And, you know what? The streets here in Sugar Land functioned like they always do during deluges. The water ran to the sides of the streets where it built up a little (so you have to drive a little more to the inside of the street), then rushed down into gutters at low points.
So, no. We don't need a Renew Sugar Land campaign, but we sure do need Renew Houston, whose slogan is "Good Streets. Good Drainage. A Better Houston." All I could think about today was how I got stuck in a similar downpour at Greenbriar and 59 recently. I had a whole quarter of mile to go to get from where I was onto the freeway. It had been raining 15 minutes. And the streets flooded so quickly, my Prius was almost swamped.
I don't want to be out in that risking my property or my life. I don't want my economic opportunities to make or spend money to be thwarted by precipitation. Except for, of course, that's happened to me that many, many times in the 23 years I've worked in Houston.
I liked what Kuff had to say about Renew Houston in a recent blog post:
Is Renew Houston the best possible solution to the drainage problem we all agree the city has? I don’t know what the “ideal” funding mechanism would be, given that it’s a local issue, so I can’t adequately answer that question. There are things to criticize about Renew Houston, as Tory and Neil have done. But it’s what we’ve got, and the choice isn’t between Renew Houston and some other ordinance/referendum/whatever that could be passed as an alternative, the choice is between Renew Houston and doing nothing for another ten years. I believe Renew Houston is an improvement over the status quo, and I plan to vote for it.It would be fantastic if those of us who live outside the city, but work and spend money in Houston, could vote for Renew Houston. But since we can't, I'm hoping that common sense and desire for a better Houston will cause the anti-tax crowd to do the right thing and vote to improve streets and drainage.
1 comments:
"The streets here in Sugar Land functioned like they always do during deluges. The water ran to the sides of the streets where it built up a little (so you have to drive a little more to the inside of the street), then rushed down into gutters at low points."
One of the benefits to living in a swamp, I guess.
I remember catching a ride home with a friend late at night from Humble to Greenspoint during a flash flood. The friend was sailing down the side streets south of IAH and I was making my peace with God. Very non-chalantly, I was informed that the roads around the airport were specifically designed to handle runoff so that emergency vehicles wouldn't have to worry about flooding in the area.
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