http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin Robin making the rounds of Houston transportation meetings Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:06:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2008/06/03/harris-cty-gpky-sege/ I am delighted to report that CTC received an unexpected accolade! Gene Creely, Evelyn Merz (Sierra Club), Robin Holzer, and Adra Hooks CTC was invited to the Sierra Club's statewide annual meeting in Austin, where we were presented with the Lone Star Chapter's 2007 Special Service Award. We were nominated by ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2008/04/09/lone-star-sierra-award/ Right now, the City of Houston is in the process of reconstructing Kirby Drive south of US-59. It's part of a FEMA-funded project to install massive storm water culverts under the street to drain rain water to Brays Bayou. But there's another Kirby project coming soon that neighbors are starting to ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/09/10/kirby-reconstruction/ TxDOT and the Grand Parkway Association are hoping to build a fourth "ring road" around the greater Houston region. "Segment C" of the proposed Grand Parkway -- SH 99 -- would run 26 miles from US 59 at Crabb River Road to SH 288 near Alvin, through Fort Bend and ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/09/01/grand-pkwy-seg-c/ They have been a long time coming, but bike racks are finally here for METRO's buses! METRO launched its bike racks on buses program Friday with a press conference and festival event at their headquarters. Woody Speer of BikeHouston and I were among the first riders to test our ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/04/20/metro-bike-racks/ CTC is a member-driven organization and it's time for our annual member meeting! This year, we will meet at an exciting new venue: Houston TranStar's operations center on Old Katy Road. TranStar is Houston's futuristic control center to: provide real-time traffic data operate dynamic highway message signs manage regional emergencies like hurricanes and ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/04/15/ctc-2007-annual-mtg/ Back in February, State Representative Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) introduced HB 1813 which calls for direct election of Houston METRO board members. Currently, METRO’s nine-member board is appointed by each of the local governments within its service area. As a result, 16 elected authorities –- the City of Houston, Harris County, ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/04/04/ctc-opposes-lege-attempt-to-gut-metro/ The City of Houston Charter calls for the City to prepare a general plan for future development and infrastructure. In summer 2006, City Council voted a budget amendment authorizing the Planning Commission to create a workplan to move the City towards producing a general plan. Since then, there has been ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/04/02/values-shape-future/ Apparently, Houston's current planning ordinance for shared driveways has room for improvement, and not always enough room for fire trucks. One of the many benefits of living in the City of Houston is protection by the largest professional Class I fire department in the world. But some of the new ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/03/26/mobility-meets-fire-safety/ Today's Houston Chronicle includes a CTC OpEd about METRO's University line. In it, we argue that placement of the University line will affect the whole city, and every Houstonian should weigh in; not just the ones on Richmond and Westpark: Feb. 10, 2007, 7:13PM Off Track Countering Culberson's view It's time for lawmaker ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2007/02/11/uline-is-about-houston/ Over the last 18 months, the City of Houston Planning Commission has convened a half dozen working subcommittees. I was recently invited to serve as one of the neighborhood representatives on the Mobility subcommittee. The committees are assigned to "consider and propose policies that support a sound quality of life ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/12/12/more-public-mtfp/ Several of you have observed that this blog has been "dark" for too long. While I continue to enjoy spontaneous writing in CTC's online forum, I agree! There are new transportation planning opportunities afoot that need public scrutiny and warrant the broader audience of a blog. Look for posts soon ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/12/12/hello-again/ CTC volunteers are watching several transportation projects that deserve the public spotlight. These are Houston-area projects currently being studied or designed by local, state, or federal agencies. Each of these projects could dramatically change a neighborhood or even the entire region. But it's early enough in the planning process that ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/06/06/ctc-spotlist-june-2006/ On Friday morning, the Houston region's Transportation Policy Council (TPC) quietly took another step towards one of CTC's very first goals. It looks more and more like the next regional "plan" will include more of just that -- planning. And it's happening none too soon! On a Tuesday night two years ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/05/28/community-vision-to-shape-next-rtp/ Three weeks ago, stakeholders for METRO's Universities line gathered at St. Luke's UMC. Houston Mayor Bill White told the enormous crowd that “we make our best decisions when we listen to each other,” and “this won’t be the end of the conversation.” Houston City Council Members Anne Clutterbuck, Ada ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/04/11/more-culberson-politics-for-universities-line/ Before each Tuesday meeting of the Commissioners' Court, all the Harris County department heads gather for an agenda briefing on Monday. I sat in on it this morning and this item caught my attention: 1.a.3. Recommendation that the County Judge be authorized to execute transportation improvement agreements as part of the ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/04/03/why-we-cant-afford-great-transit/ Pictured above (L-R) are METRO President & CEO Frank Wilson, METRO Board Chairman David Wolff, Mayor Bill White, Congressman John Culberson, and Council Member Pam Holm. Council Member Anne Clutterbuck is not pictured. Mayor Bill White, Congressman John Culberson, and three district City Council Members -- Holm, Clutterbuck, and Edwards -- ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/03/20/mayor-hosts-universities-line-meeting-hundreds-attend/ METRO's board met Thursday and attendance was astonishing. The board room was standing-room-only at 120, with another ~100 attendees in the lunch room to watch the proceedings on closed-circuit TV. The meeting opened with public comments. Thirty-one of 47 speakers came to address which options METRO should consider in the ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/02/16/universities-line-planning-to-start-with-studies/ METRO is poised to begin the public planning process for the “Universities” east-west rail line. State representative Martha Wong and US representative John Culberson are trying to take a possible Richmond route off the table now, before the public planning process has even started. Houstonians who value effective transit must ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/02/10/politics-must-not-preempt-transit-planning/ For the second year in a row, the Texas Transportation Commission held its January meeting in the Houston area. This 5-member body, appointed by the Governor, typically meets in Austin, but met Thu Jan 26, 2006 at the Conroe convention center. I managed to sit through the first six ... http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/robin/2006/01/28/governors-transportation-commission-visits-houston/