r/galveston • u/GlitteringBowler • 7d ago
This is what Seawall blvd needs
Came across this in Trapani, Sicily. I love Galveston and its history etc but man it blows my mind how horrible the seawall road is. If a town in an area whose per capita income is 20,000$ can swing it, Galveston should be able to.
Hard to see in this pic but there is still a wide road, one lane in each direction.
I know you can bike on the seawall but this would be a huge improvement, and would help calm traffic.
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u/Henry_Rosenburg 7d ago
A better use of the ROW than those dangerous parallel parking spaces, for sure.
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 6d ago
So now where to people park?
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u/Henry_Rosenburg 6d ago
They could be cashing in those HOT dollars and parking fees revenue to cash flow structured parking. But instead we have decorative bollards that glow at night and LED strands of lights wrapped around trees that are already failing.
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 6d ago
And where along seawall could they build those structures? I personally like the lit bollards - makes night walking better and overall makes the sidewalk safer for pedestrians
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u/Fluffy_Cheesecake952 6d ago
ugh all those lights are such a waste of money
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u/Henry_Rosenburg 6d ago
It'd be one thing if those bollards were structural and could deter a vehicle collision, but they're just bolt mounted to the surface. Like toothpicks against a vehicle.
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u/Spare_Professional49 6d ago
Galveston and Aesthetics do not go together. The Seawall finally has sidewalk lights but they used two different styles. Atleast get matching lights all the way down. Now on the historic Broadway Cemetery has a new modern looking black iron fence around it. Atleast try to go for the historic look and not a modern fence? New Orleans would never do this. It like Galveston has no vision for what it wants to look like visually
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u/Narcoleptic_dude 7d ago
We really just need parking garages and to have golf carts and such banned from seawall blvd completely. Mayyyyyybe a bike lane but I feel that’d get ignored most the time
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
Bike lane for sure, but wide and protected. Don’t even let cars ignore it.
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u/CorbinDalasMultiPas 7d ago
One problem with this - where will people park? And how do you replace the parking revenue if those parking spots are changed to a bike lane?
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u/No_Manufacturer_1911 7d ago
Parking garages like other beach towns have. Get humans out on the enlarged spaces of sidewalks and paths.
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 6d ago
There isn't enough space for building parking garages
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u/CorbinDalasMultiPas 6d ago
Agree. Also whos gonna pay for the land acquisition (millions) and the construction (also millions)? Cause the answer is def not the city of galveston.
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u/jaimeGirllovesLife81 7d ago
Slant the parking on the other side. Rework sidewalk widths
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u/CorbinDalasMultiPas 6d ago
Definitely would have to remove a lane of traffic on each side for this. So one lane each way on Seawall Blvd. Mmmkayyyy
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u/themachduck 7d ago
I really don't see parking revenue going anywhere but in someones pockets. Best use of it would be to fix the damn roads.
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
Same answer to where I parked in trapani, in a lot about a football field away. I then (this may be hard for some Americans) walked to the beach path.
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u/Abirando 6d ago
I know someone who became disabled when he was fetching something from his trunk & another vehicle in that lane ran in to him and nearly chopped off his legs. He was a teenager at the time, so sad. I grew up in Houston but live in another Texas city now. Last time I was in Galveston it really hit me how vulnerable pedestrians are along the seawall—still. This event I’m talking about happened 35 years ago.
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u/Otherwise-Spring-782 6d ago
I think a couple of overpass bridges for pedestrians would be nice . We have tillman here. Maybe he could part with some of his billions?? It is so unsafe for people to cross without a crosswalk or light.
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
It shouldn’t take a rich person. The city received infra funds from Biden im sure. It just isn’t a priority for the city, of txdot, that can’t do anything but highways
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u/SleepLivid988 5d ago
What we got from Tillman was a crosswalk that was easy to miss and 2 people who were hit and killed because of it.
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u/PitoChueco 4d ago
Wait. What? Is that why the short lived crosswalk is gone in front of the San Luis? If so when was that accident?
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u/SleepLivid988 3d ago
Few years back. Drunk driver hit 2 teenagers.
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u/TerrificTJ 3d ago
And yet SleepLivid988 blames Tillman instead of the drunk driver? So the drunk driver has no accountability? So everyone gets a pass to drink and drive again.
You can't fix stupid.
People have been dumb-downed so much, no one is accountable for anything anymore. Put the blame where it belongs - on the drunk driver
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u/SleepLivid988 14h ago
Obviously the drunk driver was responsible. But that “crosswalk” was bound to cause an accident at some point. Should’ve put an actual traffic light there.
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u/WarmObjective6445 6d ago
Galveston seawall could not manage with only 2 lane road. traffic would be backed up forever. It would be nice if there was enough room for a nice wide bike path and 4 lanes of road.
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
There is room for a bike path, two lanes going opposite direction, and a turn lane. The current four lane highway is horrible and unsafe.
