Hillcroft Avenue
Encyclopedia
Hillcroft Avenue is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas
, United States
. The street spans 8 miles (12.9 km) and is between Beltway 8 and Westheimer Road
. To the south Hillcroft has a wide boulevard, and many single family homes surround Hillcroft; some subdivisions use fences and shrubs as a barrier between Hillcroft and the houses. To the north Hillcroft is surrounded by strip centers and multifamily developments. Hillcroft runs through Brays Oaks
(Fondren Southwest), Gulfton, and the Mahatma Gandhi District.
Bob Stein, the dean of the School of Social Sciences of Rice University
, said "Hillcroft is disorganized but not necessarily unorganized development. It is what Houston is all about. When you go from one end of Hillcroft to the other end, you cross every ethnic and racial group in our city. As a result, I want to say it is a microcosm." Tara Dooley of the Houston Chronicle
described Hillcroft as "pure Houston, created with dedication to the automobile and an aversion to zoning."
The first section of Hillcroft Avenue, between Bellaire Boulevard
and what is now Bissonnet Street, was built in the mid-1950s as part of the Sharpstown development. It initially featured a ditch in the median which was covered in the late 1970s.
Throughout 2010, Hillcroft Avenue was fully reconstructed between Bellaire Boulevard and the Southwest Freeway (US 59)
. This section was widened from six lanes to eight lanes and was completed in October. The road's exceptionally wide right-of-way (140 feet/42.7 meters) allowed for this widening while maintaining a landscaped median.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The street spans 8 miles (12.9 km) and is between Beltway 8 and Westheimer Road
Westheimer Road
Westheimer Road is an arterial road in the western half of Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street west to the Westpark Tollway. Westheimer Road runs roughly parallel to and south of Buffalo Bayou throughout its course. The street was named after Michael Louis Westheimer, a...
. To the south Hillcroft has a wide boulevard, and many single family homes surround Hillcroft; some subdivisions use fences and shrubs as a barrier between Hillcroft and the houses. To the north Hillcroft is surrounded by strip centers and multifamily developments. Hillcroft runs through Brays Oaks
Brays Oaks, Houston
Brays Oaks is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The Brays Oaks Management District , also known as the Harris County Improvement District #5, governs the district. Much of the district includes the Fondren Southwest community. Other areas in the distruct include Westbury...
(Fondren Southwest), Gulfton, and the Mahatma Gandhi District.
Bob Stein, the dean of the School of Social Sciences of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, said "Hillcroft is disorganized but not necessarily unorganized development. It is what Houston is all about. When you go from one end of Hillcroft to the other end, you cross every ethnic and racial group in our city. As a result, I want to say it is a microcosm." Tara Dooley of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
described Hillcroft as "pure Houston, created with dedication to the automobile and an aversion to zoning."
History
In the 2000s the India Culture Center and several South Asian merchants originally wanted to rename a stretch of Hillcroft Avenue to Mahatma Gandhi Avenue; however that required signatures of 75% of commercial property owners of the given part of the street. Manisha Gandhi Mehta, a spokesperson for the opening event that was held on January 16, 2010, said that the organizers of the district found difficulty in getting non-South Asian merchants to agree to the renaming of the street. In 2009 the head members of the India Culture Center and several South Asian merchants agreed to pay $10,000 for the street signage that designates the area as the Mahatma Gandhi District.The first section of Hillcroft Avenue, between Bellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas, United States. The street also goes through unincorporated areas in Harris County and the cities of Bellaire, Southside Place, and West University Place....
and what is now Bissonnet Street, was built in the mid-1950s as part of the Sharpstown development. It initially featured a ditch in the median which was covered in the late 1970s.
Throughout 2010, Hillcroft Avenue was fully reconstructed between Bellaire Boulevard and the Southwest Freeway (US 59)
U.S. Route 59 in Texas
In the U.S. state of Texas, U.S. 59 is named the Lloyd Bentsen Highway, after Lloyd Bentsen, former U.S. Senator from Texas. In northern Houston, US 59 is the Eastex Freeway...
. This section was widened from six lanes to eight lanes and was completed in October. The road's exceptionally wide right-of-way (140 feet/42.7 meters) allowed for this widening while maintaining a landscaped median.