WHCA Challenges TXDOT's Plans to Expand and elevate I-10 by Alaina Hebert

Read & Listen to WHCA Director of Infrastructure, Brad Snead’s interviews on the concerns about environmental and sound impacts to our neighborhoods and bayous.

How can You get involved?

  1. Review the TXDOT I-10 Expansion from Heights to I-45 Proposal

  2. Submit Public Comment Form - Reference the following project numbers: CSJ 0271-07-326

TxDOT Houston District
Public Information Office
P.O. Box 1386
Houston, Texas 77251
713-802-5076

Public Comments are due by Friday, August 26th, 2022



Public Comment Needed for 2023 Unified Transportation Program by Aug 8 by Alaina Hebert

WHAT: This is TxDOT's 10-year plan and budget. It is based on information and requests from regional planning bodies like the Houston-Galveston Area Council in Houston. The Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approves the plan, and TxDOT carries it out.

The 2023 UTP public comment period is July 8, 2022, through 4:00 p.m. CST on Aug. 8, 2022. You may submit comments using the following methods:

Fill out a comment form online.
The online comment form can be switched between several of the most spoken languages in Texas, including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese Mandarin, and Cantonese.

You may also print a comment form or request a printed comment form at your local TxDOT district or area office and mail it to:

Texas Department of Transportation
Attention: TPP-UTP
125 E 11th Street
Austin, Texas 78701

You may e-mail your public comments to UTP-PublicComments@txdot.gov. Additionally, you may leave a voicemail comment by calling 833-933-0446.

Please be prepared to state your city, state, and zip code. Your name and address are optional. Please speak as clearly as possible, comments are transcribed and added to the official record.

In order to be considered, comments must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2022.

Talking points to consider:

  1. Remove the I-45 & I-10 Expansion from the UTP to allow for a new project based on a true community engagement process. In the meantime, for communities that were harmed by the initial construction of I-45, their concerns should be addressed and mitigated immediately. These reparations should not be held hostage to a plan that will sacrifice more Houstonians to flooding, pollution, and traffic violence.

  2. No more added lanes for cars for any projects through urban centers

  3. Prioritize safety of all road users and Vision Zero

  4. All projects should prioritize sustainability and aim to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMTs)

  5. All projects should center and aim for race and class equity for all road users

  6. All projects should reduce flooding and prioritize flood mitigation

  7. We want a UTP that increases multi-modal transportation options throughout the state

  8. Updates to the TxDOT ADA Transition Plan have included work to identify the specific need and cost of bringing all TxDOT on-system facilities up to inclusive ADA standards. This TxDOT assessment estimated that adding or fixing all on-system missing and broken sidewalks, ramps and safe crossings across the state would cost $1.56 billion. We request that you increase the funding for the ADA Transition Plan from the proposed $5 million to $25 million a year in the FY2023 Unified Transportation Program.

2023 Unified Transportation Program 

UTP Presentation - https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/tpp/utp/2023-utp-public-meeting-with-speaker-notes.pdf

Virtual Public Hearing, July 26 at 2pm. Link is HERE.

Segmented Interstate Expansion Skirts Federal Environmental Law by Alaina Hebert

Texas is skirting federal environmental law to push for highway expansion - Megan Kimble, Grist, Jul 27, 2022

This timely article comes just as TXDOT has announced plans to expand I-10 from Heights to I-45 a sub-set of overall planned interstate expansion. The article explains that the I-45 expansion was put on hold so that the full impact could be studied in aggregate which will show more accurate an significant impacts than when segmented.

Overall, between 2015 and 2022, Moritz discovered that 130 TxDOT projects were found to have no significant impact after an initial review, while only six received full environmental analyses detailing their impacts. Cumulatively, those 130 projects will consume nearly 12,000 acres of land, add more than 3,000 new lane miles to the state highway system, and displace 477 homes and 376 businesses. The total projected costs of those projects was nearly $24 billion, almost half of what TxDOT spent on transportation projects during that time and twice as much as the amount spent on projects that received full environmental reviews.

How can You get involved?

  1. Review the TXDOT I-10 Expansion from Heights to I-45 Proposal

  2. Submit Public Comment Form - Reference the following project numbers: CSJ 0271-07-326

TxDOT Houston District
Public Information Office
P.O. Box 1386
Houston, Texas 77251
713-802-5076

Public Comments are due by Friday, August 26th, 2022