Cottage Grove Civic Club’s meetings in 2008 will be held on the 1^st Thursday of Feb, March, Apr, Nov, Dec and on the 2^nd Thursday of May, June, July, Sep, and October. The club will also host a National Night Activity on August 5. The dates and event summaries are shown in the sidebar on this page. General meetings will be held in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Elementary School cafeteria .  Use entrance #4 at 2116 Radcliff to enter the local elementary for general meetings of the civic club. The club’s Business meetings are hosted by Iglesia Hosanna in the meeting rooms located at 5718 Larkin.  Off street parking is available at both locations. Club meetings start at 7 pm and end at 8:30.  Business meeting agendas may include resolutions and votes regarding items presented at previous meetings.  Members, guests and residents are welcome at all the civic club meetings and special events.  Civic club dues are $30 per member, with an optional 50% discount for Seniors, Students and Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School PTO members.  The civic club’s open membership enrollment ends March 6 this year, except in cases where residence is established after that date. Contact CottageGroveCivicClub@yahoo.com for more information.

IH-10 Expansion and Detention in Cottage Grove?

During Jan 2008, neighbors learned that TxDOT’s Washington Avenue expansion plans now propose to build a 7000’ long detention channel in the MKT north of Cottage Grove.  The detention channel would dominate the now city-owned abandoned rail road corridor west of White Oak Bayou.  The plans do not incorporate any features to restore mobility options for pedestrians and cyclists living in the urban neighborhoods west of White Oak Bayou where rapid densification by infill and by redevelopment of former industrial zones is quite evident. Send a note to CottageGroveCivicClub@yahoo.com to request updates about this project.

During Aug 2006, the Mayor and the Houston Chronicle announced that TxDOTs proposed elevated bridges were being removed from the freeway expansion plans in Cottage Grove.  Afterwards, TxDOT provided the revised ramp map. 

During Jan 2008, neighbors learned that the remaining expansion inside the loop, being IH-10 frontage lanes between Taylor and TC Jester, were postponed indefinitely due to budget issues.  We are not sure whether the IH-10 detention ponds that were the subject of TxDOT public meetings held in 2006 were also postponed.

Off-road Hike and Bike Trails in Cottage Grove?

In October 2007, the City of Houston ordained to buy the abandoned rail road corridor in Cottage Grove as part of the package that could connect all the neighborhoods located along the alignment with destinations in the Heights and to downtown Houston. Since then, the community has become aware that TxDOT has taken actions to expand the scope and dimension of handling storm water from Hempstead Highway in such a way so as to dominate the public land for Washington Avenue storm water detention. The community is seeking the support of City government to call for a change of the proposed 7000’ detention channel plans so that the area is used as a green corridor and restore historical mobility connections. Send a note to CottageGroveCivicClub@yahoo.com to request updates about this project.

The White Oak Bayou trail connectors shown in the map below are not currently funded.  During 2007, the connecting trail plan was submitted to

H-GAC by the City of Houston for consideration as a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality project.  In January 2008, the bayou and the trestle were added to the City of Houston’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 5.

City of Houston

Proposed White Oak Bayou Connector

North

The Flood Way and Flood Plain in Cottage Grove?

The flood plain maps available at www.TSARP.org went into effect during 2007. The maps show that many homes in Cottage Grove located north of IH-10 are in the White Oak Bayou 1% flood plain.  Some addresses on Roy Circle and on Larkin and Darling near Durham are mapped into the bayou’s Flood Way. City of Houston’s Chapter 19 Flood Prone Construction imposes certain rules and regulations on flood plain and flood way remodeling and new construction. People who have questions or concerns about how their property is mapped, should contact Harris County Flood Control District.  People who need more information about the building code regulations, should contact the City of Houston Planning Department. Elected officials continue to recommend that everyone in Houston needs to buy flood insurance, regardless of proximity to a flood way or flood plain.

The Railroad in Cottage Grove?

The Union Pacific Rail Road tracks along Allen Center that cross IH-10 at Cottage Grove Park largely define Cottage Groves’ southern boundary.  There are a few streets in Cottage Grove Section 5, south of the tracks along Hamman.  The right of way is now one of the three corridors being studied by H-GAC, for its potential role to serve as a commuter rail alignment from Cy-Fair to downtown Houston.  In addition, TxDOT consultants have published plans that show proposed changes to road and track crossings in urban Houston. You can go to www.HoustonRailPlan.com to review the estimated costs and benefits described as the outcome of the changes.  Building an overpass of the tracks on TC Jester south of IH-10 is one of the proposed changes. Underpasses are shown for Houston Ave and Yale rail road crossing, and Heights remains at grade crossing in the proposed plans. Closing most of the local street at grade crossings west of Washington, is also under consideration TxDOT has been asked to assess leaving TC Jester as an at grade crossing, or making it an underpass instead of an overpass.  The City will be asked to help residents ascertain the budget and feasibility to render Sherwin a quiet crossing, by limiting traffic to a one-way flow south of Cornish.

The Eureka Rail Yard on the north boundary of Cottage Grove underwent renovation in the winter for 2006.  The result has been that the UP has industrialized the area to a greater extent, and is now using the city owned abandoned rail road corridor as a roadway and for parking. The Civic Club hopes to see the industrialization that has spread be returned to the privately held land owned by UP, so that the green of the MKT may be restored for the benefit of the public.