# City of Houston, I have a problem **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857 "2004-06-11T19:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/1 "2004-06-11T19:34:56Z")
Dear City of Houston, I understand that you are growing rapidly, and that we need more roads upon which to drive. But how _dare_ you take my precious freeway exit from three lanes down to one! You fucking rat bastards. I know [where you live](http://uem.minimanga.com/desktops/crackhouse1152x864.jpg), and I can and WILL\* murder you in your unholy coffin-encased sleep if you don’t fix this abomination double pronto. For there is no quicker way to turn me from mild-mannered citizen to raving, homicidal psychopath than to force me to sit on my ass in [stop and go](http://www.exceldeliveryservice.net/images/houston-traffic.jpg) traffic. The problem is at the [610 loop](http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-610_tx.html) and US 59 interchange. Once upon a time, southbound traffic on 610, was able to exit onto 59 using three great, glorious, glistening concrete lanes. Now we only have one. Last night traffic was stacked up on the exit (and some one on the adjacent lane) moving 1-2mph for over half a mile - and this was at SEVEN FUCKING THIRTY P.M. The other lanes of the freeway slowed to about 20mph to safely navigate the hazard created by the bottlenecked exit. And these goddamn incestuous dirt-farming _weasel molesters_ won’t even tell me [when it’s going to re-open.](http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/construction/construction_report.aspx) “Southbound Exit Ramp to US 59-Southwest Freeway north- and southbound. 1 lane. Closed until further notice.” YEAARRGGH!! And to top it all off, our mayor is adding insult to injury by trying to [meter downtown parking spots](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2621567) until 2 a.m. You think this is going to encourage commerce downtown, or do anything else but piss people off over nickels and dimes? What the fuck is wrong with you, Mayor Bill? I won’t stand for this, you dribbling monkey turd. This isn’t soviet Russia, this is the US of fucking A, and parking meters shouldn’t charge money after the sun goes down. The floor is now open to sympathizers, takers of potshots, ne’er-do-wells, and employees of non-sectarian pizza parlors. \*will not ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/2 "2004-06-11T19:52:36Z")
Someone here order a pepperoni? Sorry it’s cold, but you know how the traffic is … ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/3 "2004-06-11T21:58:06Z")
I’ve only been a Houston driver for about two years, but I’ve always found that interchange to be almost unusable, although not as bad as the 290 - 610 - I10 clusterfuck. I haven’t been down that way in awhile, so it might have gotten worse (though I can scarcely imagine how). I suggest you buy yourself a mule, as it would probably be much faster. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/4 "2004-06-11T22:39:29Z")
In a city without zoning, I think there’s other things that would keep me awake at night. “That spot next to [n]neuroman’s\*\* house looks like a perfect place for a refinery/slaughterhouse complex, and the world’s largest 24 hour bookstore. Start buildin’, boys!” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/5 "2004-06-11T22:40:32Z")
“Not just a bookstore … an ADULT bookstore. Start fappin’, boys!” ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/6 "2004-06-12T02:40:37Z")
Here’s a way to avoid those parking meters downtown if/when they ever get installed. What totally sucks is that the new baseball field does not provide adequate parking, forcing people to park on the street. Don’t blame me, I did not vote for it. Elmwood, if you were really such an expert on Houston, you would know that almost all of the refineries are to the south and east of town, mainly in the wonderful cities of Pasadena and Deer Park. As far as adult bookstores, puh-leeze! We are high tech down here with adult VIDEOSTORES, which there are plenty very close to the 610/59 intersection. BTW, I work very close to 610/59. I live in Montrose. My folks live in Meyerland. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/7 "2004-06-12T02:42:49Z")
Once again, ][Here’s a way](http://www.skatetrash.org/) to avoid those parking meters downtown if/when they ever get installed. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/8 "2004-06-12T02:44:10Z")
BTW, I’m the one on the very left, with the shiny head! ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/9 "2004-06-12T06:13:42Z")
I would like to see the city put a hold on building more roads and highways and improve things like the [Bikeway system](http://www.publicworks.cityofhouston.gov/bikeways/index.htm) or Metro. Building and expanding roads is not going to solve our problems and the sooner the city realizes that the better. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/10 "2004-06-12T06:40:09Z")
Don’t worry, in 2008 when the Katy Freeway is finished being expanded to eighteen lanes all our traffic problems will go away. No city could ever need more than nine lanes of traffic in any given direction. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/11 "2004-06-12T14:23:30Z")
No one’s mentioned the sorry excuse for a commuter train Houston just put in? The one that’s a menace to ordinary automobile traffic? My sister’s a nurse in the Houston medical center, and she’s had more than her fair share of too-close-for-comfort moments with that thing. (N.B.: it’s all second-hand info to me, because, well, see my location) ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/12 "2004-06-12T18:22:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, none of the accidents that have occurred so far have been the fault of the METRO train operator and in almost every accident the driver has been ticketed for a traffic infraction such as making an illegal left turn or running a red light. The Chronicle also reported on April 18 that the Main Street corridor, along which the light rail line travels, was a dangerous place to drive even before the rail line was installed, with an average of 7.3 automobile collisions per day between 1998 and 2000. In the Texas Medical Center alone, the crash rate per vehicle miles traveled was 58% higher than the Houston regional average. From [here](http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/drivers.htm). [This](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2513585) is the article in Houston Chronicle the site is talking about. There are a lot of rail accidents because Houston’s drivers suck, it doesn’t really have a lot to do with the fact that they’re hitting a train now instead of other cars. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/13 "2004-06-12T18:43:25Z")
