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AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE.[Transportation, Technology, and Infrastructure Committee]
IT IS THE 5TH OF MAY OF SINGLE DE MAYO HERE AT CITY HALL.IT'S 10:01 AM AND, UH, TODAY'S MEETING OF THE TTI COMMITTEE WILL COMMENCE IN FIVE MINUTES.
AND I WANTED TO JUST LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE GATHERING HERE TODAY AT CITY HALL AND SOON TO COMMENCE.
SO AS COLLEAGUES CONVENE, PLEASE STAY TUNED JUST A MOMENT OR TWO LONGER, AND WE WILL GET STARTED SHORTLY.
UH, MY NAME IS DAVID ROBINSON.
I'M THE CHAIR OF THE TTI COMMITTEE FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
THAT'S TRANSPORTATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
UH, THIS MEETING IS NOW CALL TO ORDER, UH, FOR THE MONTH OF MAY IN 2022.
UH, I'D LIKE TO WELCOME ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES AND THEIR STAFF MEMBERS WHO ARE HERE IN CHAMBERS OR WITH US, UH, VIRTUALLY ONLINE, LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE DO HAVE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, THREE OF THEM VIRTUALLY.
WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER CAROLYN EVANS SHABAZZ FROM DISTRICT D, THE DISTRICT OF DESTINATION.
WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER CARLOS CISNEROS FROM DISTRICT H, AND WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER MIKE KNOX AT LARGE FROM THE POSITION ONE AS WELL AS A STAFF MEMBER FOR COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX HERE IN THE CHAMBER.
ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE HAVE, UH, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ABBY CAYMAN OF DISTRICT C COUNCIL MEMBER DAVE MARTIN, OUR MAYOR, PRO TEM STAFF FROM DISTRICT E COUNCIL MEMBER MARY NAN HUFFMAN FROM DISTRICT G.
HER STAFF IS HERE WITH US, AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE.
LETICIA PLUMMER, HER OFFICE IN POSITION FOUR.
AND OUR VICE CHAIR, UH, SALLY ALCORN, UH, WHO IS NOT WITH US HERSELF TODAY IS JOINED JOINING US HERE WITH HER STAFF IN CHAMBERS.
SO, WELCOME ALL TO THIS MEETING.
THIS IS THE MONTHLY MEETING OFFICIALLY OF THE TTI COMMITTEE FOR THE CITY
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OF HOUSTON.THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD IN HYBRID MODE DUE TO THE DISCONTINUATION OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, CHAPTER 5 51, WITH PROVISIONS THAT ALLOWED PUBLIC MEETINGS TO BE HELD SOLELY AND VIRTUALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC.
THE MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND AS CHAIR AND PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE COMMITTEE.
UH, I WILL BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN MSO IN CHAMBER TODAY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 5 51 0.1 27 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE APPLICABLE TO A GOVERNMENTAL BODY THAT EXTENDS INTO THREE OR MORE COUNTIES.
ALL OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE THE OPTION TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS. TODAY, WE DO HAVE, UH, 10 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WERE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, EITHER VIRTUALLY OR HERE IN THE CHAMBER IN PERSON.
SO WE WILL GET TO THOSE AFTER ALL THREE OF THE PRESENTATIONS AS, UM, AS DESIGNED HERE.
AND, UH, OUR DEADLINE FOR THOSE SPEAKERS TO PARTICIPATE WAS 5:00 PM ON YESTERDAY, THE NIGHT BEFORE OUR MEETING, WHICH IS HELD ON THE FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH AT 10:00 AM.
HOWEVER, AS ALWAYS, ANY QUESTIONS THAT, UM, WERE AFTER THAT, UH, DEADLINE OR COME UP DURING THIS CONVERSATION CAN ALWAYS BE SENT TO THE AT LARGE2@HOUSTONTX.GOV, UH, EMAIL ADDRESS, AND WE WILL SHARE THEM WITH THE APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENTS OR PARTICIPANTS IN OUR MEETINGS FOLLOWING THE MEETING, AND WE WILL DISTRIBUTE THOSE RESPONSES AS WE WILL POST ALL OF THESE, UH, PRESENTATIONS ON OUR WEBSITE.
SO TODAY'S AGENDA HAS THREE, I THINK, VERY INTERESTING TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION, ALL RELEVANT TO TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY.
UH, TO INTRODUCE THE FULL AGENDA, FIRST WE'LL HEAR FROM OUR DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
HIS, UH, PRESENTATION WILL BE AN UPDATE TO THE HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITIES ORDINANCE.
WE'LL NEXT HEAR FROM LEADERSHIP AT THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL.
THAT'S THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MY FRIEND, CHUCK WEMPLE, WHO'S HERE, AS WELL AS THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION.
UH, MY FRIEND CRAIG RAYBORN IS HERE WITH US.
AND, UM, THAT IS THE SECOND ITEM ON TODAY'S AGENDA.
AND FOLLOWING OUR THIRD ITEM, AND WITH TWO MORE OF MY FRIENDS, ALL FRIENDS TODAY ARE OUR, OUR PALS FROM THE HOUSTON PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
THAT'S, UH, THE CHIEF TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, DAVID FIELDS, UH, FROM THE HOUSTON PLANNING DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS HIS COLLEAGUE BRIAN SMITH, A TRANSPORTATION PLANNER.
AND THEY WILL BE, UH, SPEAKING ON THE HOUSTON BIKEWAYS UPDATE.
AND DID I MENTION FOR THE HGAC, THE LEADERSHIP WILL BE SPEAKING ON INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE REGION, MAKING AN IMPACT WITH NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
SO THAT SUMMARIZES THE THREE MAIN ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA TODAY.
I'D LIKE TO REMIND COUNCIL MEMBERS TO REMAIN ON MUTE AND HOLD THEIR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF EACH OF OUR PRESENTATIONS.
AND NOTE THAT TO QUEUE IN, THEY SHOULD SEND A MESSAGE TO THE CHAT SAYING, REQUEST TO SPEAK, UH, WHICH WE WILL MONITOR HERE, UH, FROM THE HORSESHOE.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO WELCOME NOW WHO'S JOINED US, MY COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER, AMY PECK FROM DISTRICT A WELCOME COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND, UH, FOR EACH PRESENTATION THAT COMES, I'D LIKE TO ASK FOR THE SPEAKER TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND ANY STAFF PRESENT, UH, FOR A MATTER OF THE RECORD.
UH, AND WITH THAT, I THINK WE ARE PREPARED TO BEGIN.
AND THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA, WE WILL BEGIN WITH, UH, DIRECTOR GABE KORE WITH AN UPDATE TO THE HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES, UH, FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITIES.
GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBER ROBINSON.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE TTI COMMITTEE.
ONCE AGAIN, IT'S A PRIVILEGE TO BE WITH ALL OF YOU THIS MORNING.
THIS MORNING, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IS COMING TO THE TTI COMMITTEE BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO REQUEST COUNSEL ACTION IN TWO WEEKS TO, UH, FOR YOUR APPROVAL TO UPDATES TO THE HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES AND MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITIES ORDINANCE.
BY WAY OF BACKGROUND, UH, BOTH THE HCOD HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES AND MOPD MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ORDINANCES WERE ESTABLISHED IN 19 93, 19 93, EXCUSE ME, THE HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES ORDINANCE CURRENTLY USES LANGUAGE FROM BOTH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, AS WELL AS THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS THAT IMPLEMENTED THE LAW BACK IN 1993.
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THE SECTION DEALING WITH THE HCOD, UH, IS COMPRISED OF FOUR SECTIONS, DEFINITIONS, COMPOSITION AND MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS, AND PURPOSE.IN ADDITION, THIS ORDINANCE ESTABLISHES THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITIES.
UH, THESE, THESE, THIS ORDINANCE WAS TAKEN UP TOGETHER IN 1993, AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IS DIVIDED INTO TWO SECTIONS.
WE HAVE NOT MADE SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO THESE, TO THIS ORDINANCE SINCE 1993.
UH, AND WE ARE PROPOSING SOME, UH, TODAY FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
IN THE DEFINITION SECTION, WE ARE SEEKING TO ELIMINATE OUTDATED REFERENCES TO DISABILITIES.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR ORDINANCE, UH, ON, ON FILE RIGHT NOW REFERS TO PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, UH, USING THE R WORD, UH, WHICH HAS NOT BEEN USED IN PRACTICE FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
WE ARE ALSO SEEKING TO, UH, FALL INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE REGULATIONS, IMPLEMENTING THE 2008 A DA AMENDMENTS ACT, WHICH EXPANDED THE D DEFINITION OF DISABILITY, UH, TO BE MORE INCLUSIVE OF A WIDE RANGE OF DISABILITIES.
IN THIS SECTION, WE'RE ALSO FALLING IN LINE WITH THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT'S PRACTICE OF, UH, PROVIDING LEGAL REPRESENTATION.
UH, BUT WE ARE REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT THAT OUR LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE ATTEND EVERY SINGLE COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES MEETING, WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH OTHER BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
IN SECTION, UH, 3 81, WE'RE CHANGING THE COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION.
CURRENTLY, THE COMMISSION IS COMPRISED OF 12 REGULAR MEMBERS AND FOUR ALTERNATE MEMBERS.
UH, IN PRACTICE, UH, THE ALTERNATE POSITIONS HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO, UH, KEEP FILLED, UH, AND INTERRUPT THE, UH, CAPACITY OF ALTERNATE MEMBERS TO TRANSITION INTO FULL MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.
SO WE'RE ELIMINATING THE ALTERNATE POSITIONS AND ADDING TWO ADDITIONAL POSITIONS TO THE COMMISSION, UH, CONSISTENT WITH CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
WE'RE ALSO CHANGING THE TERMS OF OFFICE, UH, FROM TWO YEAR TERMS TO FOUR YEAR TERMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THIS SECTION ESTABLISHES SPECIFIC, UH, POSITIONS AND TERMS. UH, POSITIONS ONE THROUGH NINE MUST BE HELD BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WHO RESIDE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
POSITIONS 10 THROUGH 14 MUST BE HELD BY PEOPLE WHO REPRESENT OR ARE, OR HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
THESE POSITIONS MAY BE, BUT DON'T HAVE TO BE, UH, HELD BY DISABLED PEOPLE.
UH, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ACCOMMODATE, UH, FOLKS LIKE PARENTS OF KIDS WITH DISABILITIES OR YOUNG ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES, AS WELL AS PROFESSIONALS WHO WORK, UH, WITH, UH, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE FIELD.
WE ALSO SAID, UH, AS I MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, THE FOUR YEAR TERMS, SO, UH, ODD NUMBERED POSITIONS, UH, WILL EXPIRE ON JULY 24, UH, EXCUSE ME, JULY 26TH.
AND EVERY FOUR YEARS THEREAFTER ON ODD NUMBERED YEARS ON EVEN NUMBERED YEARS, UH, ARE THE EVEN NUMBERED POSITIONS.
ASSISTANCE BY CITY DEPARTMENTS.
THE COMMISSION IS ASSISTED BY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, UH, TO REFLECT THE SCOPE OF THE COMMISSION AND THE WORK OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
WE'RE ADDING THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, THE HOUSTON INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, AS WELL AS HOUSTON PARKS RECREATION.
THIS IS, UH, REGARDING THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION.
WE ARE, UH, ADDING MORE MEASURABLE OUTCOMES, AND WE'RE ALSO GIVING THE COMMISSION, UH, THE AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE HEAD OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO CONSIDER, UH, AND TO BRING TO THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING A VARIETY OF TOPICS,
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INCLUDING HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, UH, CULTURAL ACTIVITIES, AS WELL AS INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE.NOW WE'RE MOVING INTO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, UH, IN THE STATUTE WHERE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITIES.
THIS SECTION TRANSFERS THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, CURRENTLY IN STATUTE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS TO HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
I WILL TELL YOU THAT IN PRACTICE, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IS INTEGRATED INTO THE STRUCTURE OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
HPW PROVIDES OUR FUNDING AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT.
THIS SECTION DEALS WITH OUR PURPOSE.
THIS SECTION WAS, UH, REDRAFTED TO, UH, EX EXPAND OUR LOCAL, OUR SCOPE, UH, AND REFLECT THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, IN PRACTICE, WE PROVIDE SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, UH, IN THE SUGAR LAND, UH, THE WOODLANDS, UH, GREATER HOUSTON CENSUS STATISTICAL AREA.
SO WE'RE REFLECTING THAT IN STATUTE NOW.
WE'RE THE ONLY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY OF ITS KIND THAT'S LED BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, UH, TO EXPRESS AND TO ENSURE THAT THE FULL INTERESTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT THE ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF POLICY AND INVESTMENTS.
WE'VE MADE A NUMBER OF CHANGES TO OUR DUTIES, UH, INCLUDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT TRANSITION PLAN, UH, WHICH I HOPE TO BRING, UH, TO COUNCIL HERE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
UH, IT ALSO REQUIRES THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO UPDATE THAT TRANSITION PLAN AT LEAST EVERY THREE YEARS.
