a) because the City of Houston (in general) does not care about traffic nuisances, walkability, or inconveniences to its citizens... but maybe if the white folk make enough noise they will....
b) see item (a)
It could also mean that, based on the amount of liens for non-payment on this project, that there is a new contractor who might not have access to the balance of the system, submittals, etc. and simply cannot use the existing system…
He seems like a wonderful person to work for...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1992/02/09/exporters-of-death/3810097b-cd11-45cf-b284-d72275a611af/
I would check your source. If you look into the liens filed against HVLP they seem to have a problem with non payment. I would be willing to bet this is why there hasn't been any work in a while.
https://www.levelset.com/projects/texas/houston/4007-westheimer-rd-houston-tx-77027/