March saw us hold another WHCA Members Meeting. This one was special in several ways. It was focused on changes in traffic through the neighborhood resulting from the I-10 expansion project and the recent repair of the Houston Avenue Bridge. CM Mario Castillo and his team worked with the support of Representative Christina Morales to get teams from TxDOT and HPD to answer questions from neighbors.

For the past year we would normally meet at Zion Lutheran Church on Beauchamp Street. However, Zion recently started some renovations. As a result, they could not offer space for the crowd we anticipated. Kelli Fereday at Friends of Woodland Park helped us to secure access to the Woodland Park Community Center for this gathering. It’s a good thing that we arranged a considerable space, since over 50 neighbors turned up to get answers to their questions!

In the week or two before the meeting, WHCA gathered a series of related questions from neighbors, forwarding these to TxDOT in advance. We also took a number of written questions from attendees, and also had some live Q&A.

The various questions ad corresponding answers will be detailed elsewhere. Here a couple of highlights of what we learned at the meeting.

Taylor Street Ramps To Reopen

Arun Kumar, TxDOT Project Manager for the White Oak Bayou Project, reported that progress on the Taylor Street ramps is going well. They expect these ramps to be opened in about eight weeks!

This is really good news. It will reduce the amount of traffic between Studewood and Watson on White Oak Drive and Usener.

All Those Heavy Trucks

The unusual surge in tractor trailer traffic through the neighborhood was the result of the work to repair the Houston Avenue bridge. That project involved the closure of I-10 eastbound from (at least) Shepherd to Taylor Street. For several days large trucks diverted off I-10 eastbound, wound their way along the feeder, turning north on either Studewood or Watson. They passed through the neighborhood, ignoring existing signage that plainly stated “No Thru Trucks.”

The closure of I-10 eastbound lasted just a few days. While the memory of the traffic lingers, we’ve not seen as many large truck transit the neighborhood since then.

Intersection at White Oak Drive & Studewood

Several neighbors pointed out a problem at the intersection of White Oak Drive & Studewood. Increased volume of traffic makes it difficult, even dangerous, for people to make a left turn from White Oak onto Studewood. It was felt that this intersection would benefit from dedicated left turn lights. This idea has been around for years, but largely ignored by the city. The fact that it came to light in a public meeting has revived the idea.

Since the meeting CM Castillo’s team has taken steps to arrange a site visit with staff from Houston Public Works. Hopefully, we’ll be able to impress upon them how this very busy intersection could be significantly improved without too much effort.

Summary

Over the course of the meeting almost every question that had been asked was addressed. Most questions were answered in a straightforward manner. Further, the gathering was conducted in a neighborly, even friendly manner. Pitchforks left at home.

I must once again express my thanks everyone who made this possible:

Representative Christina Morales, District 145 and her Chief of Staff Hector Beltran
Council Member Mario Castillo and his Director of Constituent Services, Ty Kekoa and the entire District H team
Kris Hadley, Danny Perez and Arun Kumar from TxDOT
Officers Graham, Rivera and Rubio from HPD Central Division

Kelli Fereday, President Friends of Woodland Park and the entire FWP board and members for help securing the venue