There is little doubt that the transportation investments we make today affect how our region will grow tomorrow. CTC members expect our leaders to invest public dollars in projects that will facilitate sustainable growth, and protect Houston’s quality of life for future generations. Few proposed projects challenge our leaders to reconsider the status quo more than the proposed Grand Parkway.
On Tuesday June 3rd, 2008, Harris County Commissioners Court voted on two items intended to expedite construction of “Segment E” of the proposed Grand Parkway (SH 99):
I.1.a.2. Recommendation that the Toll Road Authority be authorized to negotiate a preconstruction agreement with TxDOT for early development of Segment E of the SH 99 Grand Parkway.
I.1.d.2. Recommendation for authorization to negotiate [for professional services] with… Michael Baker, Jr., Inc., PBS&J, Brown & Gay Engineers, Inc., Aviles Engineering Corp., HVJ Associates, Inc., and Terracon Consultants, Inc. … for Segment E of SH 99 Grand Parkway in Precinct 3.
CTC members attended to urge Harris County to defer segment E. We urged the County not to commit our tax dollars and county resources to the Grand Parkway.
We know that it’s critically important to plan for our future transportation needs. So why wouldn’t we want to build segment E of the proposed Grand Parkway? There are many reasons:
Spend our tax dollars where the people are. Harris County must first and foremost serve the needs of current taxpayers. That means focusing on transportation projects that will benefit the majority of Harris County residents who live and work in our densest, busiest areas. It does not mean building a highway across largely-uninhabited areas to benefit a handful of spec builders.
There is almost no existing demand for this roadway. Further, the population growth models on which the travel demand models rely, assume (circularly) that this roadway will be built. The Gulf Coast Institute recently analyzed GIS census data for the this area. They found that in 2005, of the 80,420 people who lived within 3 miles of the proposed segment E route, almost 66,000 - 82% - of them lived within 3 miles of either IH-10 or US-290. The analysis reveals that fewer than 15,000 people lived along the proposed route of segment E. The Katy Prairie is not where the people are.
Invest in the priority projects instead. Even as a toll road, this project won’t be free. Every County project poses an opportunity cost in the form of other projects the County is unable to take on. Reconstructing the congested US-290/IH-610 interchange which affects hundreds of thousands of current taxpayer-travelers, or extending the Hardy Toll Road to downtown, are more important projects.
Segment E would subject thousands to worse traffic congestion. This proposed roadway is expected to lure another 100,000 people or more to live in a far-flung area with inadequate infrastructure to serve them. Worse, an analysis by the Gulf Coast Institute revealed that in 2005 there were only a scant 2,257 jobs in the proposed corridor. That means that more than 97% of residents would be entirely dependent on cars for travel. Rather than relieving traffic congestion, segment E would create significant additional congestion on US-290 and IH-10.
Invest in local access instead. As the Houston Chronicle detailed last month, Harris County residents aren’t clamoring for new highways; they need new ways to get to the store (May 5, 2008 “Suburbanites ran, but couldn’t hide, from traffic pain”). Before we build any new highways, the County should invest in the local streets and sidewalks county residents need to live their daily lives.
Residential patterns are changing. With $3/gallon gas behind us and $4/gallon gas just ahead, Harris County residents are making different choices. Many people are choosing to live closer to where they work, and for most people, that means closer to central Houston. Investing in roads that assume people will continue to want to live ever-farther out just isn’t a smart bet any more.
Harris County residents value Katy Prairie wildlife and habitat. The Katy Prairie is a world-renowned ecosystem for wildlife habitat, and hosts thousands of species of birds. Thousands of people annually visit northwest Harris County from all over the world to experience the birding opportunities available in this coastal prairie habitat. These visitors represent a small economic engine - ecotourism - that Harris County should develop and benefit from. Folks at the Katy Prairie Conservancy are working hard to secure the prairie for generations of Houstonians to come. That will get a lot harder if we build a toll road across the middle of it.
Katy Prairie includes strategic agricultural land. As fuel costs continue to rise, shipping food long distances will get less and less economical. As our region continues to grow, access to secure local food supplies will become more and more important.
As to the Harris County vote, the Court voted unanimously to authorize both the negotiations with TxDOT and the professional services contracts, hastening to clarify that these are just planning steps and not a vote to build the road. On some level that’s true: today’s vote is just one baby step in a long process that may or may not result in construction of segment E of the Grand Parkway. Our hope is that it will not.