David Crossley

Harris Co. on sprawl rampage

Jay Blazek Crossley, Jun 21, 10.

Tagged with government, grand parkway, sprawl, harris county, capital improvement plan, hempstead managed lanes

Tuesday morning, Harris County Commissioners and the County Judge will have an item on their agenda about whether to drop all funding for the proposed “managed lanes” tollway designed to relieve congestion in the highway 290 corridor and begin major funding for the Grand Parkway. As designed, both are intended to spur increased sprawl development in the unincorporated areas of the County.

One of the consequences the County presumably is interested in is moving the future tax base out of the City of Houston and the other 33 cities in the County and into the unincorporated areas.

The “Hempstead Managed Lanes,” which would provide congestion relief for those willing to pay tolls and for High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) drivers, would use the old Hempstead Road out to about Highway 6 in the first phase and then out to Waller in the second phase (that phase through largely uncharted territory ripe for development that land speculators have been waiting for.)

The Grand Parkway segments under consideration - E, F1, F2, and G - would begin just north of I-10 and traverse through the highly sensitive and mostly unpopulated Katy Prairie and then on across the northern part of the County to end at Highway 59. Along the way, they would clear away a 5-10-mile swath of Prairie System, Columbia Bottomlands, Piney Woods, and Big Thicket, four of the Houston region’s 11 ecoregions. These all comprise arguably the richest ecosystem in North America, at least for the next few years.

Harris County is on a wild tear to develop the remaining areas of unincorporated land it has. The incorporated areas include the giant City of Houston, where the majority of the County’s population lives. In fact, only about 35% of Harris County’s residents live in the unincorporated areas, while 65% live in the 34 cities Harris County is trying to raid. Which, of course, are entirely populated by Harris County residents, but are governed and served by those annoying city folks.

Full Story: Harris County on sprawl rampage
Source: Chron.com: The List, June 21, 2010

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