AS YOU WILL HEAR IN OUR A DA TRANSITION PLAN PRESENTATION COMING TO YOU IN THE FUTURE.
UH, THAT PLAN HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 1994, SO WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO.
UM, WE ALSO REFLECT THE WORK THAT WE CURRENTLY DO IN ADVISING, UH, INVESTMENTS IN CITY PROGRAM SERVICES, ACTIVITIES, AND CITY OWNED OR LEASE FACILITIES TO ENSURE FULL ACCESS FOR RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT WE'RE PROPOSING UNDER THIS REWRITE, UH, THIS UPDATE TO OUR ORDINANCE.
I'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS.
A LOT OF INFORMATION THERE TO, UH, TO THINK ABOUT AND, UH, APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT WE'LL BE ENTERTAINING IDEAS ABOUT, UM, CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE HERE SHORTLY.
YOU, YOU MENTIONED IN THE COMING WEEKS, IS THERE ANY FURTHER DETAIL? IS THAT, UM, ARE WE READY TO GO AND BRING THAT TO, TO THE COUNCIL, UM, BEFORE THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR? OR, UH, ANY FURTHER INFORMATION FROM THAT? YES, SIR.
SO THE ORDINANCE, THE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION, I HOPE WILL COME, UH, ON THE MAY 18TH COUNCIL AGENDA.
WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS THAT GOAL.
UM, AS FAR AS THE A DA TRANSITION PLAN, WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS RIGHT NOW TO BRING ON A CONSULTANT TO ASSIST US WITH THAT PROCESS.
SO ONCE WE'VE, WE'VE FINISHED THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS, UH, THAT CONTRACT AWARD WILL COME TO COUNCIL FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
WELL, I APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENTATION VERY MUCH TODAY.
I KNOW, UM, LOTS OF GREAT INFORMATION.
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS OR STAFF IN THE QUEUE FOR THIS ITEM.
SO, UH, UNLESS I HEAR ONE QUICKLY, UH, I THINK WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY AND LOOK FORWARD FOR THOSE COUNCIL ACTIONS THAT YOU MENTIONED.
UM, AND SEEING NONE THAT THERE ARE BEFORE ME, WE WILL MOVE ON PRESENTLY TO THE NEXT, UH, ITEM ON THE AGENDA, WHICH IS HEARING FROM THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL, UH, FROM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CHUCK WEMPLE, AND CRAIG RAYBORN, OUR TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR ON INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE REGION, UH, MAKING AN IMPACT WITH NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
GENTLEMEN, I THINK IF YOU'D APPROACH THE PODIUM HERE AT THE FRONT, THAT'LL BE THE BEST WAY FOR US TO SURE.
YEAH, NO, SORRY, THAT WAS UNCLEAR BY YOUR CHAIR HERE, BUT VERY GOOD.
IF YOU DON'T MIND, LET'S DO THAT.
AND WE WILL TEST YOUR MIC THERE, IF YOU WOULD.
I THINK YOU'RE BOTH ON TESTING.
AND YOU'RE, WE'VE QUEUED THE PRESENTATION, SO IF, IF YOU ARE READY, CHUCK, I THINK WE ARE.
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YOU FOR THE INVITATION, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE AND, UH, PARTICIPANTS IN THE AUDIENCE, UM, AS WELL TOO.UH, THOSE JOINING US REMOTELY, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR OPPORTUNITY TO COME SPEAK WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HOUSTON GALVES AREA COUNCIL, INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE REGION, SOME COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE HAVE.
I'M GONNA SET THE STAGE A BIT FOR CRAIG, WHO WILL TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SOME TRANSPORTATION OPPORTUNITIES, BUT WOULD LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND TALK A BIT ABOUT THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL AND SOME REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, IF I MAY.
THE MAP IN THE BACKGROUND, UH, MAY BE A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO READ ON SOME OF THE SCREENS, AND I APOLOGIZE TO ANYONE THAT MIGHT BE TUNING IN FROM WALKER COUNTY THAT WE CUT OFF THE UPPER PART OF WALKER COUNTY.
AND THE MAP HAPPENS SOMETIMES, UH, WITH THESE THINGS.
I THOUGHT I COUNTED 12 COUNTIES.
UH, YEAH, WALKER'S THE 13TH, JUST NORTH OF MONTGOMERY.
COLLABORATION IS WHAT WE DO, BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD ABOUT US THROUGH SOME OF OUR SPECIFIC FLAGSHIP PROGRAMS, THE HUST, UH, HGAC, BUY OUR REGIONAL COOPERATIVE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS NATIONWIDE TO BE ABLE TO BUY ALL SORTS OF EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES AT GREAT PRICES AND TO SAVE ON PROCUREMENT COSTS, UH, THAT COME WITH THAT.
ALSO, WE ARE THE REGION'S WORKFORCE BOARD, OUR SINGLE LARGEST, UH, PROGRAM AT THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL.
IF YOU SEE A WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS SIGN OUT THERE OR AN OFFICE THAT'S PART OF OUR, UH, ENTITY AND OUR PROGRAM.
WE ALSO SERVE AS THE FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT FOR ALL 13 COUNTIES.
METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION, WHICH IS A SUBSET OF THAT 13.
CRAIG WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR ACTIVITIES WITH THAT, AND ALSO A LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION THAT PROVIDES SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE WITHIN OUR REGION, UM, AND ACROSS TEXAS IN THE FORM OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, UM, AND LOANS AS WELL.
UM, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ANYTHING AT ALL, DON'T HESITATE TO REACH OUT TO US.
IF IT'S NOT IN ONE OF OUR CURRENT PROGRAMS, WE CAN STILL HELP, UH, REFER PEOPLE TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GO AND ALSO POSSIBLY DEVELOP NEW OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL.
LET'S TALK ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE, INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THINGS THAT EXCITE US ABOUT THE, UH, JOBS ACT THAT'S OUT THERE.
AND THAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A REGIONAL PACKAGE WITH PRIORITIES FOR AT, AT GRADE RAIL CROSSINGS, UH, BRIDGE WORK, UM, AND SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL.
CRAIG WILL TALK A BIT MORE ABOUT SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL, AND EMPHASIS ON TRAFFIC SAFETY AND BROADBAND AS WELL, TOO.
IT'S GREAT TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
WE CAN ACTUALLY PACKAGE TOGETHER MULTIPLE PROJECTS INTO A REGIONAL APPROACH.
WE'RE, WE'VE BEEN TOLD THAT'S GONNA COMPETE BETTER AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL AS WELL, TOO.
AT GRADE RAIL CROSSINGS, WE ALL KNOW THERE'S LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
IT AFFECTS COMMUTERS, HOW FOLKS GET BACK AND FORTH, UH, TO WORK FROM HOME.
IT AFFECTS BUSINESS, UM, ACTIVITIES AS WELL TOO, CERTAINLY SAFETY AND RESIDENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES.
SO THERE'S HUGE OPPORTUNITIES TO LOOK AT AT GRADE RAIL CROSSINGS.
I'M PULLING THAT TOGETHER AS A PACKAGE THAT SERVES THE REGION.
AND THE REASON I BRING THAT UP IS THAT PEOPLE COME FROM NEIGHBORING COUNTIES AND COMMUNITIES INTO HOUSTON, UM, FOR WORK.
AND SO THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN HOUSTON AND BEYOND, UM, AS WELL TOO, AS WE'RE LOOK FOR A PACKAGE ON THAT.
SAME THING WITH, UM, BRIDGE WORK.
THIS IS NOT MY FATHER'S BRIDGE WORK THAT USED TO POP OUT AT US AT THE DINNER TABLE TO SCARE US.
UH, SORRY, A LITTLE BIT OF A DATED APPROACH THERE.
I'LL MAKE A NOTE THAT THAT JOKE NEEDS TO BE REVISITED.
BUT, UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY WORKING ON BRIDGES THAT TRANSPORT PEOPLE, UM, AND, UH, VEHICLES AND FREIGHT.
THERE WAS A STUDY DONE OUT OF RICE UNIVERSITY, UH, BY DR.
JAMIE PAGET, RIGHT ABOUT THE TIME OF HURRICANE IKE THAT IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES, UM, ALONG OUR COASTAL AREAS, ESPECIALLY TO REALLY FORTIFY BRIDGES, UH, TO BE READY FOR THE NEXT NATURAL DISASTER.
AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE'S INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS, UH, THAT OFTENTIMES GET OVERLOOKED.
AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO SEE BRIDGES, UM, EMPHASIZED IN THE NEW ACT.
TRAFFIC SAFETY, DON'T NEED TO TELL.
UM, A LOT OF YOU, I THINK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT.
UM, IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A AREA THAT WE LEAD IN THAT WE'D RATHER NOT LEAD IN IN THE COUNTRY.
JUST IN CASE FOLKS AREN'T AWARE.
WE TYPICALLY LOSE IN THAT 13 COUNTY REGION ON THE MAP, TYPICALLY HAVE ABOUT 670 PEOPLE OR SO DIE EVERY YEAR ON OUR REGION'S ROADWAYS.
IT'S GOTTEN WORSE SINCE COVID, UM, CLOSER TO 800 IN THE MOST RECENT YEAR.
SO WE DEFINITELY NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THAT.
AND SO AN EMPHASIS ON TRAFFIC SAFETY INCENTIVES AND OPPORTUNITIES, VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE THINKING ABOUT.
AND IT TIES INTO A LOT OF THE WORK THAT HOUSTON IS DOING, AND THAT CRAIG, AT OUR METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION IS ALSO LEADING.
AND THEN LASTLY, BROADBAND, WHICH TIES INTO A LOT OF THINGS, RIGHT? HOUSING, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORTATION.
THE FUTURE IS GONNA BE, UH, SO RELIANT UPON THOSE DIGITAL NETWORKS THAT LOOKING AT A REGIONAL APPROACH TO BROADBAND, UM,
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IS ALSO A GREAT OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE AND THAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT.LET'S TALK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT LOOKING BEYOND THE FUNDS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN FRONT OF US FOR REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
THAT'S SO COMMON IN THE WORK THAT WE ALL DO TO WHAT I CALL CHASE THE MONEY.
OH, THERE'S A NEW GRANT PROGRAM OUT THERE.
LET'S DEVELOP SOMETHING TOTALLY NEW SO WE CAN GET THAT GRANT MONEY, OR, OH, THIS, THIS NEW OPPORTUNITY IS COMING.
LET'S, LET'S JUST CHASE THAT AND NOT THINK A LITTLE FURTHER BEYOND.
AND IF WE THINK ABOUT GREAT PROJECTS FOR THE REGION, THAT COULD BE PART OF THE CURRENT FUNDING THAT'S IN FRONT OF US AND BEYOND.
UM, I OFFER TWO THINGS FOR CONSIDERATION FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE PERSPECTIVE.
HURRICANE PROTECTION, COASTAL SPINE WORK.
UH, MR. CHAIR, YOU AND I HAVE WORKED FOR A LONG TIME ON CONVENING, UH, GROUPS ON THAT AND BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT.
DEFINITELY THERE'S A TIME TO BE LOOKING AT ENCOURAGING FUNDING AND ACTION ON THE COASTAL SPINE, AND THEN ALSO ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION AS PART OF THAT AND BEYOND.
THERE ARE HUGE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO LOOK AT IMPROVING SOME OF THE NATURAL, UH, SYSTEMS THAT ARE OUT THERE TO HELP REDUCE THE EFFECT OF FUTURE HURRICANES.
SO IF WE COULD PULL TOGETHER A TRULY REGIONAL APPROACH TO THAT, AND THEN AS FUNDING BECOMES AVAILABLE PROGRAM, IT QUICKLY COULD BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US.
FLOOD MITIGATION AT THE HOUSTON GALVES AREA COUNCIL, UM, WE HAVE A BOARD COMMITTEE.
UM, BO OUR BOARD, IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT, IS ABOUT 37 MEMBERS FROM ACROSS THE REGION, ELECTED OFFICIALS.
UM, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, FOR EXAMPLE, SITS ON THAT, UM, FOR US.
AND, UM, UH, LETITIA PLUM COUNCIL MEMBER AS WELL TOO.
WE APPRECIATE THE PARTICIPATION.
WE'RE WORKING ON A REGIONAL PRIORITY LIST THAT'S NOT ONLY FOR THE FUNDING THAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE THROUGH GENERAL LAND OFFICE, BUT BEYOND TO REALLY LOOK AT A REGIONAL PRIORITY LIST FOR MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL PROJECTS THAT CAN TACKLE SOME OF THIS FLOODING ISSUE.
BECAUSE WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT THE FLOODING IS NOT CONTAINED WITHIN ANY SINGLE JURISDICTION, WHETHER IT'S A CITY OR COUNTY.
THE IMPACTS AND THE EFFECTS THAT CREATE THAT FLOODING ARE MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL.
SO A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT.
AND WE WELCOME OPPORTUNITIES TO ADD CITY OF HOUSTON PROJECTS TO THAT LIST.
