NewUrbanStreets

During the eight years of street reconstruction in downtown Houston Texas we found many historic street bricks that paved the early streets of Houston in the mid-1800s. The City’s policy was to save the bricks for use in future projects. Two projects have been identified and so there was a need to sort the stored bricks and finally return some of them to service.

I have had the great opportunity and pleasure of managing three archeological investigations related to projects in the oldest part of Houston Texas that is also in the core of downtown. This post is to share my experiences and what I learned to hopefully assist someone who may be where I was when I began the RFP process for the first project.  I acknowledge I had the benefit of Bob Eury’s (Central Houston and the Downtown District) experience and great advice from Dr. Roger Moore that helped me avoid  learning some things the hard way.

Preface – This is a follow-up to an earlier post about unusual solutions to provide accessible pedestrian pathways to crosswalks at intersections. What creates the need for these solutions is the difference in the existing grades of the adjacent buildings and the street–even if the street is being completely rebuilt.

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At Bell and San Jacinto Streets is an innovative solution to provide access from each approaching sidewalk to the crosswalks and around the corner while not exposing the building’s foundation. The handrails make the sidewalk appear cluttered but are necessary from a practical perspective and to comply with TDLR–the State of Texas agency with accessibility requirements that are more demanding than ADA.