Study Area For Ttc/i-69 Just Expanded!

[pineda]

I-69 Corridor Study - updated

[kjb434]

And?

Study areas just gives them more options. They are required under TEA-21 to evaluate all options for corridors. The I-69 corridor (eventhough the TTC is considering it for tolling) is a federally mandated corridor. Regardless of the state funding and proposals for ways to build it, they have to go through the federal process. You can thank the Clinton administration for the southern portions of the corridor through Texas, Louisiana, and ARKANSAS. It's all part of NAFTA's legislation. Northern portions of the corridor are completed in Michigan and Indiana from Port Huron to Indianapolis. I-69 follow a path in Michigan similar to a TTC alignment by going completely around the Detroit metro area.

[pineda]

And?

For about the last five years, in talking with officials at the Grand Parkway Association and at TxDOT about the I-69 project, at one time the I-69 project was to have run on the same road as the Grand Parkway. This was proposed to save money, environmental studies and land use. Along came Gov. Perry's ambitious plan for the Trans-Texas Corridor project, and now the I-69 project was piggy-backed onto that plan instead. But, the problem was that the I-69 project could no longer fit into the corridor width of the Grand Parkway because of all the other mode of transportation components within the TTC plan. However, because the I-69 was federally mandated, it had to go through all evaluations as promised, and one of those was that the Grand Parkway be fully evaluated as a possible corridor for I-69. Even though officials at the GPA and at TxDOT have been saying for about the past two years that they didn't think the Grand Parkway would be used as a mode of transportation for I-69, this is the first official word that the study area has been expanded, mainly to the west end of town. The West Houston Association must be very excited about all this, indeed!

[pineda]

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03/16/2005

Grand Parkway association: Road extension not forgotten

To observers, it might seem the extension of the Grand Parkway through northwest and north Houston is a forgotten project. Behind the scenes, however, the wheels are continuing to turn to make the limited-access freeway a reality.

Still, it will be a while before visible construction takes place.

Segments E and F-1, which stretch from Interstate 10 West to Texas 249, are scheduled to be built by 2009, said Robin K. Sterry, assistant executive director of the Grand Parkway Association, as she addressed the March meeting of the Transportation Committee of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce.

Segment F-2, from Texas 249 to I-45, and segment G, from I-45 to U.S. 59 North, are scheduled to open in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Sterry summarized the history of the project, now five decades old, from the time it was first conceived of by the city of Houston planning department.

The project was called the Grand Parkway because it was to connect parks in the Greater Houston area.

The project received a boost in 1984 when the Texas Transportation Commission formed the Grand Parkway Association and 17 other nonprofit transportation corporations. The Grand Parkway Association is the only one of those organizations that remains in existence.

Currently, a 20-mile stretch of the Parkway, also known as Texas 99, stretches from U.S. 59 South to I-10 West. Sterry noted that the Grand Parkway differs from other freeways in Houston because it is a limited-access freeway with no access roads.

The director said the project continues to move slowly as officials meet mandatory environmental requirements, acquire right of way and hold public hearings and proposed alignments. Sherry said there has been little opposition in segments E and F-1 to proposed alignments, but the Grand Parkway Association has encountered much resistance in the Spring area regarding segment F-2.

When segments E, F-1, F-2 and G are built, Sterry noted, it's likely they will be designated as toll roads.

"The state's gasoline tax doesn't generate enough revenue to even maintain the existing highway system," she said. "The Grand Parkway, being a new roadway, is a prime candidate for a toll road. I'm sure (sections E, F-1 and F-2) will be built as a toll road."

In response to a question from the committee, Sterry said the Grand Parkway is no longer being considered as part of the alignment of Interstate 69 when it is built as part of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor.

Heavy development north and west of Houston convinced planners to move I-69 further away from Houston, she said.

Sterry also noted that the Grand Parkway is no longer considered "a developers' highway" as it was in the 1980s.

"When the Grand Parkway Association was first formed in the '80s, there were fewer but larger land owners," she said. "They were approached about donation of right of way. Donation is something we approach now after we finish the environmental process. The community has changed enough that what was open to us in the early '80s is no longer available to us."

The Transportation Committee of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber meets on the first Thursday of each month at 8 a.m. at the Chamber office, 11050 FM 1960 West, Suite 100. Interested members of the public are invited to attend.

For more information about the Chamber, call 281-955-1100 or visit www.cyfairchamber.com.