Categorical Exclusion Request Post Oak Boulevard Reconstruction with Dedicated Bus Lanes Houston, Texas

Harris County Improvement District #1 Uptown Houston Categorical Exclusion Request Post Oak Boulevard Reconstruction With Dedicated Bus Lanes Houston, Texas APPENDICES March 24, 2014 Appendix A Background Information Purpose and Need The purpose of the Project is to preserve existing auto access while substantially improving transit service and related pedestrian access. This multimodal approach is designed to increase mobility to the overall area while enhancing the unique urban environment that is Uptown Houston. Uptown Houston is a leading economic driver in the City of Houston, which offers a blend of office space, residential development, luxury hotels and retail shopping areas. Uptown has more than 5 million square feet of retail space; and 23.1 million square feet of office space (making it the 14th largest office center in the United States). Due to the congested condition of the high capacity freeways serving Uptown Houston, a need exist to provide more efficient access to Uptown, especially for commuters. In relation to Uptown’s size, transit access to Uptown Houston is sparse: the Uptown area is served by only eight local bus routes and two METRO Park & Rides. Due to the lack of transit access to Uptown Houston, most suburban commuters and residents destined to or from Uptown Houston have little choice but to use their private automobiles. Retail centers, restaurants, and hotels concentrated in Uptown Houston also draw people to the area throughout the week; most of these visitors also access Uptown Houston via private automobile. Uptown Houston is located near the intersections of four major TxDOT facilities. All four of these facilities plus Westheimer Road rank within Texas’ Top 100 Congested Roadways as measured by the Total Hours of Delay (see Appendix B, Table B-1 for more information). Although TxDOT has numerous projects planned or programmed to address congestion at these facilities, congestion on area freeways and major arterials is and will remain severe. However, excess capacity in the region’s HOV lanes for additional peak hour bus service does exist. Increased regional express bus service utilizing the extensive HOV network would be an effective means of providing mobility for expected additional commuters. The influx of daily automobiles into the Uptown Houston area has led to severe congestion on streets in the vicinity of Uptown Houston (see the Traffic Impacts discussion in Appendix B). This congestion is expected to worsen as this successful, mixed-use community continues to grow, and a concern of Uptown Houston is that further congestion may become an impediment to growth. Given the constrained street ROW within Uptown Houston, simply expanding area roadways is not a feasible nor a 2 desirable option to meet the travel needs of residents, commuters, and visitors to the area. However, the Project’s dedicated bus lanes have the ability to double the effective person-carrying capacity (nominal 1,500-2,000 passengers per hour each direction for dedicated bus lanes compared to 1,500-2,000 vehicles per hour for the three general traffic lanes in each direction) with only minimal ROW expansion. The Project provides the following benefits: • Provides priority treatment through the use of dedicated bus lanes (i.e. – the bus is always the first vehicle at the intersection when the signal turns green) for transit service, thereby improving transit travel times, increasing reliability, adding capacity, decreasing reliance on the private auto, reducing vehicle miles of travel, and increasing transit ridership; Enhances pedestrian access by improving and oftentimes widening sidewalks, upgrading landscape / hardscape, adding pedestrian lighting and improving signage; Provides improved conditions for waiting transit patrons by providing DBL platforms with shelters, special lighting, traveler information, and security features; • Removes buses from general traffic lanes within the core of Uptown Houston; • Preserves many of the Post Oak Boulevard’s signature oak trees and provides for a substantial increase in the number and caliper-inches of trees; • Preserves six existing auto traffic lanes; • Preserves all major signalized left turn lanes; • Reconstructs a 40-year old street, replacing the deteriorated roadway pavement of Post Oak Boulevard; • Does not preclude the development of a future transit project, as per the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO’s) 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, within the DBL envelope. Precursor Studies Uptown Houston, METRO, the City of Houston, and other stakeholders have long recognized the need for creating high capacity transit within Uptown Houston. From the creation of an Uptown Improvement District in 1987 and subsequently the creation