I believe this may be where I got stuck at MIDNIGHT Tuesday morning–NOT fun. I don’t live in the area (I’m from Alabama, but was visiting family in Baytown), so I don’t remember all the highway numbers, but I do know I was on 59 at one point and I got into traffic that narrowed to one lane as you describe. This was after I’d already spent several hours on a trip that should have taken half the time it did, and had three kids in the car as well, so I was REALLY unhappy, to say the least! :mad: You definitely have my heartfelt sympathy! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/14 "2004-06-13T18:25:09Z")
> [@Dewey Cheatem Undhow](#): > > No one’s mentioned the sorry excuse for a commuter train Houston just put in? The one that’s a menace to ordinary automobile traffic? My sister’s a nurse in the Houston medical center, and she’s had more than her fair share of too-close-for-comfort moments with that thing. > > (N.B.: it’s all second-hand info to me, because, well, see my location) Oh yeah, that thing is a giant boondoggle. Houston Metro is currently re-configuring bus routes to FORCE more people to ride it, in a bid to artificially inflate their ridership numbers. The accident rate for Houston’s light rail is much, much higher than for light rail nationwide. I personally witnessed accident number fiftymumble the other day when a brand spankin’ new Mercedes clipped a train. Of course as other posters have pointed out, the train runs in a high traffic, dangerous area, and the entire thing runs at street level as well. Oy vey. ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/15 "2004-06-14T05:07:12Z")
Neuro, I heard on the radio that the expected completion date for that interchange is in 2006. :eek: I drive part time for a courier and will do anything to keep from driving that section of 610. (From 59 to I-10) The road construction planning in Houston has sucked big time for over 40 years. I cant believe that after having 59 narroed down for construction from 610 to 288 for the last two years, they now have trashed that section around the spur. For those of you who dont live in Houston: Houston spent two years widening a major freeway to 5 lanes in each direction. We suffered through all sorts of alternate lane problems, narrow lanes, two lane temporary shoulders, etc, etc. They finally finished it, then dropped the wrecking ball on the next intersection over closing the freeway down to two temporary, narrow lanes backing traffic for about two miles during off peak hours and for @#$^\*@ miles during peak hours. Only in Texas. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/16 "2004-06-14T15:34:46Z")
> [@Revedge](#): > > Neuro, > > I heard on the radio that the expected completion date for that interchange is in 2006. :eek: Good fucking lord. At least now I won’t have any false hope. Ah, the price of progress… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/17 "2004-06-14T15:46:23Z")
> [@Dewey Cheatem Undhow](#): > > No one’s mentioned the sorry excuse for a commuter train Houston just put in? The one that’s a menace to ordinary automobile traffic? My sister’s a nurse in the Houston medical center, and she’s had more than her fair share of too-close-for-comfort moments with that thing. > > (N.B.: it’s all second-hand info to me, because, well, see my location) Hey! HEY! Don’t knock our toy train. Metro was very straightforward (cough) about it. The Official Big Cheese at Metro said that even if it only took one car off the road, things would be better. So far, it’s taken about 40 cars off the road, permanently. OMFG! A government agency that actually kept its word :eek: And it keeps getting more and more efficient on a per-car basis. Lemme see here…$600 billion or so, divided by 40…wow, we’re down to only $150 million per car removed from the road. After it runs over another 40 (not to mention running over people in [wheelchairs](http://www.news24houston.com/content/top%5Fstories/?ArID=26246) ), we’ll be down to only $75 million per car. We owe such a debt of gratitude to our former mayer, Lee P. “Outtatown” Brown for making it possible for us to have such a wonderful toy train. I think the entire city should go over to his house to thank him. Tonight. About 2:00 a. m. I’ll bring the rope… ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/18 "2004-06-14T17:20:27Z")
And driving to work day I found that they have cut the 290 - 610 N interchange down to one lane (and enforced it with concrete barriers). This will greatly add to my enjoyment of my morning commute \. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/19 "2004-06-28T22:21:07Z")
Praise be to Concron, lord high God of concrete, highway construction, and those little sugary wax bottle candies. They opened my freeway exit back to two lanes again! ---
**Author:** ![JayElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@JayElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayElle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857/20 "2004-06-28T22:35:45Z")
Apparently the [610 / I-10 interchange](http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/02/19/bottleneck.study/) is the second worst in the nation. It’s bad, but I think the 610 / 59 is truly the world’s worst. I know every back street from downtown to Westchase - anything to avoid 59! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-of-houston-i-have-a-problem/249857.md?page=2)