AND THERE'S AN URGENT NEED IN COMMUNITIES OF ALL SIZES, AND THAT'S WHERE THAT REGIONAL DISCUSSION COMES INTO PLAY.
UH, LARGE CITIES LIKE HOUSTON, SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES, UH, THE FLOODING ISSUE IS GREAT, AND THE NEED IS GREAT ACROSS OUR REGION AS WELL.
NEXT SLIDE, OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE.
UM, AND THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO, TO CRAIG, AND THEN I'LL MAKE A REAPPEARANCE AT THE END.
UM, SO THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU TO ENGAGE WITH THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL.
UM, PLEASE, WE HAVE A ROBUST ENGAGEMENT FROM THE CITY OF HOUSTON AT THIS TIME.
WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE OUT THERE.
DID A QUICK REVIEW OF THE INFORMATION.
THERE ARE UP TO 6 66 APPOINTMENTS ACROSS 11 COMMITTEES AND WORK GROUPS IN OUR REGION.
JUST A FEW EXAMPLES ON THE TRANSPORTATION FRONT THROUGH TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL, WE HAVE OUR TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE, OUR BIKE PED SUBCOMMITTEE, OUR TRAFFIC SAFETY GROUP.
WE HAVE A REGIONAL FLOOD MANAGEMENT COUNCIL THAT LOOKS AT CITIES AND JURISDICTIONS SHARING SUCCESS STORIES AND OVERCOMING THEIR CHALLENGES.
WE HAVE THE GULF, GULF COAST WORKFORCE BOARD THAT I MENTIONED, UM, EARLIER AS WELL TOO.
THERE ARE SEATS ON THAT BOARD.
UM, AND THEN THE PARKS NATURAL AREAS AND NUMEROUS OTHERS ARE LISTED THERE FROM CRIMINAL JUSTICE, ASSAULT, WASTE MANAGEMENT.
SO SOME OF THOSE INTERSECT, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, SOME DON'T.
BUT WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE AWARE, UM, OF HOW YOU FIT IN TO OUR LARGE, UM, ORGANIZATION AND HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE.
AND WITH THAT, MR. CHAIR, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MR. RAYBORN, AND PERHAPS WE CAN DO QUESTIONS AT THE END, IF THAT WORKS FOR YOU.
AND THANK YOU MR. CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE.
I'M THE TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR AT HGAC.
AND SO IN THAT POSITION, I LEAD THE METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION.
UM, CAN WE GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? SO, UM, TODAY I'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, FIVE DIFFERENT, UH, FIVE DIFFERENT TOPICS.
ONE OF 'EM, JUST A COUPLE, ACTUALLY JUST GONNA BE VERY BRIEF.
UM, AND SO, UH, I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT A SAFETY TASK FORCE THAT THE HGAC IS FORMING.
I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN UPDATE THAT WE HAVE UNDERWAY, AND THE VISION SURVEY THAT WE JUST OPENED LAST WEEK, AND THE OUTREACH AND ACTIVITIES THAT WE'LL BE DOING IN RELATION TO THAT.
UH, AND, UH, BRIEFLY, I'LL JUST TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE RELATED TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT THAT, THAT CHUCK JUST COVERED.
UM, AND WITH THOSE, UH, I JUST DRAW PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO, UM, TWO THAT ARE OPEN RIGHT NOW.
FIRST IS WHAT, WHAT'S CALLED THE MULTIMODAL PROJECT DISCRETIONARY GRANT.
AND THAT'S AN INTERESTING GRANT, AND IT'S A PATTERN THAT WE EXPECT TO SEE MORE OF WITH, UH, WITH THE, UM, FUNDS AVAILABLE FROM THE BILL OR THE INFRASTRUCTURE LAW.
UH, AND SO THIS IS ONE THAT ACTUALLY COMBINES THREE DIFFERENT GRANTS INTO A SINGLE CALL.
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RANGES ALL THE WAY FROM WHAT THEY CALL MEGA PROJECTS, PROJECTS THAT ARE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS OR MORE, AND HOPEFULLY SERVE, UH, ENTIRE REGIONS OR MULTI REGION OR MULTI-STATE, UH, UH, PROJECTS.UH, INFRA GRANTS, WHICH IS A, A PROGRAM THAT'S BEEN AROUND FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, UM, UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES AND SO ON, BUT STILL IS, IS OUT THERE.
AND THEN, UM, RURAL PROJECTS, WHICH ARE A NEW GRANT OPPORTUNITY THAT'S SPECIFICALLY FOR, UM, AREAS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF WHAT'S CALLED AN URBANIZED AREA.
AND SO THERE ARE ACTUALLY A LOT OF PARTS OF OUR REGION THAT WOULD QUALIFY FOR THAT, UH, FOR THAT RURAL GRANT.
UM, AND THEN, UH, ANOTHER ONE THAT'S OUT NOW IS CALLED THE PORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
UH, THOSE APPLICATIONS ARE DUE, AND WE, WE'VE BEEN IN COMMUNICATION WITH, UH, THE PORTS OF OUR REGION, AND WE'LL BE, UH, WORKING ON LETTERS TO SUPPORT THEIR, UH, THEIR SUBMITTALS FOR THAT AS WELL.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, JUST, UH, ANOTHER ONE THAT WE, UH, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK OVER THE PAST WEEK ABOUT THIS ONE.
THE, THE FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT IS EXPECTED, UH, IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO, UM, AND IT'S CALLED THE SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL, UH, GRANT PROGRAM.
AND, UH, THE HGAC IS INITIATING A PROCESS WHERE WE WOULD LEAD A REGIONAL, UH, GRANT APPLICATION.
UM, WE'VE HEARD INFORMALLY FOR MONTHS THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE A NUMBER OF, UH, OF THESE NEW PROGRAMS WHERE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE U-S-D-O-T FOR THESE DISCRETIONARY GRANTS IS EXPECTING THE MPO TO LEAD THESE, UH, TO LEAD THESE APPLICATIONS.
UH, THAT WAS ACTUALLY REINFORCED FOR THIS SPECIFIC GRANT YESTERDAY AT THE TEXAS PLANNING CONFERENCE, UH, BEING HELD HERE, HERE IN HOUSTON.
UH, THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR SAFETY FROM FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION JUST EXPLICITLY SAID THAT THEY WILL, UM, THEY WOULD PREFER GRANTS TO GRANT APPLICATIONS TO COME FROM, UH, THE REGIONAL PLANNING BODIES, THE MPOS NPOS.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO, UH, COMPLY WITH.
UH, AND, AND THERE'LL BE A NUMBER OF OTHERS OF THESE AS, AS WE MOVE FORWARD OVER THE COURSE OF, UH, THE NEXT YEAR AS THEY ROLL OUT MORE AND MORE OF THESE, UH, GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
THEN FINALLY, UH, BEFORE I ROLL INTO MY MORE DETAILED, A COUPLE OF MORE DETAILED PRESENTATIONS, UH, I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT, UM, BIKE MONTH, UM, 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT'S YOUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BIKEWAY UPDATES IN THE CITY.
AND SO, UM, THE HGAC, THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL JUST APPROVED, JUST, JUST DECLARED MAY AS BIKE MONTH.
IT'S A REGULAR THING THAT WE DO EVERY YEAR, BUT IT IS WORTH NOTING.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE PROUD TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THAT ROLE FOR THE REGION.
WE'RE ALSO WORKING TO COORDINATE AND MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE BIKE ACTIVITIES EVERYWHERE IN THE REGION.
AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES, UH, HAPPENING HERE IN HOUSTON, INCLUDING THE HOUSTON BIKE SUMMIT LATER ON THIS MONTH.
SO, I'M GONNA TALK BRIEFLY NOW ABOUT THE SAFETY TASK FORCE.
SO, AS CHUCK NOTED, THE NUMBERS HAVE NOT BEEN GOOD FOR US.
THIS TABLE, UM, REALLY DOES, UH, SHOW THAT, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR SOME OF THE COLOR.
SOMETIMES THEY SHOW UP AND TRANSLATE WELL ON SCREEN, SOMETIMES THEY DON'T.
BUT, UH, WHAT THIS IS SHOWING IN THE GREEN BAR, THAT'S THE TREND LINE THAT WE WOULD BE FOLLOWING AS A REGION IF WE WERE FOLLOWING OUR REGIONS, NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME AS HOUSTON'S, BUT IT'S SIMILAR, JUST DIFFERENT TARGET DATES.
IF WE WERE FOLLOWING OUR REGION'S TREND LINE, UH, TO TRY TO REACH ZERO FATALITIES, UH, IN THE FUTURE, AND THAT WOULD BE FOR FATALITIES AT LEAST, WE WOULD HAVE AN ANNUAL REDUCTION OF ABOUT 21 FATALITIES A YEAR.
AND IN FACT, OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING IS AN ANNUAL INCREASE OF ABOUT 30 FATALITIES A YEAR.
AND SO THAT'S A TREND THAT WE NEED TO, THAT WE NEED TO TRY TO REVERSE.
AND YOU CAN SEE HOW THAT BASIC TREND HOLDS THROUGH ACROSS ALL OF THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT WE LOOK AT, UH, FOR TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.
SO ONE THING THAT THIS, UH, GROUP WILL DO IS ACTUALLY PUT TOGETHER AN ACTION PLAN TO TRY TO HELP US START ACHIEVING SOME OF THESE, UH, KINDS OF OUTCOMES.
SO THE, THE GOALS OF THIS GROUP ARE GONNA BE TO EXAMINE, UH, THE PROBLEMS AND THE SOLUTIONS THAT ARE LIKELY TO WORK.
THERE'S A LOT OF EFFORT THAT'S BEEN GOING INTO, UH, AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
I CAN ATTEST TO THIS BECAUSE 15 YEARS AGO, I WAS ONE OF THE LEAD AUTHORS FOR THE BICYCLE COUNTERMEASURES THAT WORK, UH, PUBLICATION.
UH, THAT'S, THAT'S A CRITICAL KIND OF APPROACH THAT THEY DO, WHERE THEY TRY TO REALLY DEFINE WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE EFFECTIVE.
AND SO, UH, WE HOPE TO, WE HOPE TO LOOK MORE AT, UH, A LOT OF THOSE KINDS OF SOLUTIONS.
AND THEN WE WANNA IDENTIFY THIS NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE, UH, APPROACH TO TRA TRANSPORTATION SAFETY, TO, YOU KNOW, TO ACTUALLY ACHIEVE THOSE OUTCOMES.
AND SO THE SPECIFIC TOPICS THEY'LL BE LOOKING AT ARE THESE PERFORMANCE MEASURES, UH, THAT I JUST, THAT I JUST SHOWED IN THAT PREVIOUS SLIDE.
AND THEN HOW TO GO ABOUT SETTING TARGETS, WHETHER WE WANNA SET MORE AGGRESSIVE TARGETS, WHETHER THEY, MAYBE WE NEED TO VARY THEM BASED ON PRIORITIES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF OUTCOMES, WHICH IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO THE NEXT, UH, TOPIC THAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS THE, THE SAFE SYSTEMS APPROACH.
UM, AGAIN, I HEARD A LOT ABOUT THIS YESTERDAY FROM THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION'S ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR SAFETY, UH, COMING TO HOUSTON, COMING TO TEXAS, BASICALLY TO TELL ALL OF US THAT THAT'S WHAT THEY EXPECT
[00:35:01]
US TO FOLLOW.AND WE ARE PLANNING ON DOING THAT, UH, ALREADY.
BUT THE, ONE OF THE PRIMARY CHANGES FROM THE SAFE SYSTEMS APPROACH COMPARED TO, UM, CURRENT PRACTICES IS THAT THE SAFE SYSTEMS APPROACH REALLY DOES TRY TO FOCUS ON SERIOUS INJURIES AND FATALITIES AS OPPOSED TO AVOIDING ALL CRASHES.
UM, THEY'VE MADE A CONSCIOUS, UH, UH, EFFORT TO, TO TRY TO, TO TRY TO LOOK AT THAT.
IT'S BEEN USED IN EUROPE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS WITH REMARKABLE SUCCESS IN SOME COUNTRIES.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO DO THAT.
AND SO THAT'LL LEAD US TO HOPEFULLY SOME NEW AND AGGRESSIVE STRATEGIES AND DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THAT POTENTIAL FOR DEDICATED TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM FUNDING.
SO I'M GONNA TIE THIS BACK TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT, AND SAY THAT AS A REGION, WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE ABOUT 30% MORE OF WHAT'S CALLED THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK RAMP PROGRAM FUNDS.
THAT 30% MORE IS GONNA BE SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE THERE ARE APPROPRIATIONS RULES AND STUFF, BUT IT'S GONNA BE SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 25 TO $30 MILLION A YEAR.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M GONNA BE PROPOSING TO THE SAFETY TASK FORCE IS THAT WE DEDICATE THAT ENTIRE ADDITIONALITY TO SAFETY MITIGATION, TO TRYING TO ACHIEVE SAFETY OUTCOMES.
