5 1 City of Houston, alternate voting member. 2 MR. MILLICAN: Larry Millican, City of 3 League City, voting member. 4 MR. MANN: Bruce Mann, Port Houston, 5 non-voting member. 6 MR. BROWN: Craig Brown, city council 7 member Galveston, voting member. 8 MR. ALLEN: Quincy Allen, TxDOT, voting 9 member. 10 MS. RYAN: Laura Ryan, Texas 11 Transportation Commission, non-voting. 12 MR. REID: Tom Reid, Mayor of City of 13 Pearland, voting member. 14 MR. ROBINSON: David Robinson, Houston 15 City Council, voting member. 16 CHAIRMAN CLARK: I'm Ken Clark, county 17 commissioner of Galveston, voting member. 18 What we're going to do now is, without 19 objection, I would like to move Item 8 up and Item 9. 20 We'll take Item 8 first. 21 We have three color comment cards. We are 22 going to take Approval of Resolution Affirming Funding 23 for Partnership of Segment 2 of the North Houston 24 Highway Improvement Program and Mitigation of Adverse 25 Community Impacts. We'll take that first. Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 6 1 What we're going to do is, we're going to 2 hear the presentation from TxDOT. And then we will open 3 it up to public comment on this issue. 4 Alan, what color card do they need to fill 5 out if they're going to comment on -- on Item Number 8? 6 MR. ALAN CLARK: The yellow comment card. 7 CHAIRMAN CLARK: The yellow comment card. 8 So if you would like to speak on this 9 issue, please fill out a yellow comment card, which will 10 be over here to my left, to your right. Fill one of 11 those out. And we will get you in on public comment. 12 And you'll have three minutes. Please avail yourself of 13 that opportunity if you'd like to do that. 14 And with that, I will open it up to Quincy 15 Allen with TxDOT to introduce his presentation. 16 MR. ALLEN: Thank you, Chairman Clark. 17 At this time, I'd like to call on Patrick 18 Gant, one of our engineering leads, to make the 19 presentation. 20 MR. GANT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, TPC 21 members. 22 For the record, my name is Patrick Gant 23 with the TxDOT Houston District. And I'll be presenting 24 the action item for the request for MPO funding 25 commitment on the North Houston Highway Improvement Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 7 1 Project, Segment 2 within the 2020 Unified 2 Transportation Program. 3 So what is the Unified Transportation 4 Program or UTP for short? The UTP is similar to 5 planning documents that the MPO prepares, like the 6 recently adopted 2045 Regional Transportation Plan, 7 which is our long-range plan, as well as the short-range 8 TIP. 9 The UTP is in between those two documents 10 and is the statewide ten-year program. The UTP, through 11 our Transportation Commission, allocates construction 12 funding in to 12 funding categories. And this is 13 significant in that this is the first planning document 14 that combines transportation dollars with transportation 15 projects, which authorizes TxDOT to go in to detailed 16 engineering design. The draft 2020 UTP is currently out 17 for public comment and will be adopted by the 18 Transportation Commission at the August commission 19 meeting. 20 So within the draft UTP, the commission is 21 proposing to allocate a significant amount of the 22 commission's discretionary, as well as the special Texas 23 Clear Lanes' funds for the advancement of North Houston 24 Highway Improvement Project Segment 2. 25 Now, this comes with a specific request Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 8 1 that the MPO participate in the funding for this 2 project. And you can see on the screen that this 3 request is for $100 million to leverage a $1.2 billion 4 project. 5 Drilling down to the specifics of 6 Segment 2 itself, this is the three-mile segment of I-45 7 from Loop 610 to I-10 just north of Downtown Houston. 8 It also includes the reconstruction of the 610/45 9 interchange. 10 As you may recall, this existing 11 interchange is one of the oldest interchanges on our 12 system in our region. The project would alleviate some 13 of the issues with the current interchange, such as the 14 left-handed entrance and exit ramps and the deficient 15 lengths of merging and sight distance within the 16 interchange. 