The award winning new streetscape on Bagby south of Pierce St. in Houston includes a very substantial curving row of steel bollards to protect a large pedestrian area at the intersection of Bagby and Pierce. This post is too share a great looking design and offer observations about the issue faced by whoever has to fix the one that served it purpose; i.e. stopped a vehicle from driving onto the sidewalk.
Here are photos of very old street brick on 2nd Street in Alexandria Louisiana. The crosswalk is next to the James Wade Bolton House.
Alexandria has a rich southern history although most of the very old structures were burned out during the Civil War by the North. These photos are here to provide a visual reference about how restored brick streets should look–at least in Alexandria.
And u
nusual cracking has been observed in the concrete unit pavers either side of the crown of concrete streets. The crosswalks have been in service for 10-15 years and there are others installed at the same relative time that do not show similar cracking. The pavers are installed in recesses in a reinforced concrete street cross-section and placed on a 1″ deep sand bed with sand swept and vibrated in after placement to lock them in place. Read the rest of this entry →
The Greater East End Management District has developed an alternative use for a wide esplanade on Navigation Blvd. just east of downtown Houston. There will be more posts to hi-lite the good ideas but for the first post this one is about an unusual bike rack.
As you can see it is the word “lauGh” neatly cut from a sheet of steel, hot-dip galvanized and anchored in the concrete sidewalk. In this case the concrete was stained red and text was added to indicate it is a bike rack. I was told that initially everyone thought it was art and not to be used for securing their bike.
On Bagby St. in Midtown (immediately south of downtown Houston) the street scape has been completely revamped and includes a very simple bike locking location. As you can see in the photos the “rack” is a simple sheet of 1/2″ thick Cor-Ten type steel. The only upscale feature is the recessed word “Bike” positioned near the top.
I wonder if the designer had wished he had required a minor chamfer to be ground into the edges. As you can see the edges are crisp and could be rather abrasive.
I was sent a very insightful email with reasons why one parking configuration, angle-in, has advantages to those with disabilities over the more common parallel style. Everyone that works on improving the streets and street scape struggle with getting the required slopes, widths and surface textures in the right places. We also include handicap parking spaces where we can and too often it is a parallel space adapted to meet the dimensions. When I received an email with the pros and cons for a parking style I realized after all these years I still did not totally anticipate the experience of a person with disabilities. I offer it here as I believe it may help others. Read the rest of this entry →
