Trees for Houston unhappy over Kirby reconstruction
The Examiner news group's Michael Reed checks in with ongoing complaints over the Kirby reconstruction that will take out trees between Richmond and Westheimer:
Four months after learning a compromise it agreed to on Kirby Drive construction would still mean the loss of all the trees lining the street between Richmond Avenue and Westheimer Road, Trees for Houston has withdrawn its support.
“These plans will, in fact, completely destroy the very environment that has drawn significant reinvestment dollars and marketing appeal to the Upper Kirby area,” said Barry Ward, director of the organization.
Ward’s comments came in a news release a week before the organization’s founding President William Coats told a group attending the Upper Kirby District TIRZ on May 28 that the nonprofit now supports reducing the width of the proposed street surface alterations by a foot on either side.
Mayor White, who doesn't much care for critics, certainly doesn't seem to care for this group's criticism:
In a news release May 23, Houston Mayor Bill White took issue with the Trees for Houston statement, saying it gave the appearance the city, “various council members,” merchants and landowners had “cooked up” a plan to destroy the area.
“That sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? But it’s not true,” White said.
The mayor added that the top priority of the project is drainage, followed by mobility, promotion of a pedestrian-friendly retail area and added greenspace.
He said not only had Trees for Houston agreed to the original compromise, but all but one adjacent property owner endorsed the project.
As presented in a May 21 letter to Bailey, Trees for Houston asked that a redesigned Kirby consist of five 10-foot lanes and two 10.5-foot outer lanes to accommodate buses. City ordinance, however, requires outer lanes of 11 feet.
Without a doubt, the main priority of this project is drainage.
But, we have competing secondary priorities -- center esplanades with pretty landscaping and lanes wide enough for oversized-SUV navigation by affluent River Oaks types (ultimately, what the "compromise" favors and what Mayor White is defending) versus pedestrian-friendly development that also seeks to preserve existing trees/"greenspace" for people who actually live in the area and prefer walkability improvements (what Trees for Houston and this former resident of the affected neighborhood favor). It's not entirely honest for the mayor to act as if choices aren't being made among those secondary priorities (poor choices, in my view).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 10:22 PM | Print |
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