TIE IT, WE MAKE IT PERFORMANCE BASED SO THAT WHEN WE START ACHIEVING THOSE SAFETY, UH, OUTCOMES AND WE GET THE TREND MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THEN WE CAN START REPURPOSING AND PUTTING A LOT MORE OF THOSE FUNDS, UH, INTO OTHER TYPES OF ACTIVITIES, UH, TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT TYPE ACTIVITIES AND MAINTENANCE AND ACTIVITIES LIKE THAT.
UH, AND THEN, UH, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL JUST COVER OTHER TOPICS, UH, AS NEEDED.
UH, NEXT, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO, UM, SORRY FOR THE BIT OF FORMATTED ISSUE WITH THIS SLIDE, BUT I'LL TALK JUST BRIEFLY ABOUT THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN UPDATE.
UH, SO IT'S CALLED RTP 2020 OR 2045.
UM, IT'S A 20 YEAR PLAN THAT WE'RE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE AS A REGION.
UH, THIS TIME AROUND, WE ARE REALLY PUTTING A LOT OF EFFORT UPFRONT INTO, UM, GOING OUT, TALKING TO THE, TO THE REGION AS A WHOLE, TO THE, TO THE COMMUNITIES AROUND THE REGION, AND TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT THEIR VISION FOR THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS.
SO WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEIR VALUES ARE, WHAT THEIR EXPECTATIONS ARE, WHAT KIND OF TRADE-OFFS THEY HAVE, UH, OR PREFERENCES THEY HAVE FOR DIFFERENT TRADE OFFS.
AND SO WE HAVE ON THE SLIDE HERE, AND I ACTUALLY HAVE SOME CARDS.
I CAN, I'LL FORCE EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AT LEAST TO TAKE ONE, UM, THAT, UH, THAT HAVE A QUICK CODE, QUICK LINK TO THIS SURVEY.
UM, IT'S, IT'S A QUICK SURVEY TO TAKE.
IT TAKES ABOUT SIX, SEVEN MINUTES.
UM, AND IT WILL TELL US A LOT, AND BEING ABLE TO FRAME FOR OUR TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL, UH, WHAT THE PUBLIC IS TELLING US, UH, THEY NEED FROM THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
IN ADDITION TO THIS SURVEY, WE'RE DOING, UH, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS, PUBLIC LISTENING MEETINGS.
THE FIRST ONE OF THOSE, WE'RE DOING ONE IN EVERY COUNTY.
UH, AND THEN WE'RE DOING ONE VIRTUAL, UH, MEETING.
THE, THE, UH, THE FIRST ONE OF THOSE IS TONIGHT, ACTUALLY IN FORT BEND COUNTY AT, AT SUGARLAND CITY HALL.
UM, AND WE WILL BE, UH, GOING AROUND THE REGION EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS.
WE'LL HAVE, WE'LL HAVE A MEETING, I THINK THE HARRIS COUNTY MEETING IS, UH, I WANNA SAY MAY 26TH.
UH, AND THEN VIRTUAL MEETING, UM, WILL BE THE TUESDAY OR THE THURSDAY, RIGHT AFTER THAT.
UH, ANOTHER THING THAT WE'LL BE DOING IS ONCE WE'VE RECEIVED THIS VISION, WE'RE NOT, OR THIS INFORMATION, WE'RE NOT JUST GOING TO SORT OF HAVE STAFF SIT IN A ROOM AND FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS AND SAY, OKAY, THIS IS WHAT YOU TOLD US, WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA, WELL, OKAY, WE ARE GONNA DO THAT, BUT THEN WE'RE GONNA TURN AROUND AND WE'RE GONNA GO, DID WE GET IT RIGHT? UM, SO WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF OUTREACH IN OCTOBER, UH, WHERE WE TAKE OUT, WE TAKE BACK OUT TO THE SAME PEOPLE THAT WE TALKED TO, AND HOPEFULLY MORE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL SHOW THEM WHAT WE'VE COME UP WITH AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, VALIDATE IT, BASICALLY.
AND THEN WE'LL MOVE INTO ACTUAL, ACTUAL PREPARATION OF THE DOCUMENT AND, UH, THE, THE MORE TRADITIONAL STEPS OF THE PROCESS, UH, WHERE WE PUT TOGETHER THE, THE DOCUMENT.
AND THEN WE HAVE ANOTHER PUBLIC OUTREACH ENGAGEMENT IN EARLY SPRING, UH, BEFORE WE TAKE THE FINAL PLAN TO THE, UH, TO THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL FOR THEIR ACTION, UH, UH, IN APRIL.
SO, ANOTHER TOPIC I WANNA TALK ABOUT, AGAIN, RELATED TO INFRASTRUCTURE, INVESTMENT JOBS ACT, BECAUSE THAT BRINGS A LOT OF MONEY TO THE REGION, IS OUR PROJECT SELECTION AND PROGRAMMING PROCESS, WHICH IS THE WAY IN WHICH, UH, THE MPO, THE METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION, THE HGAC, THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL DISTRIBUTE THAT MONEY.
UH, AND SO IN THE PAST, WE'VE REFERRED TO THIS AS THE CALL FOR PROJECTS, SUBTLE CHANGE.
WE'RE DOING THIS TIME, BUT I'M REFERRING TO IT AS THE PROJECT SELECTION AND PROGRAMMING PROCESS.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS THAT CALL FOR PROJECTS MAKES IT SOUND LIKE IT'S MUCH MORE ABOUT JUST GETTING THE MONEY OUT.
AND AS AN MPO, WE ARE INCREASINGLY REQUIRED TO LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE MONEY AND WHAT ARE WE ACHIEVING WITH THE MONEY.
AND SO BY CALL, BY JUST CHANGING THAT, THAT NAME A LITTLE BIT, UM, WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO, UH, PUT MORE OF A, OF AN EMPHASIS ON WHAT THE, UH, WHAT THE, UM, WHAT THE
[00:40:01]
OUTCOMES ARE GONNA BE FROM THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE MAKE.I'M TRYING TO GET A SCREEN, I, I'VE GOT A GLARE ON THE SCREEN HERE, SO, OKAY.
SO, UM, UH, AMONG THE CHANGES THAT WE'RE DOING TO UPDATE THIS PROCESS, AND THEN CHUCK IS GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT WHEN I'M THROUGH AT THIS SLIDE, HE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT SOME OF THE SPECIFICS ARE TO THE, UM, SORRY, I'VE GOT A GLARE ON THE SCREEN RIGHT HERE, SO I JUST HAVE TO THAT'S FINE.
SO, UM, THE PREVIOUS CALL FOR PROJECTS PROCESS THAT WE FOLLOWED, UM, WAS, UH, UPDATED.
WE, WE WOULD DO A CALL FOR PROJECTS EVERY THREE YEARS.
IT DIDN'T ALIGN WITH ANY OF THE REQUIRED PLANNING DOCUMENTS THAT WE DO.
AND IT WOULD CREATE THESE WEIRD SITUATIONS, KIND OF WHERE WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, WHERE THERE'S AN EXPECTATION THAT WE WOULD DO THIS CALL FOR PROJECTS, AND THIS WOULD BE THE YEAR THAT WE'RE DOING IT.
BUT, UM, IT'S NOT A YEAR WHERE WE CREATE A NEW TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM CALLED TIP OR, UH, A NEW REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
SO WE'D BE DOING, WE'D BE DOING THE PROJECT SELECTION BEFORE WE ARE DOING THE, UM, THE PRIORITIZATION BEFORE WE'RE IDENTIFYING WHAT, WHAT IT IS WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE WITH THESE PROJECTS.
AND SO WE'D KIND OF BE OUTTA SEQUENCE THERE.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING ON CHANGING THAT.
UM, SO WE'RE WORKING ON CHANGING THAT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE GONNA TIE THIS PROCESS MORE TO THE TIP AND TO THE RTP DEVELOPMENT, UM, OUR APPLICATION PROCESS.
WE'RE EXPECTING THAT THAT'S GONNA CHANGE.
IN THE PAST, IT WAS ALL, ALL THE PROJECTS WERE SUBMITTED AT ONE TIME.
AND, UH, THIS TIME WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, UM, SOLICITING APPLICATIONS BASED ON INVESTMENT CATEGORIES.
AND WE'RE LOOKING AT INVESTMENT CATEGORIES, UH, PROBABLY FOUR OR FIVE INVESTMENT CATEGORIES RANGING FROM ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION, SO PED BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE TO, UH, UH, CONGESTION MANAGEMENT, UH, TO MAINTENANCE.
UM, SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF CATEGORIES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, AND, AND WE'RE GONNA TRY TO TIE THEM THAT WAY, UH, THROUGH THE CALL FOR PROJECTS THIS TIME, OR THE, THE PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS, UH, PROJECT READINESS, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR OUR REGION.
UM, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW AS A REGION, UM, WE TYPICALLY HAVE 50 TO $75 MILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS EVERY YEAR THAT DON'T MEET THE LETTING SCHEDULE.
AND SO WE HAVE TO CARRY THOSE OVER TO A FUTURE YEAR.
UM, AND, AND ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS THAT WE, WE PUT PROJECTS INTO OUR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR PARTICULAR YEARS WITHOUT REALLY ASSESSING WHETHER THOSE PROJECTS ARE LIKELY TO, TO MAKE IT AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
AND THIS TIME AROUND, WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA START FIXING THAT.
AND SO, UH, PROJECT READINESS WILL BE A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT PROJECTS THAT ARE, ARE SUGGESTED BY LOCAL PROJECT SPONSORS ACROSS THE REGION AND ASSESSING, IS THIS ACTUALLY GONNA BE ABLE TO HAPPEN IN TWO YEARS, OR IS IT MORE LIKE IT'S FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AND WE'LL GET IT IN THE RIGHT YEAR.
AND IT'S GONNA, IT'S GONNA BE A, A PROCESS TO GO THROUGH TO MAKE THIS WORK, BUT WE'LL GET, WE'LL GET IT THERE.
UM, UH, SELECTION AND RANKING CRITERIA, UH, CHUCK WILL TALK A LOT ABOUT THESE IN, IN A, IN A MINUTE, A LITTLE BIT.
HE'S GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT IN A MINUTE.
UM, BUT, UH, IN THE PAST WE'VE LOOKED AT A COMBINATION OF PLANNING FACTORS AND, UH, BENEFIT COST ANALYSIS, BUT THERE WAS REALLY LIMITED VARIATION IN THOSE PLANNING FACTORS.
AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, A PROJECT THAT ADDRESSED, UH, SAY AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE, UM, WOULD GET ALL OF THE POINTS.
UM, AND THIS TIME AROUND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS MAKING THAT SCALABLE SO THAT A PROJECT, UH, WOULD GET POINTS BASED ON HOW WELL IT TIES TO, UM, THE OUTCOMES THAT BETTER ALIGN WITH WHAT SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE THAT CHUCK WILL BE COVERING, AS WELL AS OUR REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN AND, AND FEDERAL, UH, RULES AS WELL.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT WE'RE DOING TOO IS WE'RE MAKING MORE OF THE SCORING THIS TIME AROUND QUALITATIVE.
SO THERE'LL BE A LOT MORE ASSESSMENT RATHER THAN JUST NUMERICAL SCORING.
UH, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE HEARD QUITE A BIT ABOUT AS WE'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH, UH, WORKING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S ANOTHER FACTOR THERE.
AND THEN THE AVAILABLE FUNDING IN THE PAST, WE'VE JUST BASICALLY TAKEN ALL OF THE MONEY THAT'S ON THE TABLE, UH, FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS, THAT'S UNPROGRAMMED AT THAT POINT IN TIME AND SAY, OKAY, THAT'S ALL AVAILABLE FOR THIS CALL FOR PROJECTS.
AND SO WE END UP WITH THIS REALLY DIFFICULT PROCESS OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO US AS A REGION.
AND SO THIS TIME AROUND, WE'RE GONNA, UM, WE'RE GONNA SET FUNDING LEVELS.
WE'LL, WE'LL BE ASKING THE, THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL TO SET FUNDING LEVELS AND THEN FOCUS, UH, THOSE FUNDING LEVELS ON INVESTMENT CATEGORIES, UM, AND THEN USE THAT UNPROGRAMMED BALANCE AS THE CAP, ESSENTIALLY, RATHER THAN AS THE, AS THE, UH, UH, AS THE FLOOR.
UM, AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE MAIN CHANGES WE'LL BE DOING THIS TIME AROUND.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO CHUCK TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THOSE SCORING CRITERIA THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
MR. CHAIR, IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, I'M GONNA GO THROUGH THE NEXT FEW SLIDES, UH, RATHER QUICKLY GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF THEM.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WANTED TO THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
YOU AND I WORKED TOGETHER CLOSELY A FEW YEARS NOW, IT'S BEEN ON THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL TO START PUTTING THE POLICY DISCUSSION BACK IN THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL
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HEADER.AND PART OF THAT CONVERSATION INCLUDED GIVING SOME GUIDANCE TO THE COMMITTEES THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, AND OTHERS WHO DEVELOP THE SCORING CRITERIA FOR THESE MASSIVE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT INVESTMENTS.
