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Grand Parkway work may end up in state's hands
Commissioners considering asking agency to take over building
By CHRIS MORAN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 7, 2011, 10:19PM
Commissioners Court will consider on Tuesday issuing a challenge to the state to start building a Grand Parkway
segment in western Harris County by the end of year and to reimburse the county for the millions it has already spent on the project.
Harris County took control of the project about 15 months ago in the belief that the Texas Department of Transportation did not have the money to build it, and that the county could come to an agreement with the state over how toll collections would be used.
Things have changed since then. First, County Judge Ed Emmett said, the Texas Transportation Commission has notified him informally that it expects to have $425 million available for the project this year.
Second, the county has not come to an agreement with the state on the use of toll revenues. The state has insisted that all toll revenue collected on the Parkway (also known as State Highway 99) needs to be spent on the Parkway itself.
The county wants to keep all the money collected on Harris County segments of the road in the county to pay for drainage projects, connector roads and other necessities the Parkway creates.
At a Transportation Commission meeting last week, Commissioner Ned Holmes said, "I think one of the challenges that Harris County faces is expending funds in counties that are not Harris County."
The Commissioners Court agenda item proposes that the county waive its right to build local Grand Parkway segments, handing it back to the state.
Emmett said that is good news because it will allow Harris County to focus on other projects.
"Hopefully that will free us to build a much better Hempstead Tollway," Emmett said, a proposed 18-mile road parallel to 290 to ease commuter congestion.
For motorists, the most notable difference between the state and the county building the Grand Parkway might be the uniform the toll collectors wear.
But the county pushed for and received the right to build the local Parkway segments after a controversy over TxDOT's highway-building plans that included the possibility of foreign corporations building state toll roads and controlling the money collected on those roads. The state has since pulled back from such plans.
"It is possible that the commission could commit some funding for Segment E in 2011," said TxDOT spokeswoman Karen Amacker, if the county decides to give the Parkway project back to the state.
"We do believe that it is an important high-priority project, not just for the Houston area but for the entire state," she said.
The advocacy group Citizens Transportation Coalition continues to oppose the Parkway, regardless of its builder, on the grounds that it is unnecessary and will exact environmental damage on the area.
Coalition Chairwoman Robin Holzer said she was pleased to hear Emmett raise the prospect of more attention to the Hempstead Tollway.
"We need the county to build transportation options for people in the 290 corridor between 610 and Cypress long before they waste any more money in the Katy Prairie," she said. "Segment E of the Grand Parkway is entirely about subsidizing access for a handful of suburban home builders."
Parkway boosters say the road will bring economic development.
At the commission meeting, Holmes also said it is his understanding that ExxonMobil's consideration of land it owns near the Woodlands as a possible North American headquarters is contingent upon completion of the Harris County segments of the Parkway.
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Some of the comments posted to this article...
house567
8:13 PM on January 10, 2011
"We need the county to build transportation options for people in the 290 corridor between 610 and Cypress long before they waste any more money in the Katy Prairie," she said. "Segment E of the Grand Parkway is entirely about subsidizing access for a handful of suburban home builders." Robin Holzer
You got that right Robin!
harr1234
1:21 PM on January 8, 2011
We need to invest in rail and bus transportation not more roads and definitely not toll roads. Where is the insight here. These corrupted county and state officials cannot ween themselves clear of these road projects. There is just to much kick back money from William Brothers road construction.
Hey Emmett how much is William Brothers paying you for the contract. Oh I forgot that is top secret information.
rodeorider
7:50 AM on January 8, 2011
Isn't it convenient that the Comical hides comments until users log in? We wouldn't want web page visitors actually *read* what people think about toll roads in Houston!
GFBrown2
2:47 AM on January 8, 2011
NO MORE TOLL ROADS!!!! Commuter Rail in the Hempstead rail easement would be a far better idea.
Contact HC Commissioner's Court every way you can and help demand it.
Coolingwater911
5:43 PM on January 7, 2011
Another waste of Money
Goldenangel
5:12 PM on January 7, 2011
Then you would have to have two toll road stickers on your window. Harris County & the State. Fix 290 & I-10 first. NO MORE TAXATION!
lostntheburbs
3:49 PM on January 7, 2011
How about some heavy rail (that would be mass transportation)? It is plain lunacy to see so many people communting into Houston, specifically one person, one car. If done correctly, kept clean and policed, it would not turn into metro. I would not want the metro authority associated with it at all.
Last, the reason why rail is not wanted is because the "wrong element" could live in the burbs. Folks, get over it. Put a rail station at every park and ride, make them top of the line, security officers on every train. They run one way in the morning and one way in the evening. The trains depart at 30 min intervals. In order to ride, one would have to purchase a particular plan. Everyone has a card or rail i.d. No more traffic, no more ridiculous highway projects that ensnarl trafic worse.
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Letters to Editor re: TxDOT misplaced priorities for the Grand Pkwy...
Letters: TxDOT and its costly ways
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 3, 2011, 10:42PM
Odd priorities
Regarding "State highway fund crisis: are we there yet? (Page B1, Sunday), the photo in the article captured well both storm clouds and the congestion on the U.S. 290 freeway.
Why is the Texas Department of Transportation so thrilled to fund the Grand Parkway project ("Grand Parkway may end up in state's hands," Page B1, Jan. 8) now that the Harris County Toll Road Authority has withdrawn? More importantly, why is TxDOT funding the Grand Parkway project and thereby delaying the finance-starved 290 corridor expansion project?
The net result will be a shiny new and little-used Grand Parkway segment and an underfunded, delayed and insignificant expansion of 290.
Do you remember the no-capacity-added, complete rebuild of Loop 610 between Interstate 10 and U.S. 59? The southbound 610 exit to 59 still backs up, creating congestion for miles sometimes — as it has been doing for 40 years.
What is the economic and congestion imperative for spending hard-earned tax funds on the Grand Parkway? I bet the road committees from both the tea party and progressives could find a lot of common ground on this.
Bill Ware, Houston
Critical needs
TxDOT is not in a crisis when it pursues funding for over $5 billion for the proposed Grand Parkway over funding the critical widening of U.S. 290 and Hempstead Highway, which would get thousands of Houstonians from home to work and back again.
TxDOT proposes the waste of over $425 million for the Grand Parkway's Segment E, a road to nowhere across the Katy Prairie, while residents sit in traffic on 290 and steam.
The birds surely won't benefit from this scenario, but the developers will laugh all the way to the bank.
Developer subsidies with our money in a time of scarcity? That dog won't hunt anymore with taxpayers.
Brandt Mannchen, Houston
Borrowing
New construction costs - where there is no existing roadway - of a six-lane highway in suburban areas will cost about $5 million per mile. In urban areas, upwards of $10 million per mile.
Based on the story, the U.S. 290 corridor will cost over $60 million per mile. The crisis is not too little money; rather, too much money is being borrowed and spent irresponsibly.
Mike Stanton, Bellaire