KIRBY DRIVE WORK TO BEGIN MONDAY

Houston City Council member Anne Clutterbuck announced today that reconstruction of Kirby Drive between Westheimer and Richmond will begin Monday. According to a fact sheet prepared by Upper Kirby, the project will address flooding, mobility, and safety issues on Kirby Drive by renovating the storm sewer system and reconstructing the roadway to make it wider. Utility lines will be relocated underground and the continuous left-turn lanes will be replaced with medians, making the street easier to cross for cars and pedestrians.

Other efforts to make Kirby more pedestrian-friendly include five-foot-wide sidewalks to replace four-foot-wide sidewalks and new trash receptacles, benches, and lighting. The sidewalks will be eight feet from the street.

All existing 135 trees will be replaced by over 148 new, large-diameter trees. Some of the trees will be oaks and some will be cypress. Right-of-way landscaping will be irrigated and maintained by the Upper Kirby Management District. A display planting has been installed at the corner of Steel and Kirby, across Kirby from Whole Foods.

Many of the improvements will be paid for by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) No. 19 with oversight and approval from the City of Houston. According to Buddy Bailey, chair of the TIRZ, in a, “TIRZ the incremental increase of property values in a specific area are committed to the necessary enhancements unique to that community.”

Improvements are also planned on four lateral streets: Colquitt, Branard, W. Alabama and Kipling. The contract has been awarded to Texas Sterling Construction Company. Work is scheduled for completion in November of 2009.