AND SO WE HAD A WORK GROUP COME TOGETHER FROM THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS? WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES? AND WHAT ARE SOME POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAN HELP INFORM THE SCORING CRITERIA, GET BEYOND, UM, KIND OF A ROUTINE APPROACH OF LOOKING AT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS AND VARIETY OF OTHER THINGS, BUT WHAT ARE WE REALLY TRYING TO ACHIEVE, UM, ACROSS THE REGION WITH REGARDS TO TRANSPORTATION? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
I'LL SPEND A LITTLE BIT OF TIME ON THE WORK GROUP GOALS AND THEN GO THROUGH THE OTHERS RATHER QUICKLY.
IS TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE LEVEL OF WORK THAT'S GONE ON AND CONTINUES TO HAPPEN ON THIS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, FOUR MAJOR GOALS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, MAKE SURE THAT THAT SCORING CRITERIA ALIGNS WITH WHAT'S CALLED THE LONG RANGE PLAN THAT CRAIG ALLUDED TO.
WE'RE HAVING PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NOW.
WE DON'T WANT TO DISCONNECT OUR SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS WITH THAT LONG TERM VISION.
SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT WAS MAKING SURE THAT THE CRITERIA ALIGNED WITH PUBLIC COMMENTS RECEIVED ON THAT LONG RANGE PLAN THROUGH THE PROCESSES THAT HAPPEN.
AND WE'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THIS IN OUR, IN THE WORK THAT WE DO, I THINK SOMETIMES WAS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIODS COMPRESS VERY CLOSELY TO GETTING FINAL PLANS AND CRITERIA DONE.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE REALLY TOOK THAT WORK, UM, INTO CONSIDERATION THE EFFORT MADE BY THE PUBLIC TO GIVE US COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK AS TO WHAT THEY THINK IS IMPORTANT, FOCUSING ON RESILIENCY.
I TALKED ABOUT HURRICANES AND, AND FLOODING, UM, EARLIER AS WELL TOO.
AND THEN REALLY ONE OF THE GOALS IS TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDING THAT COMES TO OUR REGION AS OPPOSED TO OTHER, UM, PARTS OF THE STATE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET AT LEAST OUR FAIR SHARE.
IF NOT, IF NOT, A LITTLE MORE ON THAT.
SO, OUT THOSE FOUR GOALS CAME A SERIES OF PRIORITIES.
I'M GLAD THAT THERE'S ONLY SEVEN.
'CAUSE IF YOU GET BEYOND SEVEN PRIORITIES, YOU KIND OF WONDER IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE PRIORITIES, UM, AT THAT POINT, IF THE LIST GETS TOO LONG.
BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THESE RESONATE WITH THINGS THAT CRAIG AND I HAVE ALREADY TOUCHED ON, UM, IN HERE.
CERTAINLY REDUCING, UH, FATALITIES AND IMPROVING SAFETY.
LOOKING AT SOME PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO INCREASE THE FUNDING AND THE VIBRANCY OF SOME OF THOSE, UM, PROJECTS THAT ARE IN THERE.
SO I WAS LIKE, HERE ARE SOME PRIORITIES TO CONSIDER.
SO WHEN ALL THE APPLICATIONS COME IN, WE CAN WORK TO HAVE THOSE PROJECTS THAT CAPTURE THESE CONSIDERATIONS, RISE TO THE TOP AND MAKE SURE THAT OUR LIMITED RESOURCES, 'CAUSE THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH FOR EVERYTHING THAT'S PROPOSED OR NEEDED, CAN, CAN BE PUT TO GOOD WORK.
AND THEN JUST THE, UH, LAST, UH, THREE WORK GROUP PRIORITIES ON HERE.
EMPHASIS ON MULTIMODAL, WHICH MEANS MORE THAN JUST CAR, MORE THAN JUST BUS, MORE THAN JUST WALKING OR BIKING.
BUT ALL OF THOSE, UM, AND BEYOND IN THE FUTURE, UH, FULLY CONSIDERED.
NOW, I'M NOT GONNA WALK YOU THROUGH ALL THE POLICIES, BUT YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A TREND.
YOU HAVE A SMALL NUMBER OF GOALS, LITTLE LARGER NUMBER OF PRIORITIES, AND THEN ALL THESE POLICIES THAT COME IN, MR. CHAIR, THIS IS AVAILABLE TO THE COMMITTEE AND GROUP TO READ IN DETAIL, BUT JUST WANNA GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT'S GONE INTO THIS POLICY RECOMMENDATION TO THE COMMITTEES ARE DEVELOPING THE SCORING, SCORING CRITERIA THAT GREG MENTIONED.
I'LL LET THIS SIT HERE FOR A SECOND.
AND NOW WE'RE DOWN TO THE THANK YOU.
AND BEFORE WE GET TO THE THANK YOU, UM, WANT TO ALSO LET YOU KNOW, WE FORMED A NEW DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH GROUP AT THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL BRAND NEW, BRINGING TOGETHER THE POWER OF OUR AGENCY AND ALL THE FORECASTING WE DO FOR POPULATION GROWTH AND JOBS, GROWTH, TRANSPORTATION, UH, SYSTEMS NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, ALL THIS INFORMATION IS GONNA BE PUT TOGETHER IN ONE LARGE GROUP, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT TO OUR MEMBERS, INCLUDING CITY OF HOUSTON, UM, UPON REQUEST.
AND I WOULD JUST ASK THAT WE ALL KEEP IN MIND AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY THAT KIND OF TIES INTO THE FIRST PRESENTATION THAT YOU'VE HAD TODAY.
AND THAT IS MAKING SURE THAT WHATEVER WE DECIDE TO INVEST IN AND PRIORITIZE, THAT WE REALLY LOOK TO MAKE SURE WE GET FULL IMPACT FROM EVERYONE, WHETHER IT'S INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
I MADE THE JOKE ABOUT MY DAD AND HIS BRIDGE EARLIER, SENIOR CITIZENS.
WE HAVE THIS HUGE GROWTH IN SENIOR CITIZEN POPULATION THAT'S GONNA AFFECT EVERYTHING FROM THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF GARBAGE CANS THAT WE PUT OUT ON THE CURB TO A LOT OF OTHER THINGS IN THE COMMUNITY.
THOSE ARE ALL INVESTMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE NOW.
WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT IN THE FUTURE.
AND LASTLY, WE REALLY NEED TO FIND A WAY, ALL OF US, TO BETTER ENGAGE YOUTH.
WE'RE DOING PLANS TO 2045 AND 2050.
ARE WE TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO ARE GONNA BE DRIVING IN 2045 AND 2050? SO FINDING A WAY TO KEEP THAT IN FRONT OF OUR MINDS, I THINK IS A GOOD WAY TO GO.
AND WITH THAT, MR. CHAIR, WE'LL WRAP UP AND TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH BOTH FOR THE PRESENTATION
[00:50:01]
AS WELL AS YOUR SUMMARY OF THE PRIORITIES THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON.I THINK SO, UH, VIGOROUSLY AT THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL, AND, UH, YOUR THREE THEMES I JUST WILL MENTION BEFORE GOING TO COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL, UH, REALLY TOUCH ON THOSE SALIENT TOPICS.
NOT ONLY, UH, THE FIRST PRESENTATION TODAY FROM DIRECTOR CASTRES ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY.
BUT THE THEME YESTERDAY THAT WE KICKED OFF THE CONFERENCE THAT'S HERE LOCALLY WITH TDOT, UH, REGARDING SAFETY AND VISION ZERO, AND HOW APPROPRIATELY, UH, FOR OUR FIRST COUNCIL MEMBER IN THE QUEUE, COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS, YOUR FINAL POINT THERE ABOUT YOUTH, 'CAUSE THAT IS THE COMMITTEE SHEET CHAIRS, AND WITH THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS, WE'LL TURN TO YOUR QUESTION.
I I HAVE A, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
PUT ME BACK IN THE QUEUE IF YOU NEED TO.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YES, WE, THERE'S A BIG ECHO.
UM, AND SOME OF THE THINGS I'M ASKING, UM, OTHERS MAY ALREADY KNOW, BUT I JUST, I WANNA CLARIFY MY UNDERSTANDING.
SO, UM, UM, WHEN, WHEN CHUCK, YOU WERE FIRST TALKING ABOUT THE, THE, UM, THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT, UM, I HAD SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
I'M REALLY GLAD TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT.
YOU THOUGHT THAT, UM, AT GRADE RAIL COSTING
IT'S NOT JUST CARS, IT'S PEOPLE THAT ARE, ARE WALKING.
IT'S CHILDREN THAT SCHOOLS, IT'S PEOPLE ON BIKES, THE PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS THAT THEY ALL
SO, UM, I HOPE THAT ALSO HELP US, BUT I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, IF I COULD INTERRUPT YOU'RE COM, YOU'RE COMING IN AND OUT A LITTLE BIT THERE.
PERHAPS I'LL TAKE MY BEST STAB AT IT THOUGH.
I THINK, I THINK WE HEARD MOST OF IT, BUT, UH, MAYBE IN YOUR FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, WE CAN, UH, YEAH, CHECK YOUR MIC THERE.
COUNCIL MAR CISNEROS, GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU AND, AND SEE YOU.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I BICYCLE INTO WORK, THERE'S A ACCURATE CROSSING, AND MAN, I TRY TO HIT THAT TIMING JUST RIGHT SO I DON'T GET HELD UP.
IT'S CARS, BIKES, PEOPLE WALKING, PEOPLE IN, IN, UH, IN, IN ELECTRIC AND ALSO MANUALLY POWERED, UH, WHEELCHAIRS.
WE SEE ALL OF IT, UM, YOU KNOW, HELD UP BY A LOT OF THE AT GRADE CROSSINGS, UM, THAT ARE THERE.
SO PLEASE, REST ASSURED, WE THINK OF ALL THE MODES AND ALL THE INTERRUPTIONS, UM, AND DISRUPTIONS THAT COME WITH THAT IN SOME OF OUR COMMUNITIES, IT'S ACTUALLY AFFECTING THEIR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE BUSINESSES DON'T WANNA LOCATE THERE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE WORKERS.
AND THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO THAT BUSINESS MIGHT HAVE TO SPEND HALF AN HOUR OR 45 MINUTES OR MORE STUCK AT A RAIL CROSSING AND DECIDE TO GO, YOU KNOW, SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND SO IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO WANT TO FOCUS ON.
UM, AND, AND IF I, I'M GONNA TRY AND TAKE A STAB AT THE PRIORITY COMMENT BECAUSE I, I WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE ALL OF IT OUT, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE OUR, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PRIORITIES, ARE WE GOING TO CONSIDER PRIORITIES WITHIN, SAY, THE BOUNDARIES OF A JURISDICTION LIKE HOUSTON? OR ARE THEY BROADER REGIONAL PRIORITIES, OR, OR BOTH? IS THAT, IS THAT KINDA WHAT I MADE OUT ON THAT? SO YES, YES.
I DIDN'T KNOW, AS YOU TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE THE REGIONAL FOCUS.
YOU KNOW, HOW HOW DO WE, HOW DOES OUR ISSUES OF OF THESE PROBLEMS FIT INTO THAT? YEAH.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S, THAT'S THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE.
WE HAVE NOT, UM, FINALIZED OR EVEN FIRMED UP TO BE HONEST, HOW, HOW WE WOULD ESTABLISH OUR PRIORITIES.
BUT WE'D HAVE TO CONSIDER CERTAINLY WITHIN, WITHIN HOUSTON, BUT ALSO CONSIDERATION OF OTHER AREAS THAT CONNECT INTO HOUSTON AND ALSO HAVE, UM, IMPORTANT FACTORS, WHETHER IT'S SAFETY OR SOME OF THAT ECONOMIC DISRUPTION, YOU KNOW, THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
AND WHAT I WOULD HOPE IS THAT WE WOULD END UP WITH A, WITH A REGIONAL PACKAGE THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE ANYBODY OUT, BUT ALSO WOULDN'T DILUTE WHAT FUNDING MIGHT BE AVAILABLE SO MUCH THAT IT CAN'T TAKE CARE OF ANYTHING.
SO WE WANT TO ENGAGE, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH YOU CERTAINLY AND THROUGH THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL ON, ON WHAT YOU THINK PRIORITIES, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, NEED TO BE, UM, ON THAT.
BUT WE HAVEN'T DETERMINED THAT.
BUT I DO HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
UM, THAT'S THE TRICKY PART OF REGIONAL WORK, TO BE HONEST, IS, UH, FINDING A WAY TO LOOK AT REGIONAL NEEDS, UM, AND THEN BALANCING THOSE LOCALIZED NEEDS WITHIN THEIR, YOU KNOW, AS WELL TOO.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.
I THINK THAT WAS A GOOD STAB AT IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS, I KNOW YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
CAN WE PUT YOU BACK IN THE QUEUE? ABSOLUTELY.
WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER AMY PECK.
[00:55:01]
AND SIMILAR TO COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS, I WAS GOING TO ASK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE, HOW HOUSTON FITS INTO THE PRESENTATION YOU JUST GAVE.UM, I THINK THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, OF COURSE, THE FLOODING MITIGATION MONEY THAT WE'RE BASICALLY GETTING ALMOST NOTHING FROM, UM, I THINK THE 2% OF THE $488 MILLION.
