Balancing inner-Loop development, traffic

Some breaking news from KHOU: There's a lot of development going on in Montrose, and it's causing traffic problems! Well, gee — seriously? You mean that townhomes, large apartment blocks and midrise residential development aren't what the neighborhood was built to support? You learn something new every day.

KHOU's report quotes City Councilwoman Sue Lovell, who worries that the flurry of development in and around Montrose could have an adverse effect: "I have never seen this kind of development," Lovell said. "I mean, 10 midrises going up, pretty much within a half-a-mile area. ... The city has to get ahead of this problem, not wait until there's a traffic problem." Actually, councilwoman, we think there's already a problem: Just drive along West Gray, Shepherd, Richmond, West Alabama, Montrose or any number of other streets that run through the area at rush hour and you'll see it, too. We can't speak to the traffic on the side streets, where some of this development is located, but we imagine it can get pretty heavy there as well. So what can the city do? According to KHOU, the possibilities include more one-way streets, additional traffic lights and better planning of driveways that feed traffic onto streets. Mayor Bill White pointed to one example that's already in place: "Well, a good example of what we've done is having the contraflow lane ... that currently you can experience on Alabama," White said. "And we've got to take a look at other places where we could have full utilization of lanes." We also need to teach Houstonians how to use contraflow lanes: Remember, a giant, illuminated red X overhead means you're not supposed to be driving in that lane.

Channel 11 notes that we have yet to see the impact of Regent Square, the "urban village" development that will be built on the site of the Allen House apartments. Sure, that should be interesting, but what we're really dreading is the construction of The Piazza, the enormous mixed-use project planned for the middle of the traditionally small-scale Rice Village. Kinda makes you wish we had some kind of smart growth plan around here, doesn't it?

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Photo: flickr user j-a-x