Protesters outside TxDOT called for an end to plans for expanding the Grand Parkway.
Peek Road is slated to become part of the Grand Parkway, a proposed 180-mile ring road.
Cattle graze near Katy, Texas between 290 and I-10.
The Bridgeland development, along the proposed Segment E, presages further incursions on the prairie.
On Wednesday May 25, approximately 50 people rallied outside the Houston district office of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Organized by the Citizens' Transportation Coalition (CTC), the protest called for a better use of $350 million of government funds currently slated for expanding SH99, commonly referred to as the Grand Parkway. That funding would complete only Segment E, between I-10 and 290. The total funding for the 180-mile ring road---Houston's fourth---is estimated to cost $4.8 billion to build.
Signs like "Spend It Where the People Are!" and "What about 290?" called attention to Segment E's remote proposed location in the Katy Prairie far outside population centers and the fact that highways through densely populated area need funding for improvements.
After about thirty minutes under a hot sun, the protesters moved inside where they submitted comments to TxDOT. Robin Holzer, Chair of the Citizens' Transportation Coalition Board of Directors, allowed me to transcribe her comment:
I oppose construction of Grand Parkway / SH99. Three fourths of Texas' population lives and works in metro areas. These cities are the economic engines of our state. TxDOT has an ethical obligation to invest our tax dollars, specifically scarce transportation dollars, where the people are.
US-290 is the 11th most congested highway in the state and 34 of the 100 worst are here in Harris County. I am appalled that TxDOT has allocated $4.8 billion to construct a new ring toll road (SH99-Grand Pkwy), and only one-tenth that amount for the expansion of US 290 ($468 million of the $2.3 billion needed).
I urge TxDOT to straighten out its priorities, reverse this allocation, and use our scarce funds to expedite improvement of US-290, Sh-6, FM-1960, and a host of existing roads that will serve existing taxpayers.
Further, I urge TxDOT to invest in other modes, especially freight rail and intercity passenger rail.
For more information, you can read David Crossley's May 19 editorial in the Houston Chronicle, Let’s Tell TxDOT Where to Spend its $350 Million and the Citizens' Transportation Coalition's page on the Grand Parkway.
You can submit a comment to TxDOT using the following email, Lori.Morel@txdot.gov.