SO, UM, I, I THINK YOU KIND OF ANSWERED THAT QUESTION WITH COUNCIL MEMBER CI NURSE'S QUESTION.
UM, BUT I GUESS, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT, UM, FLOODING MITIGATION MONEY AND IF THERE ARE ANY UPDATES TO SURE.
SO, UM, SO JUST TO EVERYONE KNOW THAT, THAT THE DECISION THROUGH THE COMMITTEE THAT CAME THROUGH, THAT WAS ROBUSTLY DISCUSSED AND, AND DEBATED THE, THE, UH, LEAVING OUT OF, OF HOUSTON WITHIN THE PORTIONS THERE WITHIN HARRIS COUNTY, UH, AND THE SUSAN HARRIS COUNTY WAS DONE UNDER THE HOPE THAT PART OF THE 750 MILLION THAT COMES TO HARRIS COUNTY WOULD BE USED WITHIN THOSE CITIES.
AND THERE IS A MECHANISM TO TAKE SOME OF THE UNALLOCATED FUNDING AND, AND GET THAT BACK IN.
UM, THERE WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UM, UPDATES FROM THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE ON, ON THE, THE FINAL REVIEW OF THAT ALLOCATION.
UM, BUT THAT'S STILL THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE.
IT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED AND WE'RE WAITING TO GET WEIGHING TO GET FEEDBACK ON THAT.
SO DOES THAT HELP WITH YOUR QUESTION A BIT, OR IS THAT YES, THANK YOU.
THAT, THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTION.
I GUESS JUST MORE OF A COMMENT, I'D STILL WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THAT MONEY.
UM, I MEAN, I SPOKE AT THAT HA MEETING, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THAT MONEY COME TO HOUSTON BECAUSE THE MONEY THAT'S COMING TO HARRIS COUNTY PROBABLY IS NOT GOING TO BE SPENT IN MY DISTRICT.
AND SO, UM, WE NEED MORE OF THAT FLOODING MITIGATION MONEY.
AND I DEFINITELY HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
SO, UM, AND I THINK THAT THAT MAYBE TIES INTO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NOW VERSUS WITH THE RAIL CROSSINGS VERSUS THE FLOODING.
THE, THE TWO, THE, THE TWO POTS OF MONEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY HELP THE REGIONAL DISCUSSION, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
AND SO IF WE CAN THINK ABOUT THE ACCURATE CROSSINGS, PERHAPS AS A REGIONAL, A REGIONAL EFFORT THAT INCLUDES EVERYBODY, THEN I THINK THAT COULD BE BETTER FOR US RATHER THAN HAVE A SEPARATION AND THEN HAVE TWO THINGS GO FOR CONSIDERATION OF FUNDING, AND MAYBE NOT THE ONE OF THEM FULLY COMPETE, IS THAT, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE AS INCLUSIVE, UM, AS, AS WE CAN BE WITH THAT.
EXCELLENT QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND I THINK TO YOUR POINT EARLIER, CHUCK, ABOUT, UH, NOT ONLY ARE WE INTERESTED IN IIJA MONEY YEAH.
AND, UH, MONIES COMING FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT, UM, TO YOUR POINT, COUNCIL MEMBER, THE, THE POTENTIAL FOR THE NEWLY RESURRECTED EARMARKS, UH, IN QUOTES PROGRAM, UH, IS PART OF THE DISCUSSION THAT WAS, UH, VERY MUCH IN THE DIALOGUE LAST WEEK WHEN I WAS IN WASHINGTON DC WITH MEMBERS OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION.
SO LOTS OF WAYS TO GO BEYOND YEAH.
THOSE GRANT MONIES THAT CHUCK MENTIONED IN HIS PRESENTATION IN WAYS IN WHICH ALL OF OUR COUNCIL DISTRICTS, EVERY SQUARE INCH OF HOUSTON, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S IN, UH, COVERED BY ANY, UH, FORME PROGRAMS, WE HAVE TO ALL KEEP THAT IN MIND AND KEEP AFTER IT.
FINDING A WAY TO GET BEYOND THAT, CHASING THE MONEY THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER AND KIND OF HAVE THE CONVERSATION AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN SO WHEN THE MONEY COMES, WHEREVER IT COMES FROM, WE CAN FEED IT INTO THE PRIORITIES, I THINK WOULD BE HELPFUL TO NOT HAVE SITUATIONS LIKE YOU JUST MENTIONED EARLIER, WITH THE, WITH THE MITIGATION FUNDING, YOU KNOW, ARISE.
WELL, UH, WE HAVE THE FOLLOW UP QUESTION, UH, FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS.
UM, UM, AND THIS IS A QUESTION FOR CRAIG RAYBURN, UH, WHEN YOU WERE, UM, GOING OVER THE SLIDE ABOUT THE SAFETY TASK FORCE NEEDED AND THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN TARGETS AND TRENDS, THAT THAT WAS ALARMING LOOKING AT THESE FIGURES, AND, AND I, I FEEL LIKE YOU WENT OVER 'EM TOO FAST.
I WAS, IN FACT, I GOT STUCK ON THIS PAGE AS YOU WENT ON BECAUSE I WAS REALLY TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, GRAPPLE WITH, WITH, WITH HOW, HOW BAD THESE NUMBERS ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE SO BADLY GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION THEN THAT THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE.
THERE ARE MORE FATALITIES, THERE ARE MORE SERIOUS INJURIES.
UM, IS THERE ANY MORE THAT YOU CAN SAY ABOUT THIS OR, I MEAN, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S, IT'S OVER THE, THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
IS THAT, IS THAT CORRECT? UM, FROM FIVE YEARS AGO TO PRESIDENT, IS THAT, IS THAT ACCURATE? RIGHT.
AND THE, THE, THE NUMBERS IN THAT TABLE DO REPRESENT THE FIVE YEAR AVERAGES FOR THOSE, FOR THOSE PERFORMANCE MEASURES? I, UM, I WOULD, UM, I, I WOULD ADD I THINK THAT WE SAW A REAL UPTICK THOUGH, IN DURING THE, SINCE THE COVID PANDEMIC, IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S WHEN THINGS GOT EVEN WORSE.
DURING ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE TRENDS THAT, UH, THAT'S REALLY BEEN NOTED OVER THE PAST, UH, TWO YEARS REALLY SINCE COVID, IS THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CRASHES HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN, THE NUMBER OF FATAL AND SERIOUS INJURY CRASHES HAVE BEEN GOING UP.
UM, AND SO OUR, OUR REGION SAW THAT AS WELL AS CHUCK.
YOU KNOW, AS CHUCK NOTED, THE, UH, THE AVERAGE FOR OUR REGION WAS SITTING AROUND 670, AND IT WOULD, IT WOULD GO UP AND DOWN, UM,
[01:00:01]
UH, BASED ON VARIOUS CONDITIONS.AND SO A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE.
UH, WHAT THAT DOES TO THE NUMBERS THAT WE SAW THERE.
IF YOU JUST FIGURE OUT HOW THAT IMPACTS A FIVE YEAR AVERAGE, THAT WOULD MAKE IT, INSTEAD OF, INSTEAD OF, UH, HAVING AN ADDITIONAL 30 FATALITIES A YEAR, IT WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL 20 FATALITIES A YEAR.
UM, AND THAT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH.
UH, IT'S STILL THE WRONG DIRECTION.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT DATA.
IS, IS THERE A PLACE THAT YOU COULD DIRECT ME TO, TO, TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION THAT, THAT, THAT'S BEHIND THE TABLE YOU PROVIDED TO US? ABSOLUTELY.
UH, I, I KNOW I SHARE YOUR INTEREST IN GETTING FURTHER RESOURCES, SO WE'LL, WE WILL, UM, UH, FOLLOW UP WITH, WITH THAT DISCUSSION.
AND, UH, I BELIEVE WE'RE, UH, AT THE END OF THE QUEUE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF THAT ARE, UM, INTERESTED IN, UH, ASKING QUESTIONS TODAY.
BUT WE'RE GRATEFUL, GENTLEMEN, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
AND, UH, I WI I THINK WITH THAT, WE WILL TURN TO THE FINAL ITEM ON OUR AGENDA, UH, FOR THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
UM, AND WITH THAT, WE'LL WELCOME, UH, OUR CHIEF TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, DAVID FIELDS, AS WELL AS, UH, BRIAN SMITH, A TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, ALSO WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S TRANSPORTATION PLANNING DIVISION.
AND THE PRESENTATION TODAY FROM THEM IS ON HOUSTON BIKEWAYS.
GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE CITY HALL CHAMBER.
AND, UH, I BELIEVE IF WE CAN QUEUE THE PRESENTATION, I SEE THAT TAKING PLACE, WE'RE READY TO GO.
UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IT'S REALLY GREAT TO BE HERE TODAY.
I'M THE CITY'S CHIEF TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, BEING JOINED BY BRIAN SMITH II, UH, WHO LEADS OUR BICYCLE WORK.
UM, AND I REALLY JUST WANTED TO START WITH TWO ITEMS. UH, FIRST ALL THE WORK YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE IS ACTUALLY A TEAM EFFORT.
WE ARE REPRESENTING IT, BUT BETWEEN PLANNING AND PUBLIC WORKS, UH, THE PRESENTATION YOU HEARD FROM DIRECTOR CA HARRIS EARLIER, ALL OF OUR WORK IS BY MANY, MANY MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT AND THE PUBLIC, AND WE APPRECIATE BEING ABLE TO REPRESENT THEM TODAY.
UM, THE SECOND THING IS, UH, IN 2017, CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THE HOUSTON BIKE PLAN.
UM, SO WE ARE ABOUT FIVE YEARS IN AT THIS POINT, AND WE THOUGHT THIS WOULD A GREAT OPPORTUNE TIME WITH BEING BIKE MONTH TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE.
UM, SO TO START, WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE BY THE HOUSTON BIKE PLAN? UM, SO BY 2027, WE ARE AIMING FOR A GOLD LEVEL BIKE FRIENDLY STATUS FOR OUR CITY.
WE ARE CURRENTLY AT, UH, BRONZE, AND WE HAVE GREAT HOPES IN THE NEXT APPLICATION PACKAGE, WHICH WILL BE IN, UH, THIS YEAR, UH, TO MAKE SILVER AND THE WAY WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT.
SO IT ALL STARTS WITH SAFETY FOR ALL THE WORK WE'RE DOING, WHETHER THAT'S BICYCLES OR ANY OTHER MODES, UM, IT INCREASES ACCESS SO THAT PEOPLE CAN GET TO THE SPECIFIC DESTINATIONS THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO GET TO.
JUST BIKING FOR BIKING'S SAKE IS NICE, BUT WE'RE ACTUALLY, IT IS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL.
IT IS A TOOL TO HELP COMMUNITIES GROW AND THRIVE.
UM, DOING THAT ACTUALLY INCREASES RIDERSHIP AND IN THE LONG RUN, JUST BUILDING STUFF IS NOT ENOUGH.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MAINTAINING IT SO THAT IT IS USABLE AND FEASIBLE, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER PIECE OF OUR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK.
THE WORK WE DO IS PAIRED, UH, AND GUIDED BY THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHICH IS A MAYORAL APPOINTED COMMITTEE.
UM, THERE ARE BOTH, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE AND EDUCATION COMMITTEES, YOU SEE ALL THE MEMBERS LISTED, BUT I DO WANT TO GIVE AN APPRECIATIVE SHOUT OUT TO TOM THOMPSON, THE CHAIR OF THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
HE'S JOINED US TODAY AND WE APPRECIATE THAT.
IS HE HERE AS WELL? OH, ALEJANDRO'S HERE ALSO.
WHO'S OUR VICE CHAIR FOR THE BAC.
UM, SO YOU MIGHT ASK, SO WHAT ARE WE DOING? WHAT ARE PARTS OF THE BIKE PLAN? SO TODAY, UH, THE MAP YOU ARE SEEING ABOVE SHOWS WHAT IS EITHER BUILT TODAY OR PRETTY MUCH IN THE WORKS PROGRAMMED.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE, UH, WE'RE OVER 300 MILES TODAY.
A LOT OF THAT ARE THOSE GREEN LINES, WHICH ARE PRIMARILY OFF STREET, BAYOU TRAILS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT YOU'RE STARTING TO SEE POP UP, THOSE BLUE AND PURPLE, THE ON STREET ROOTS AS WELL.
WHEN WE BUILD OUT THE ENTIRE BIKE PLAN AS, UH, APPROVED BY COUNCIL, THAT'LL BE ABOUT 1800 MILES, AND THAT WILL COVER THE ENTIRE CITY.
SO THOSE GOALS OF SAFETY AND ACCESSIBILITY, UH, RIDERSHIP ALL THE WAY AROUND, NO MATTER WHAT NEIGHBORHOOD YOU LIVE IN, YOU CAN GET ALL AROUND OUR CITY.
WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE, UH, ALL THROUGH THE HISTORY, BUT REALLY RECENTLY, UM, IT HAS BEEN MOVED FORWARD
[01:05:01]
AND ADVANCED.UM, SO AT THE END OF 2020, UH, WE HAD ABOUT 340 MILES IN 21.
ABOUT 40 MORE MILES WERE BUILT.
SO WE'RE JUST UNDER 400 TODAY AND CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS UNDER DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. WE'VE GOT ABOUT 125 MILES, UH, IN THE WORKS TO BE BUILT.
UM, AND THOSE WILL START ROLLING OUT IN THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR.
BUT IT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THIS IS NOT A CITY EFFORT ON ITS OWN.
WE HAVE MANY, MANY PARTNERS THAT WE RELY ON.
WE WORK WITH, UM, OBVIOUSLY THE CITY AND THE COUNTY.
UM, WE'RE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THE PRECINCTS, UH, AND THE COMMISSIONERS, UH, HOUSTON PARKS BOARD, AS YOU KNOW, I IS A LONG TIME SUPPORTER.
UH, METRO, THE MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS AND T UM, AND HJAC ARE FRIENDS THERE WITH TDOT.
UM, THOSE ARE ALL APPRECIATED AS CONTEXT.
SO WE ARE LOOKING TO BUILD 1800 MILES AND WE ARE, YOU KNOW, AROUND 400 TODAY.
ON THE RIGHT, YOU'LL SEE WHAT OTHER CITIES HAVE TODAY.
UM, MANY OF OUR PEERS, UH, WE ARE PROUDLY ABLE TO SAY WE ARE ALREADY EXCEEDING IT, BUT EVEN OUR GOALS GO WAY BEYOND THEIR GOALS ALSO.
AND PART OF THAT IS THE SIZE OF OUR CITY.
UM, BUT, UH, AS YOU ALL, UH, TELL ME REGULARLY, UM, EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS AND HOUSTON IS, UH, CERTAINLY EMBRACING THAT AS IS OUR BIKE PLAN.
SO WE'RE, UH, GETTING CLOSE TO 400 AND WE REALLY HAVE THIS 500 MILE NUMBER IN OUR SITES.
SO YOU'LL START TO SEE ON THIS LIST, UM, THOSE BIKEWAYS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
UM, AND THEN ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, THE ONES THAT ARE IN PLANNING.
AND IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING WE BUILD NOW IS BASED ON BEST PRACTICE, IS BASED ON, UH, THE MOST ADVANCED, UM, PEER REVIEWED MATERIAL, INCLUDING WHAT MR. UH, REBORN MENTIONED ABOUT THOSE COUNTER SAFETY MEASURES.
UH, THOSE ARE INCORPORATED AS WELL AS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS DESIGNS.
SO WE CAN LOOK AND ACTUALLY OTHERS LOOK TO OUR, UH, STREETS, SUCH AS WHAT YOU SEE OUTSIDE ON BAGBY, UH, AUSTIN STREET AS THE MOST CUTTING EDGE AND ADVANCE.
AND THAT IS WHAT'S GOING IN ON EVERY NEW PROJECT.
AND IF YOU CAN, ONE MORE SLIDE PLEASE.
OH, AND ON EACH OF THOSE SLIDES, YOU'LL SEE WHICH OF OUR PARTNERS IS LEADING EACH OF THOSE EFFORTS TO GET US TO 500 MILES.
I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER, UH, TO BRIAN NOW, WHO'S GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW WE FIGURE OUT WHICH ARE THE NEXT ONES TO ADVANCE.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT 1400 MILES LEFT IN THE HOUSTON BIKE PLAN IN ORDER TO BUILD THE FULL NETWORK.
AND WE SPECIFICALLY, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE'RE PRIORITIZING, WHERE ARE WE GONNA PUT OUR MONEY? SO WHERE'S THE BIKE WAYS MONEY GOING? OUR CIP FUNDS FOR BIKE FACILITIES, WHERE DOES THAT GO? SO WE TOOK A LOOK AT OUR PRIORITIZATION FRAMEWORK, UM, BECAUSE WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE BUILDING A COHESIVE CONNECTED NETWORK.
WE'RE NOT BUILDING BIKE LANES AND SILOS.
UM, WE ALSO WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GONNA BE BUILDING THIS EQUITABLY.
SO WE WANTED TO HAVE A DATA-DRIVEN, BUT ALSO PARTNERED WITH, WITH OUR, OUR BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND OTHER PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, UM, WE ARE INCORPORATING THEIR FEEDBACK, UM, INTO WHAT WE'RE DOING.
SO WHAT WE DID, UM, FOR DATA, WE IDENTIFIED FOUR FACTORS, UH, SAFETY, DEMAND, CONNECTIVITY, AND EQUITY AS TO TO BEGIN THE FRAMEWORK FOR OUR PRIORITIZATION.
OUR BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE GAVE US SOME VERY, VERY CANDID FEEDBACK ON HOW WE WEIGH THOSE FOUR FACTORS.
UM, THEY GAVE THEM A RANKING SYSTEM ANYWHERE FROM NUMBERS BETWEEN ONE TO 10.
AND THEN WHAT WE DID AFTER, UH, THEY'VE CONFIRMED THE WEIGHTS, WE, WE, WE ATTACHED DATA, UH, TO THOSE SPECIFIC, UH, FACTORS.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, SAFETY, UM, WE LOOKED AT WHERE OUR BICYCLE CRASHES OCCURRING, WHERE IS OUR VISION ZERO HIGH INJURY NETWORK, UM, FOR CONNECTIVITY, WHICH FUTURE BIKE FACILITIES ARE GONNA CONNECT TO OUR EXISTING AND PROGRAM NETWORK.
AND THEN EQUITY, WHERE ARE BIKE FACILITIES GONNA BE WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE MAYOR'S COMPLETE COMMUNITIES, UM, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT, UH, CENSUS TRACKS WITH HIGHER PROPORTIONS OF FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT VEHICLES, UM, AND THOSE KINDS OF DATA POINTS.
SO AFTER THAT, WE GENERATED RAW SCORES.
UM, WE USED ARC GIS PRO, UM, TO CREATE A SERIES OF MAPS.
AND WE CREATED A MODEL TO PRIORITIZE WHERE WE SHOULD BUILD NEXT, UH, NEXT SLIDE.
AND THIS MAP IS ONE OF THREE THAT WE'RE GONNA SHOW.
UM, EVERYTHING IN RED IS THE HIGH PRIORITY SEGMENTS.
IF YOU NOTICE, UM, THERE ARE SEGMENTS A LITTLE BIT SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE AREA, BUT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE GONNA HAVE A COHESIVE, UM, CORRIDOR THAT WE COULD, THAT WE COULD, UM, SAVE FOR HIGH PRIORITY.
[01:10:01]
ARE THE BIKEWAYS THAT CURRENTLY EXIST.AND EVERYTHING IN PURPLE IS IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION.
SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE WHERE THAT CONNECTIVITY PLAYS A PART WHERE THE RED LINES MEET THE BLUE AND THE PURPLE.
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE IS THE WASHINGTON CENTER CORRIDOR.
SO LOOKING AT BOTH EAST TO WEST CONNECTIVITY ALONG WASHINGTON CENTER, BUT ALSO HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE CONNECT THE BAYOU AND THE OFF STREET TRAILS GOING NORTH TO SOUTH? UH, NEXT SLIDE.
ALRIGHT, SO THE, THE NEXT ONE WAS THE, UH, IRVINGTON COCHRANE CORRIDOR.
UH, MOSTLY A NORTH TO SOUTH CONNECTION.
SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO SOME OUTREACH ACTUALLY NORTH OF THIS CORRIDOR.
SO WE ARE GONNA BEGIN NORTH OF THE LOOP AND THEN MAKE OUR WAY, UM, DOWN SOUTH BECAUSE THE SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES WITHIN THIS CORRIDOR, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ENGAGING THEM PROPERLY.
UM, AND WE WANT TO WANNA DO SOME MORE DELIBERATE WORK WITH THEM BEFORE WE, UH, BEFORE WE START LOOKING AT IT FURTHER.
AND THEN FINAL SLIDE, UM, ENG GULFTON, UM, IS OUR, OUR THIRD MAP.
SO THE BEL AIR CONNECTION IS ON OUR HIGH INJURY NETWORK.
WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT EXTENDING SOME WORK THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING, UM, ALONG HILLCROFT, HOW DO WE GET ACROSS US 59, HOW DO WE CONNECT TO, UH, THE DESTINATIONS NORTH OF THE HIGHWAY, THE METRO METRO TRANSIT CORRIDOR? AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO APPLY THIS PRIORITIZATION FRAMEWORK TO OUR WHOLE ENTIRE BIKEWAY NETWORK.
WE'RE SHARING IT WITH OUR PARTNERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T HAVE TO DESCRIBE, THEY DON'T HAVE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR METHODOLOGY.
WE CONSIDER WHY NOT SHARE OUR BEST PRACTICE.
THIS MIGHT HELP, YOU KNOW, ALLEVIATE SOME WORK THAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
AND ALSO THIS MODEL, SINCE WE PUT IT IN ARC GIS, IT CAN BE ADAPTED.
AND WE HOPE THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO BUILD, WE CAN READJUST THE NUMBERS, UH, TALK TO OUR BAC AND CONTINUE TO BUILD OUT THE NETWORK THIS WAY.
UM, AND NOW TALKING ABOUT MAINTENANCE.
SO ONCE WE BUILD THE BIKE LANES, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAINTAINING THEM.
WE'VE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF FEEDBACK ABOUT SILT DEBRIS IN OUR MOST RECENTLY BUILT HIGH COMFORT BIKE LANES.
WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SWEEP THEM.
WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM.
SO ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, WE STARTED A WORKING GROUP WITH OUR BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, AND CREATED A REPORT ABOUT WHAT WE COULD POSSIBLY DO TO IMPROVE MAINTENANCE ALONG, UH, OUR BIKE FACILITIES AT THE BOTTOM WERE TWO OF, UM, THE, THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE MADE IN THE REPORT.
I'M HAPPY, UH, TO SHARE THAT THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT UNDER 26 MILES OF OUR EXISTING BIKEWAYS NETWORK THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORK STAFF TO INCLUDE THEM IN OUR EXISTING STREET MAINTENANCE PLAN.
UM, WE'VE ALSO IDENTIFIED, UM, ABOUT 11 CORRIDORS WITH, UH, BIKE LANES THAT ARE UNDER 10 FEET TRAVERSABLE WIDTH.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FROM THE CURB, UM, TO WHEREVER THE PROTECTION IS.
SO WHETHER IT'S ONE OF THE ARMADILLOS, UM, THE PRECAST CURB.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE ANYTHING LESS THAN 10 FEET IS ACCOUNTED FOR, BECAUSE THOSE HAVE BEEN OUR MOST DIFFICULT LANES.
AND WE'VE ALSO IDENTIFIED STARTING TO LOOK AT RESOURCES TO BE ABLE TO SWEEP THEM.
SO AT OUR MOST NARROW BIKE FACILITY, WE'RE AT ABOUT 65 INCHES.
UM, THAT'S FIVE, UH, FIVE FEET, FIVE INCHES.
SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE IDENTIFYING SOME RESOURCES THAT COULD GET THROUGH THOSE PATHWAYS, UM, SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN TAKE BETTER CARE OF OUR BIKE LANES.
AND I'LL, UH, HAND IT BACK OVER TO DAVID.
AND JUST ON THE LAST SLIDE, BECAUSE IT IS BIKE MONTH AND THERE IS JUST SO MUCH GOING ON THIS MONTH, WE WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU KIND OF A BULLET LIST OF THOSE MAJOR EVENTS.
UH, YOU'LL SEE THEM, UH, WHEN THE SLIDE COMES UP.
UH, MANY THINGS INCLUDING, WE WANNA MAKE SURE, UM, THE COUNCIL IS FA UH, AWARE OF BIKE TO WORKDAY ON, UH, MAY 20TH, UH, PREVIOUS TO THE DAY BEFORE THE MAYOR'S STATE OF MOBILITY, THE ADDRESS ON MAY 19TH.
AND WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, THANK YOU BOTH FOR THE PRESENTATION NOW.
AND THERE IS THE SLIDE I THINK WE WERE WAITING FOR, THEY WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THE SYSTEMS LOCKING UP JUST A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS IN QUEUE FOR YOU.
AND I KNOW THIS IS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS HAVE WANTED TO, UH, UH, TO ASK QUESTIONS TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE WILL TURN DIRECTLY TO, UH, TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND WE'LL START WITH THE AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER.
MY DEAR FRIEND, MIKE KNOX, COUNCIL MEMBER, YOU THERE? UH, YEAH, I'M TRYING TO GET MY TECHNOLOGY TO WORK CAMERA BACK ON ONE SECOND.
YOU'RE AT THE RIGHT COMMITTEE, SIR, RIGHT? YEAH.
[01:15:01]
ARE WE THERE? YES, SIR.SO, UM, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SAFETY AND THAT SEEMS TO BE A HIGH PRIORITY.
