industrial is about to be my bff if they can fix the access road at the corner of 15th

Better stay away for a couple days if you can.
http://m.tdtnews.com/news/article_f05b3b5a-2e11-11e7-a148-ebcd3cf6cb30.html?mode=jqm

yeah.... i was coming back eastbound from my gym and said... "hey let's take airport instead... not realizing that they were taking airport and forcing it to turn on 43rd like people coming from downtown trying to get onto 35S or W Adams


so they had everybody from airport and wesbound adams merging onto 43rd waiting for a break in people coming from eastbound Adams forced into one lane. going west is going to suck i'm afraid. bigly.

i said eff this noise and turned and took the loop to industrial. i may start taking my bike to the gym.

it was actually a little uglier than this depicts

This morning was ridiculous. I exit Northbound I-35 @ Central and it was backed up pretty far on to 35. The worst part was the 18 wheelers and dump trucks still flying by at 70 mph, going down hill into the curve there. There were cars entering the interstate from the Avenue H on ramp at basically that same location, and they were darting out to get going on 35. I was sure there was going to be an accident several times, and we were basically sitting ducks with no where to go but off the elevated roadway if we had been hit. RIDICULOUS.

That's the nice red line at the bottom right. Sorry man.

I didn't even get to 35 from airport before I turned around to see what that looked like.

Yep, that was where I was talking about.

They had it jacked up this morning, but opened a lot of new road. Progress!

buckyisking said:

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They had it jacked up this morning, but opened a lot of new road. Progress!

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What new sections did they open?

From carpenter down through Nugent and under 57th. Only the south bound side.

they were supposed to be done at 7 AM yesterday and i stupidly forgot it's James we're dealing with and got looped around on my way to church.

North bound is on new pavement at Nugent! These guys don't jack around.

They can't afford to. They are behind schedule. Ultimatums were given to open Salado by thanksgiving. I'm sure something similar is going on from Troy to temple.

just wondering, haven't headed north on 35 since December, has the area on 35/Bird Creek Shopping Center still being worked on ?

petey88 said:

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just wondering, haven't headed north on 35 since December, has the area on 35/Bird Creek Shopping Center still being worked on ?

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You mean by target and Home Depot?

yeah, just got back from Best Buy, needed an optical audio cable. Wasn't bad, they made some progress, at least one can get back up on the interstate by Firestone/Best Buy instead of having to stack up at the red light under the 363 bridge. There is only one lane south on the access road in front of the shopping center leading to the red light. They have been working on the second lane.

Looks like Nugent will be open soon. Hopefully before school starts.

I heard Temple will be done by Spring 2019. Fantastic if true. Imagine how great it will be with 4 lanes each way. It will really change the town for sure.

That's 2 years away. On a perfect timeline. Downtown will be dead by then.

mazzag said:

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That's 2 years away. On a perfect timeline. Downtown will be dead by then.

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Dead?

Cmon now

I just learned tonight that fishbowl closed, unrelated to 35, but still...
I avoid downtown temple as much as I do 2305.

mazzag said:

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I just learned tonight that fishbowl closed, unrelated to 35, but still...
I avoid downtown temple as much as I do 2305.

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Fishbowl closed because the owner's son was killed by a cobra and she couldn't find a buyer

Nothing to do with I-35

Downtown Temple is doing fine

Dibs is doing so well the owner is upgrading to a 2 story historic downtown building

Other businesses are doing ok as far as I know

Which is why I said unrelated. And that's sad. But no one in their right mind is opening a new business downtown right now. Heck, businesses on 2305 are closing and that's supposed to be to bomb.

The Cheeves folks are probably ecstatic they sold 6 months ago.

mazzag said:

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Which is why I said unrelated. And that's sad. But no one in their right mind is opening a new business downtown right now. Heck, businesses on 2305 are closing and that's supposed to be to bomb.

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Edited above -- dibs is upgrading to new building and changing the name

mazzag said:

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The Cheeves folks are probably ecstatic they sold 6 months ago.

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Is Cheeves tanking?

I hadn't heard that

I don't know what dibs is. And Wes's burger shack sold too.

I don't know if Cheeves is tanking, haven't been since January but the original owners sold it , and still live around here. Dibs must be moving into little Garrisons place so that's lateral, not new.

mazzag said:

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I don't know if Cheeves is tanking, haven't been since January but the original owners sold it , and still live around here. Dibs must be moving into little Garrisons place so that's lateral, not new.

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No it's not

They are pouring MANY thousands into restoring an old building downtown.... hardly a lateral move

But what is the point here?

You said downtown Temple will be "dead in two years" because of i-35 construction

In support you cited a pet shop whose co-owner died and whose closure had nothing to do with I-35 construction

2 businesses that sold to willing buyers, and that are still in business, and that you concede you have no idea if they are suffering adverse affects of i-35 construction

And were also presented with a business owner that is clearly investing in significant upgrades and opening under a new name

But Temple is on death's doorstep?

Well Salado B&M'd to any media that would listen that 35 construction was killing them. And many years ago, Hillsboro said the same thing was killing their outlet mall. So I'm following the trend. But I honestly avoid it because of construction. Salado I avoided due to stale products and high prices. Hillsboro was always meh... but it will be txdots fault in the end...

And downtown fool, not all of temple. Its sketchy as it is and construction makes it worse. I'm good with Loop and right off of 35 retail.

FWIW, I ran into the Manager of one of the Bird Creek Crossing big box stores Monday afternoon, a really great person. I was told they had actually increased annual fiscal sales over the previous year, which is incredible comeback considering it was down 15% earlier in the fiscal year.

That Manager is doing one heckuva job. Before I retired last November, I did a lot of work on Bird Creek since May of 2007 when it was being built.

The Temple paper said TxDOT closed an entrance to the shopping center, since there are only three, it is the entrance by BOFA & Taco Cabana.

mazzag said:

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Well Salado B&M'd to any media that would listen that 35 construction was killing them. And many years ago, Hillsboro said the same thing was killing their outlet mall. So I'm following the trend. But I honestly avoid it because of construction. Salado I avoided due to stale products and high prices. Hillsboro was always meh... but it will be txdots fault in the end...

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Hillsboro's outlet mall died due to online shopping and the move away from putting outlet malls in the middle of no where. Hillsboro was built when outlet malls were located well away from population centers. Most of their customers were from DFW or I-35 travelers. Now, you can find the same outlet stores in the DFW area, there is no need to drive to Hillsboro. Even if I-35 was perfect and no construction was needed, the outlet mall would still be dying.

mazzag said:

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And downtown fool, not all of temple. Its sketchy as it is and construction makes it worse. I'm good with Loop and right off of 35 retail.

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Fool? Nice

Drinking last night?

And just because YOU don't like downtown doesn't mean it will be "dead in two years"

mazzag's shopping preferences aren't exactly a comprehensive economic impact study

Definitely not! It's inconsistent for sure. The only reliable circle I make daily is thru Belton, 93 to central to wall and then beal, onto HEB then Sparta, oops, never mind that, it's under construction, so now I cut thru campus to 121, soon to be under construction as well, then back on 93! I read in the Belton Journal the other day that the city wants to have digby ln go straight thru to George Wilsons Rd? Umm... it kinda already does, it's called the I14/190 service Rd!
I'm glad I don't live within the city limits, but those of you that do, please consider running for city council. It needs some new blood.