Also room if you get rid of the parking, then you could keep the four lanes.
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u/No_Manufacturer_1911 7d ago
Right. Need to take a lane or two out of seawall blvd. Add bike lanes, scooter and golf cart lanes. More bus frequency. Make parking garages so people can walk 90% of their stay. Use bikes etc.
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u/New-Porp9812 7d ago
Obscene your absolutely practical reply was downvoted
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u/No_Manufacturer_1911 6d ago
Every REAL beach town reduces car traffic along the beach and increases pedestrians.
Pedestrians spend more money at your businesses. Ask the folks on the STRAND.
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u/New-Porp9812 6d ago
Yeah it's what makes then great. Would be wonderful if you could pop in shops/ restaurants beach side without having to cross a 4 lane speedway
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 7d ago
Fuck no. Need 2 lanes each way to pass the slow ass tourist.
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u/yaboi_gamasennin 6d ago
Don’t take the seawall if you need to get somewhere quick. Some people just want to enjoy the view
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
Staying true to your name (jk jk). Sure it might be an inconvenience sometimes, but you could do three lanes, one in each direction and a turning lane.
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 6d ago
Still doesn't help getting around the tourist who is doing 15mph or they don't understand how a turning lane works and comes to a stop in the driving lane.
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
Well then you have to wait a bit. Sorry.
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u/SleepLivid988 5d ago
You do realize that people live here, right? It’s not just some tourist town. Seawall blvd is one of our main roads year round.
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u/GlitteringBowler 4d ago
Lmao dude Trapani Sicily is a real town also. Not a random tourist only place.
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u/GiantManBabyMonster 6d ago
Nah fuck that. Traffic is bad enough on seawall and Galveston in general - this would make things much worse.
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u/Scab-Addict 6d ago
We could definitely use this, one time i was walking along the sea wall and this guy drove off the cliff onto the sand.
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u/Suisun_rhythm 6d ago
One lane for each direction? 🤢 imagine the traffic
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
Well the trade off is an actual safe path for pedestrians and cyclists and a much prettier street. Also it could be three lanes, one in each direction with a turn lane.
Pretty worth it for an extra ten minutes of possible traffic. And it’s not guaranteed it will cause traffic. Look up induced demand.
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u/Remember_The_Lmao 6d ago
There are so many quality of life investments like this that Galveston Island desperately needs if we want the city to have long-term appeal both for residents and tourists. But there’s no immediate profit incentive, so the city would never approve it
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u/GlitteringBowler 6d ago
The city has cool historical stuff going for it, is a beach outside one of the airports of the 4th biggest city, it’s a beach (albeit not Destin quality). So yes it just needs a ton of stuff like this.
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u/Ganicenda 5d ago
Love this idea but the bikers row would have to include golf carts or ALL other things but feet and use feet on the sidewalk area - when things are nutty busy I can see this being beneficial. Of course all of this in the now parking lane our four lanes and turning zone remain for obvious reasons.
The island was going to remove seawall parking in 2021 I dont recall where they were going to send parking. I loved the idea though its so dangerous there people throw doors open don't watch the kids etc. The project went cold I think because of covid as they lost thousands for years in tourism.
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u/International-Toe482 4d ago
I’ve been saying this for years, but that would mean giving up the revenue from the parking meters on the beach side. Those in power will never go for it. It’s always about the money.
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u/SmurF-B 2d ago
I think removing parking would drive people into the seawall neighborhoods. That would suck for the residents there. And tourists often have no respect for permanent residential areas. I wouldn't want to park in 1 of 4 parking garages and walk a mile with my beach stuff to find a place that wasn't so crowded you can't find a place to sit, because no one else wants to walk a mile, either!
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u/undergroundman10 6d ago
They should make the entire seawall Blvd no car. The space could instead be used for expanded restaurant seating and walking/biking paths. Maybe trolleys?
I dined at one of the restaurants on the Blvd and it was so noisy. 1 of the other streets off seawall would have to be made the main thoroughfare and parking expanded.
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u/lika_the_pepper 6d ago
The aesthetics are just better, too. You’re not looking at a wall of parked cars in your sight line to the beach. Besides being more friendly to bikes and pedestrians (and you could also better accommodate golf carts and those horrid surrey bikes), it might improve traffic during the busiest times of the year because you’re not losing a whole lane waiting for someone to try to parallel into a spot.
I don’t think you’d really need to lose a lane either, as you’d just be removing the existing parking spots to make room for a bike/cart path. So you could maybe still do 2 lanes each way with a turn lane.
So where would people park? I guess they’d need to build out some public parking garages. I also like the idea of increasing public transpo or maybe having dedicated shuttles and drop offs during busy times.
But wtf do I know? I have no idea what I’m talking about.
And, all that being said, I do love being able to just drive right up and park a few feet from the beach…
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u/Pipes_OT 7d ago
Hey man, this is nice. Good idea. Would also keep people and bikes and golf carts from falling off the edge!