of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone #16 (Uptown TIRZ) and the Uptown Development Authority (UDA) in 1999, high capacity transit improvements in the Uptown Corridor, focused on Post Oak Boulevard, have been priorities for transportation investment. Plans for improved transit options in Uptown Houston have been documented as early as the Uptown TIRZ Project Plan and Reinvestment Zone Financing Plan (1999) as well as in the Uptown – West Loop Planning Study Alternatives Analysis (METRO, 2001 - 2004). In addition, the METRO plan known as METRO Solutions (METRO, August 2003), which served as the basis for a successful 3 METRO referendum (November, 2003), included a high capacity transit corridor generally along Post Oak Boulevard. The more recent H-GAC 2035 Regional Transportation Plan (August 2007) includes a similar project. Finally, METRO’s local draft Uptown Corridor Environmental Impact Assessment (March 2009) included a Post Oak Boulevard corridor build alternative. All of these planning efforts included extensive public involvement efforts. For example, nine public meetings / open houses and 120 stakeholder meetings were held during the 2001 - 2004 Alternatives Analysis and the 2007-2009 Uptown Corridor Environmental Impact Assessment process. In addition to proposed transit improvements, the reconstruction of Post Oak Boulevard has been in the Uptown Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) since the inception of the TIRZ in 1999. This street reconstruction project continues to be in the City’s CIP, with the most recent version of the CIP approved in October 2013. The Project was included in Uptown Houston’s response to Houston – Galveston Area Council’s (H-GAC) “Call for Projects for 2013 - 2016 Transportation Improvement Program” and has been approved to receive approximately $45 Million in Federal Congestion Management Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation – Metropolitan Mobility (STP-MM) funding. Bus Service to the Project North of these dedicated lanes and beyond the project limits, transit service would operate in mixed traffic from the bus lanes’ northern terminus (Post Oak Boulevard / IH 610) to METRO’s Northwest Transit Center. At the south end of the Project, buses would operate in mixed flow in a southern terminus loop. See Figure A-1. 4 FIGURE A-1 Bus Service to Project 5 Alternatives Considered In exploring options to meet the transportation needs of the area, Uptown Houston considered the following three alternatives: • Alternative 1 (No Action) – No Post Oak Boulevard Reconstruction with DBL; • Alternative 2 (Operational / Partial Build) – Reconstruction of Post Oak Boulevard without DBL; transit in mixed traffic on Post Oak Boulevard with increased bus service; and, • Alternative 3 (Build) – Reconstruction of Post Oak Boulevard with DBL. Alternative 1 (No Action) - would maintain the existing conditions in Uptown Houston. The Uptown Houston area suffers from significant peak period freeway and local traffic congestion. Alternative 1 (No Action) would not provide additional transportation options nor increased capacity. For these reasons, Alternative 1 (No Action) was considered not to be desirable. Alternative 2 (Operational / Partial Build) - would involve the reconstruction of Post Oak Boulevard without DBL. This alternative would include transit in mixed traffic on Post Oak Boulevard with enhanced bus routes and/or adding new shuttle routes. In this alternative, the reconstruction of Post Oak Boulevard would involve acquiring ROW for Post Oak Boulevard from IH 610 to Richmond Avenue in order to increase the existing 120 foot ROW to 136 feet. The project would reconstruct the existing six traffic lanes and widen the median to create a 46-foot corridor to be used for left-turn lanes and landscaping / hardscaping. In addition, enhanced bus routes and/or new shuttle routes would be added to mixed traffic on Post Oak Boulevard. However, transit in mixed flow on Post Oak Boulevard would not provide significant time savings and would not be likely to attract significant additional ridership. Alternative 2 (Operational / Partial Build) would therefore not provide additional transportation options nor increased capacity. For these reasons, Alternative 2 (Operational / Partial Build) was considered not to be desirable. Alternative 3 (Build) - would involve acquiring ROW on Post Oak Boulevard from IH 610 to Richmond Avenue in order to increase the existing 120 foot ROW to 136 feet. The Project would create a 46-foot corridor to be used for the DBL, left-turn lanes and landscaping / hardscaping within a reconstructed six lanes boulevard. In addition, new shuttle routes would use the new DBL on Post Oak Boulevard. Detailed study of alignment alternatives for dedicated transit facility began with the Uptown – West Loop

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