17 Moving south from the interchange itself, 18 the proposed plan would reconstruct 45 to upgrade the 19 facility to current design standards. But it also 20 includes the managed lanes. And the managed lanes that 21 you can see on the screen here truly are the 22 transit-oriented component of this project. The managed 23 lanes would replace the existing reversible single-lane 24 HOV lane with four managed lanes in the middle, two in 25 each direction, non-tolled for 24/7 operation. You can Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 9 1 also see with this slide here that within Segment 2 2 itself, there is the proposal in and around North Main 3 to minimize the right-of-way footprint such that the 4 frontage roads would be on structure above the main 5 lanes. 6 Now, concerning Segment 2 specifically, I 7 want to share with the TPC some feedback and concerns 8 that TxDOT has received and how TxDOT is addressing 9 these concerns. 10 So let me begin with safety. Safety is 11 always paramount in what we do. Our current projections 12 show a 30 percent reduction in the amount of crashes 13 along the corridor. And within Segment 2, we're working 14 to provide a safe facility for pedestrians, cyclists, 15 and vehicles alike. 16 Turning to bike and ped, TxDOT has worked 17 with the City of Houston to ingrate high-comfort 18 elements into the bike and pedestrian realm within 19 Segment 3 around Downtown Houston. And what we're 20 proposing to do is extend that in to Segment 2 itself. 21 Concerning flooding, TxDOT is using the 22 latest information from the three major flooding events 23 that impacted our region -- the Tax Day, Memorial Day, 24 and, of course, Harvey -- to calibrate our models and to 25 begin our detailed hydraulic design. And this effort is Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 10 1 using the new rainfall intensity data from the Atlas 1, 2 which is a nationwide initiative. 3 In addition, TxDOT is partnering with the 4 Harris County Flood Control District and the City of 5 Houston in studying the bayou network. This effort is 6 looking into things like the North Canal along Buffalo 7 Bayou. It could potentially lower the water shelter 8 elevations upstream along White Oak Bayou, as well as 9 Little White Oak Bayou. 10 Drilling down to Segment 2, we've already 11 identified detention pond locations that are adjacent to 12 45 and Little White Oak Bayou. And we'll be conducting 13 additional hydraulic studies to size pipes and size 14 culverts within the corridor to mitigate flooding 15 concerns. Without the project, the existing aging 16 infrastructure remains. 17 Concerning air quality, this is a key 18 component of our region's air conformity determination. 19 The proposed project reduces the time spent idling and 20 works to reduce air emissions. I would like to point 21 out that the transit elements that the managed lanes add 22 to the project would reduce the -- the use of the 23 single-occupancy vehicles in the corridor. 24 Directly concerning the schools, 25 Houston -- or HISD is working with TxDOT on Jefferson Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 11 1 Elementary School, which is adjacent to the 45 corridor. 2 We're working to consider a mitigation strategy, such as 3 the implementation of HEPA air filters, vegetative 4 screens, and sealing windows at the school itself. 5 TxDOT is also going to work with HISD on the potential 6 for a pilot program for electric buses and/or natural 7 gas buses. 8 And, again, working with the schools 9 directly will aim to limit the disruptions during the 10 statewide testing at those schools. 11 Turning to displacements, Segment 2 is 12 showing significantly reduced footprint, but, 13 unfortunately, there are displacements with the project, 14 primarily near the I-610 interchange. 15 Acquisition of real property and damages 16 would follow federal and state guidelines with the 17 intention to get people whole again. In addition to 18 that, TxDOT has a relocation assistance program for 19 owners, renters, and lessees that pays for relocation 20 costs and reestablishment costs. 21 Noise. TxDOT is currently out in the 22 community conducting special noise meetings to gather 23 feedback. We're presenting strategies for noise walls, 24 as well as aesthetic walls potentially that could not -- 25 or not necessarily noise walls in general. But TxDOT is Worldwide Court Reporters, Inc. (800) 745-1101 12 1 also committing to the use of longitudinal tining on the 2 concrete pavement itself. That's been shown to reduce 3 the noise that emanates from the tire-pavement 4 interaction. 5 And, finally, turning to access, we've 6 minimized the footprint of Segment 2 so much so that you 7 saw in our -- our slide before that the -- we were not 8 able to put in ramps to the North Main area with the 9 proposed project.