For the conceivable future, Muessig’s vision remains “conceptual” and is not likely to be implemented. The site at Buffalo Bayou and downtown is already undergoing a major transformation to increase walking and cycling access. Nonetheless, veloCity shines light on how much space the Space City actually has to work with, as well as the potential of cyclists to redefine the city. It begs the question of whether culture will influence infrastructure in Houston’s future, or vice versa. “I see my project as a vehicle to encourage individual initiative,” Muessig says.
His project takes the navigational potential of the bicycle as its starting point, underscoring that even without their own freeway, cyclists can transgress the urban grid and chart new courses across the city’s diagonals and blank spaces. If enough continue to do so, perhaps Muessig’s vision will one day come to pass in some form.
