Webster’s El Camino Real

Private Parking Lots El Camino Real in Webster is a four-lane thoroughfare with center median and curb-and-gutter construction. Right-of-Way is limited and lanes are narrow with no room for bikes. There are no sidewalks, so bikes and pedestrians have to find the safest path. Sometimes private parking lots can provide hard surfaces for bike and pedestrian traffic, but usually they do not connect.

When parking lots end…

When surfaces erode…

Beaten path -- not Real

Right-of-way at curb.

Curves make narrow lanes more treacherous.

Long parking lots are a haven for commuter cyclists.

Leaving the parking lot gives two choices -- into the street or down the dirt path. Note the 14-ton weight limit sign which apparently applies to the bridge ahead. This road is in Harris County’s domain. Also note that the fire hydrant is not a Webster facility, but Clear Lake Water Authority’s.

Trying to find high ground…

Settling down. Perhaps this has something to do with the 18,000 pound weight limit? It may be tilted, but it’s a hard surface to travel on.

Abrupt end. This is 8 or 9 inches high. Good way to ruin a bike wheel and fall into traffic.

Beacon Street. High-power lines, pipelines, and sewer lines form a utility criss- cross north of the bridge.

Another havenly parking lot.

But when the parking lot ends…hey, a sidewalk!

Hercules to the east provides no safe path, just vehicles.

Nice, but where do you go from here? Answer: Jaywalk to the left and connect with parking lot across the street and behind stopped cars.

Wow. That’s Gemini up ahead and the City of Houston.

Gemini to the east has sidewalks on both sides. (Houston)

Sidewalks on both sides of Gemini to the west.

Sidewalks on all sides except straight ahead on the right.

This path is lightly-traveled, probably due to the other side of El Camino having a sidewalk.

The parking lot ahead is perched on a steep slope to the crossroad.

No good place to cross at a busy intersection like this one.

The only sidewalk ends diagonally across the intersection.

If one survives the intersection, there’s a long parking lot, then…

These dirt paths stay fairly dry. They may be scars on the earth, but these at least have aesthetic curves.

Again the pipelines to cross and the mud to waddle in.

Spotty, but a long stretch.

This Saturday afternoon had about four travelers an hour.

Why the cyclist rode to the left side.

For some reason, the pavement widens a couple of feet on the bridge and can be a safe(r) ride.

This side of the bridge has a bad tilt like the other side.

Left of the tree? Right of the pole? In the trench?In the trench?

Sometimes a lot-to-lot portage is just a short bump.

Beechgrove Street has a smooth approach, but ridged gutterlines.

Years of heavy travel is evident. So is a wet-weather pathway.

Harbortree Apartment parking lot is a school bus haven as well.

Harbortree to shopping center lot transition is short but tough.

unless you have solid steel wheels. Portage required …

Another view of the long haven.

The need for sidewalks Heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic Unsafe to mix in roadway Unsightly ruts, quagmires, and trenchs Neglected part of City Possible grant funding for low income Possible county participation/cooperation Responsive to health, safety, welfare