Parkway moving forward

TxDOT approves stimulus funds

Steve Hawley, Feb 27, 09.

UPDATE: The Harris County commissioners will vote on $9.8 million in contracts for Segment E on Tuesday, March 10, at 10 a.m.

UPDATE: The Texas Transportation Commission unanimously approved the state transportation stimulus list allocating $181 million to Segment E of the Grand Parkway.

UPDATE: A coalition including the Citizens’ Transportation Coalition, the Sierra Club, Environment Texas, Houston Tomorrow, and Independent Texans has asked the Texas Transportation Commission to delay today’s vote on new stimulus projects.

UPDATE: A number of groups gathered in Austin on March 3 to tell TxDOT to slow down in allocating its stimulus funds. Meanwhile, the Texas House of Representatives challenged TxDOT over its prioritization of stimulus projects, and Fort Bend County Commissioner Richard Morrison argued in an editorial that stimulus funds should not be spent on the Grand Parkway.

UPDATE: TTC passes Segment E funding agreement with Harris County.

The Grand Parkway is moving forward after three big votes this week, and it faces an even more momentous vote next Thursday in front of the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) in Austin. Today, the Houston-Galveston Area Council Transportation Policy Council (TPC) recommended Segment E receive $181 million in stimulus funding, and the TTC, the governing body of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), will vote on the recommendations on Thursday, March 5.

Ned Holmes, one of the five Texas Transportation commissioners, and Art Storey, executive director of the Harris County Public Infrastructure Department, both expressed the hope today that beginning construction on Segment E would build momentum to complete the rest of the beltway. Holmes said that building Segment E “could induce the entire Grand Parkway to be built,” while Storey stated, “The doing of it [building Segment E] will make the doing of the rest of it more likely and more feasible.”

Six people voiced opposition to funding Segment E with stimulus money, while three people representing Katy-area business interests supported the stimulus funding. Robin Holzer, chair of the Citizens’ Transportation Coalition (CTC), said that Grand Parkway proponents were essentially arguing, “Let’s use this ‘found’ money to fund something that wasn’t important enough for us to fund in the first place.” She continued, “Every agency at this table has projects on the TIP [Transportation Improvement Program] that would be better served by this money.” Carol Caul, also of CTC, stated, “Stimulus money is not free money. We have an obligation to pay that money back to our children and grandchildren.” She concluded, “Segment E is not the best of the best projects” and argued that it was not deserving of stimulus funds.

List of proposed stimulus projects (highlights indicate last-minute changes)
TTC agenda, March 5, 2009
TPC notes, February 27, 2009

Earlier this week, Harris County and TxDOT signed an advance funding agreement for Segment E of the Grand Parkway. On Tuesday, the Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to approve the agreement despite strenuous objections from a number of people. The TTC approved its end of the agreement on Thursday, also by unanimous vote. The agreement effectively states that if the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) builds Segment E, it will receive all toll revenue generated by the segment, and that if HCTRA turns the project over to another developer in the future, the county will be reimbursed for its all of its costs. According to Storey, Segment E is toll-viable, meaning that the county would fully recoup its costs in either scenario.

Harris County Commissioners Court notes, February 24, 2009

In other Grand Parkway news, the Fort Bend County commissioners approved the market valuation waiver agreement 3-2 on Tuesday after heated debate, according to FortBendNow.com. The Grand Parkway has elicited strong opposition in parts of Fort Bend County, particularly in Greatwood, where the the project became a major election issue last year. The Harris County commissioners unanimously approved the waiver agreement two weeks ago, and the Houston Chronicle reports that six of the seven counties have signed the waiver. Once Brazoria County signs the waiver, the Harris County Toll Road Authority will have six months to decide whether or not to pursue the Grand Parkway as a local project. After the six-month deadline, TxDOT could choose to develop the project.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is expected to call a meeting with his six counterparts in the next two weeks to discuss whether or not to develop the project locally, according to FortBendNow.com.

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