The short version: It's a beautiful grand fountain lodged in the center of a traffic circle bringing beauty to its own beastly traffic congestion and driver confusion. Did I mention it sits in the middle of Main Street and Montrose Boulevard?
The long story:
Ok, so let me start off by explaining that I moved from New Jersey to Texas. For those who do not know, New Jersey is the home of the traffic circle and the jug handle. Some time in the 1800s someone in NJ decided that the best form of traffic control was a traffic circle. So they made all the major roads cross at a traffic circles. Of course this was not a problem when you used horses and carts, but with high speed vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, trams, etc., it's a bit more problematic. Now they have lights at each entrance to the circle and overpasses to avoid them.
So for me the only way to truly understand the Mecom Fountain and its traffic circle is to think of it as a part of Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities". Read the following quote and I will explain.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
The Best of Times
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The Mecom Fountain is the jewel in the crown of Hermann Park. It stands in the middle of Main Street near the entrance to the park separating Montrose Boulevard from Hermann Loop Drive. The fountain's waters' roar triumphantly. It calls out to all those passing by, "Look here!". It announces with a proud Houstonian swagger, "Welcome to all that is refinement. Come in. Relax and enjoy the pleasures of Hermann Park, the culture of Miller Theater, and intellect of the Museum District. Welcome to the heart of culture, parks and recreation. We are Houston!"
Those are certainly the best of times, aren't they?
Now let's place this glorious fountain in the middle of a traffic circle at the intersection of 2 major commuting roads with 2 more commuter roads and the light rail less than 100 feet from the circle. Add a 5th road at an odd angle to insure the confusion is maximized and now you have...
The Worst of Times
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The fountain sits in the middle of a traffic circle that is transected by Main Street and Montrose Boulevard. These are two major commuter and commercial roads. The drivers in the circle travelling along Main Street do not yield to traffic or pedestrians. Main Street traffic is often comprised of exhausted commuters trying to get to and from downtown. Drivers in the circle turning across Main Street need to yield. This causes traffic back ups on Main Street. The side roads feeding the circle get backed up by everyone waiting to get a chance to enter the circle. Someone say traffic snarl please.
That wasn't too bad was it? But wait there's more!
Let's add a fifth road (Hermann Drive) to the circle. Hermann Drive leads to the Natural Science Museum, Childrens Museum, Health Museum, the Houston Garden Center, Miller Theater, and the newly constructed Centennial Gardens and parking lots for Hermann Park. Oh, and of course Highways. Now you have all sorts of various traffic injected on holidays, days off from school, work days and weekends.
Ok, that might be bad ... But wait there's more!!!
Right adjacent to the circle and parallel to Main Street is Fannin Street. Fannin Street is a normal unassuming multi-lane divided road with the light rail running down the middle adjacent to the park. Very picturesque and peaceful. But by the traffic circle, Fannin Street's alter ego appears as it splits like a DNA helix along with the light rail into 2 separate one way roads. Fannin now heads south, and San Jacinto heads north. The combination of Fannin, San Jacinto, 2 separate light rail tracks the grand merge onto the Mecom traffic circle tie the final knot in the glorious traffic snarl.
If the Mecom Fountain is "beauty", then the circle in which it resides is "the beast". I love the Mecom Fountain. It's a cherished speed bump in the road of life. Have fun. read more