating safe bike lanes for cyclists, ensuring appropriate communication with residents while construction is underway and whether to preserve left turn lanes on the roadway north of Interstate 10.

The two projects, which are funded through the city of Houston’s Rebuild Houston program, will mean reconstruction along 1.5 miles of T.C. Jester between Washington Avenue and Timbergrove Lane. The first project, which is budgeted at $2.6 million, is along the stretch of T.C. Jester south of Interstate 10 from Washington Avenue to the freeway.

The plan is to begin construction in 2017 with an anticipated 2018 end date.

The second project includes roadway work on the north side of the freeway from Interstate 10 to Timbergrove. The city is looking to begin construction in 2018 with a completion date set for 2019.

That project’s cost is budgeted at $4.5 million.

Carol Haddock is the senior assistant director of Houston’s Public Works and Engineering Department. She led a community meeting in mid-June to discuss the proposed plans for the two projects, hear residents’ opinions and concerns and take them under advisement.

She said along with laying new pavement, the city also plans to update the road’s storm drainage system and the water and sewer infrastructure.

“There are pavement issues and tricky intersections and undersized infrastructure which is at the end of its design life,” Haddock said. “The sidewalks also need repair.”

She said the two projects’ improvements also call for new bicycle lanes.

The road itself will not need to be widened to accommodate the planned 5-foot sidewalks, 6-foot bike lanes and four, 11-foot roadway lanes.

The city is also looking at adding left-turn bays at the northern median opening at the intersection of Washington and T.C. Jester.

In addition, there is a plan to create left-turn bays at all approaches to the intersection of T.C. Jester and Larkin.

A reworking of the roadway’s median would mean elimination of left turns at cross streets Cornish and Darling. With this move, the city hopes to encourage motorists to use the proposed revamped intersection at T.C. Jester and Larkin to travel along Radcliffe and Detering streets when they want to access Cornish or Darling.

“Coming out of the meeting the general input we received was support for the concept,” Haddock said.

Some attendees expressed concerns about various aspects of the work.

“Retaining the trees in the medians and preserving more than one left turn opening north of I-10 seem to be the main concerns,” Haddock said. “There was also some input regarding the configuration of the proposed bike lanes at intersections.”

Area homeowner Robert Ingram said he worried about safety issues for cyclists crossing the bridge over White Oak Bayou.

‘That’s a horrible, horrible place,” he said. “How are you going to make that safe for bikers, for pedestrians, for everyone?”

Catherine McCreight, who lives on T.C. Jester Avenue, was concerned about road work going on directly in front of her home.

“What’s the impact to me getting in and out of my driveway?” she asked.

Haddock assured her the city would work with homeowners individually to alert them to windows of time when access to their homes wouldn’t be blocked by construction activity.

Following the meeting, McCreight said the overall plan for both of the projects was good and would work well to improve roadway safety for cyclists and to better manage the flow of traffic on T.C. Jester.

However, she said the city should consider getting rid of the left turn at Petty, a cross street, just as it plans to do at Cornish and Darling.

Though there were no decisions made at the meeting, Haddock said she and her team took all public comments and concerns seriously and said aspects of past projects have been changed after hearing from residents.

She added there will be another opportunity for the city to receive public input at the end of the projects’ design phase and before construction begins. For details

For more information, go to www.rebuildhouston.org.