Fact, TxDOT has repeatedly told the public that the Hempstead Managed Lanes will be constructed before US-290 construction begins, to give people travel options and minimize disruption during construction. Fact, Harris County has not committed to the managed lanes and Txdot has not clearly stated a plan B if the managed lanes are not built. The 290 project team has stated they have some ideas for temporary HOV lanes but not much will happen if anything. List of HCTRA Projects IMO there's no project more toll-viable(Maybe the South Sam Houston widening) Robin Holzer"... Last year in June of 2009 Harris county cut there allocation for Hempstead in half to just a little over a billion dollars and they redirected most of that money toward construction of the proposed Grand Pkwy..." PDF Summary CTC Comments "The current proposal for US-290 is predicated on concurrent plans for the Hempstead lanes. In its 2008 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), Harris County allocated $2.05 billion to the proposed Hempstead Managed Lanes over five years. However, in its 2009 CIP, Harris County cut the Hempstead allocation in half, to just $1.08 billion, despite only a 12% decrease in HCTRA’s overall budget from $5.2 billion to $4.6 billion ." Note: It dose state "As of this writing, the public cannot know what Harris County’s Hempstead Lanes commitment will be in its 2010 CIP, scheduled for public hearing on June 22, 2010. It is unclear whether the County will restore its commitment to build the Hempstead project timely. So maybe no controversy, after all, if the funding is allocated back to Hempstead come June 22, 2010. If not then sounds like a problem if the FEIS is based on Hempstead managed lanes being built 1st