AND, UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, I WAS, WE WERE ORIGINALLY TOLD THAT THIS PLAN WAS FLEXIBLE, THAT AS CHA THINGS DEVELOPED AS COMMUNITY WANTED TO MAKE CHANGES, WE COULD DO THAT, BUT WE'RE DISCOVERING THAT'S NOT THE CASE.
AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR, UH, THE DIRECTOR'S RESPONSE ABOUT HOW HE CONSIDERS PUTTING A BIKE LANE ON 11TH STREET, A SAFE THING TO DO.
UH, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE WE'RE TRYING TO USE LIVE BODIES AS A TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE TO SLOW TRAFFIC DOWN ON THAT ROAD.
YOU'VE GOT A NUMBER OF NEIGHBORHOOD INDIVIDUALS, BUSINESS OWNERS AND RESIDENTS IN THAT AREA WHO LIKE THE IDEA OF THE BIKE PATH, BUT THEY WANT IT ON 12TH STREET, WHICH IS LESS TRAVELED AND LESS DANGEROUS FOR THEIR BIKE RIDERS THAN A MAJOR THIRD EAST WEST THOROUGH FOR THROUGH THE HEIGHTS AREA.
COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M GONNA PRECEDE THE DIRECTOR IN HIS RESPONSE AND NOTE THAT, UM, HE MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, BUT AS YOU, I, OKAY, I'VE LOST AUDIO HERE.
WE'RE, I WANT YOU TO HEAR THIS, 'CAUSE I, I'M GONNA, AS YOUR CHAIR AND COLLEAGUE, I WANT TO POINT OUT TO, TO YOU AS WELL AS TO OUR SPEAKERS WHO ARE HERE.
I NOTE THAT A COUPLE OF THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS HAVE BEEN, UH, HAVE NOTED THAT THEY'D LIKE TO SPEAK ON THE 11TH STREET PROJECT, WHICH OF COURSE IS WELCOME AS A COMMENTARY TODAY.
BUT WE KNOW THAT THE MAYOR HAS CALLED FOR A 30 DAY PAUSE ON THAT.
AND THAT IS, I, I THINK WHAT THE DIRECTOR IS GONNA CONFIRM FOR US IS THAT HE'S ASKED, UH, TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THAT PERSONALLY.
SO WITH THAT, I, I'M NOT SURE WE'RE GONNA GET TO A WHOLE LOT OF RESPONSIVENESS TO ANY DIRECT QUESTIONS ON, ON CHAPTER, ON, ON, NOT CHAPTER 11,
HOW ABOUT THAT FOR FREUD? AND THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
UH, THERE, THERE WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE MAYOR.
THE ONE POINT I DID, UH, JUST WANT TO CLARIFY IS BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE IS WHAT MAKES THE STREET SAFER SO THAT PEOPLE CAN USE IT.
UM, IT IS NOT JUST PUTTING AN UNPROTECTED BIKE FACILITY OUT THERE.
IT'S NOT THE PEOPLE MAKING IT SAFE, SIR.
BUT THE ACTUAL, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE THAT MAKES IT SAFER FOR ALL MODES, NOT JUST BIKERS, WALKERS, DRIVERS AS WELL.
AND I'M, I'M NOT SURE COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX, LET ME ASK YOU IF YOU CAN HEAR US, 'CAUSE WE HEARD THAT OUR AUDIO COMPONENT WITHIN THE CHAMBER MAY BE FROZEN.
I'M NOT SEEING HIM RESPOND DIRECTOR.
SO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX, CAN YOU HEAR US? I, I, I'M FEELING CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE BEING RECORDED LIKE THIS.
SO DIRECTOR, LET ME REDIRECT TO HIS QUESTION ABOUT THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE PLAN.
AND IF YOU MIGHT ADDRESS THAT PART OF HIS QUESTION.
THE ROOTS ON THE MAP ARE THE STARTING POINT.
UM, BUT THEY NEED TO MEET THOSE GOALS THAT WE LISTED OUT, UH, IN THE VERY BEGINNING.
CAN WE DO IT SAFELY? UH, IS IT ACCOMMODATING DEMAND AND CONNECTIVITY AND CAN WE MAINTAIN IT WELL? SO WHEN WE DO A SITE SPECIFIC CORRIDOR, THOSE ARE ALL THE PIECES WE LOOK AT.
LET ME CHECK AGAIN TO SEE IF COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX CAN HEAR US.
UM, AND I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH OF THAT YOU HEARD IN THE DIRECTOR'S RESPONSE ABOUT YOUR QUESTION, ABOUT THIS.
UM, AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THAT IS, WHEN YOU HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT'S GOING AROUND, UH, FEELS IT NECESSARY TO, TO GET PETITIONS FROM, YOU KNOW, MAJORITY OF THE BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE AREA, THE MAJORITY A A LOT OF THE RESIDENTS IN THE AREA, HOW, HOW IS THAT GONNA PLAY INTO YOUR PLAN TO, TO DO THIS SPIKE? SURE.
AND WE HAVE, UH, INPUT, I, I BELIEVE YOU'RE REFERRING TO 11TH STREET.
I DON'T WANNA GO TOO FAR INTO THAT BECAUSE OF, OF WHAT THE MAYOR HAS ANNOUNCED, BUT WE HAVE FEEDBACK FROM BOTH SIDES.
UM, IT IS NOT JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, PEOPLE FOR OR AGAINST.
AND WE WEIGH IT ALL AS PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS.
WE UNDERSTAND THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE, THEY'RE NOT AGAINST THE BIKE PATH.
THEY JUST DON'T WANT IT ON A MAJOR THOROUGH, A MAJOR, THE, PROBABLY THE ONLY EAST WEST MAJOR THOROUGHFARE IN THE HEIGHTS.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THAT PROVIDES FOR THE SAFETY OF THE MOTORIST OR THE BICYCLIST YEAH.
COUNCIL MEMBER, IF I COULD, I THINK THAT THAT'S A FAIR CONCERN.
AND I THINK AS EVIDENCE OF THE, THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE QUESTIONS AND THE, THE SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PUBLIC COMMENTS THAT WE'VE HEARD IN OUR PUBLIC SESSIONS, THAT IS PRECISELY WHY THE MAYOR IS ASKED TO CALL IT BACK FOR HIS PERSONAL REVIEW.
SO I THINK IF THAT'S NOT EVIDENCE OF THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE PLAN FOR HIS CONSIDERATION, I, I THINK YOU AND I COULD BE REASSURED ABOUT THAT.
BUT, UH, SINCE THIS ISN'T A FORUM TODAY ABOUT 11TH STREET, AND WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF, UH, SPEAKERS HERE BEYOND, UH, YOU AND OUR COLLEAGUES, UM, I I BELIEVE OUR YOUR TIME IS EXPIRED.
I'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THE QUEUE IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
[01:20:01]
WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER, CISNEROS CHAIR.UM, I, I, I HAVE TWO THINGS I WANNA TALK ABOUT.
ONE OF THEM IS, UH, MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE FLEXIBILITY OF THIS, OF THE BIKE PLAN, AND I DO SEE IT AT THAT, IT'S, THE PLAN ITSELF IS A STARTING POINT.
AND THE EX THE, THE DIRECT EXPERIENCE I'VE HAD WITH THIS, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, WITH WORK TO IMPLEMENT BIKE LANES IN DISTRICT H I'VE SEEN A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY.
UM, PARKER ROAD, UM, WE PUT A LOT OF ENERGY INTO EARLY ON THAT AND THE, AND THE COMMUNITY, UM, DIDN'T WANT IT.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LOT OF WORKING WITH THEM ABOUT THAT, AND THEY JUST, THEY DIDN'T WANT IT.
WELL, THEY HAVE COME BACK, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, TWO YEARS LATER AND SAID THEY DID WANT IT AFTER ALL.
AND THIS TIME IT WAS UNANIMOUS.
AND SO NOW WE'RE WORKING TO PUT IT IN AGAIN.
SO, I MEAN, THAT'S THAT I THOUGHT THAT SHOWED FLEXIBILITY.
I'VE SEEN FLEXIBILITY ON THE PROJECT THAT'S, UM, UH, UNDER DESIGN RIGHT NOW ON MAIN STREET AND WORKING WITH BUSINESS OWNERS, YOU KNOW, TO ACCOMMODATE AND, AND, AND THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND I'VE SEEN FLEXIBILITY ON 11TH STREET, UM, THE, THIS, THAT PROJECT'S BEEN HAPPENING FOR, FOR MANY YEARS.
AND THE PORTION THAT WENT, GOES INTO DISTRICT H ON THE EAST SIDE OF, OF, UM, UH, STU WOOD WAS ORIGINALLY, YOU KNOW, 11TH STREET CHANGES NAMES JUST A FEW BLOCKS DOWN TO PO AND, UM, WITH COMMUNITY INPUT RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, THE INITIAL PLAN THAT WAS GOING TO TAKE IT ALL THE WAY DOWN, UM, TO, TO CONNECT WITH MAIN STREET WITH COMMUNITY INPUT.
THEY AGREED THAT, UM, NO, THEY WOULD NOT DO THAT.
AND THEY NOW, IT, IT GOES, UM, IT GOES, UH, SOUTH ON ON ANOTHER STREET.
SO THAT WAS, THAT WAS CLEARLY AN INPUT THAT, THAT, UM, WHEN THEY CONSIDERED THEY AGREED AND THEY, THEY MADE.
SO THAT'S BEEN MY EXPERIENCE, COUNCIL MEMBER BURN KNOX.
I, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT THAT IS NOT BEEN WHAT I'VE EXPERIENCED AT ALL.
UM, SO I'M, I TRUST THE PROCESS AND YOU, AND, AND YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, UM, THAT WHATEVER THE OUTCOME IS, IT'LL BE, IT'LL BE THE RIGHT OUTCOME.
UM, I DID WANNA ALSO COMES UP IS TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE BIKEWAY MAINTENANCE.
THAT IS AN ISSUE I HEAR ABOUT A LOT, YOU KNOW, UM, THAT, THAT, AND, AND YOU'VE ACKNOWLEDGED IT, YOU KNOW, THAT THERE'S, UM, IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO GET A BIKE LANE IN IT.
THEY ALSO NEED TO BE MAINTAINED AND CLEANED AND, YOU KNOW, AND IF THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH AN ARMADILLO THAT IT GETS FIXED, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT THE, THE, THE LITTER AND, AND DEBRIS THAT COLLECT I CLEAN MAKES IT HARD BEING USABLE IN SOME WAYS.
I'M VERY INTERESTED IN, IN THOSE NEXT STEPS.
UM, THE, THE SLIDE DIDN'T SAY A WHOLE LOT TO ME, EXCEPT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT THAT, UM, AND THEN SHOWED PICTURES OF SOME, UM, LITTLE VEHICLES THAT COULD HELP CLEAN IT UP.
I, I WANNA KNOW HOW I CAN HELP.
I MEAN, AS YOU GET CLOSER SOLUTIONS ABOUT HOW TO CLEAN THINGS THAT ARE EXISTING, I, I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THAT.
I KNOW THAT, THAT, THAT DESIGNS OF BIKE PLANES, THAT, THAT THERE'S SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT HOW TO, UM, SIGN UP FRONT THAT THEY WILL BE EASIER TO MAINTAIN.
BUT, BUT THE ONES THAT ARE THERE NOW, YOU KNOW, UM, PLEASE DRAW ON ME.
YOU KNOW, LET ME HELP YOU IF, IF I CAN WITH COUNCIL DISTRICT SERVICE FUNDS TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THOSE ARE, UM, THAT ARE AS CLEAN AS THEY OUGHT TO BE.
AND USABLE COUNCIL MEMBER, LET'S, LET'S ALLOW THE DIRECTOR TO RESPOND.
UH, THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BUILT THINGS, UM, WE ARE LEARNING, UM, FROM MANY OTHER CITIES WHO ARE IN THE SAME BOAT AS WE ARE.
THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT, UH, BUILDING SOMETHING FOR LONG TERM USE.
AND REALLY THAT'S WHAT MAKES FISCAL SENSE.
IF WE BUILD SOMETHING, WE NEED PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO USE IT.
UH, SO YOUR SUPPORT, THE, THE SUPPORT OF ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO GIVE US THAT DIRECTION, UH, TO CITY STAFF THAT YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING, NO MATTER WHAT MODE HAS GOT TO BE MAINTAINED.
UM, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO HEAR.
AND WE APPRECIATE THAT SUPPORT COUNCIL MEMBER.
I, I SHARE SO FERVENTLY IN YOUR, UH, FEELINGS ABOUT, UH, THE MAINTENANCE.
AND, UH, I, WHILE I'VE ENJOYED THIS ENTIRE PRESENTATION SO FAR, UM, THAT IMAGE OF THOSE STREET SWEEPERS IS, UH, THE BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON IN A REALLY LONG TIME.
FOR THE WHOLE BIKING COMMUNITY AND THE STATE OF OUR, UH, ROADWAYS, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, UM, IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER NORTH AMERICAN CITIES THAT, UH, THE CITY AND THE COUNTY HAVE SO FEW STREET SWEEPERS.
BUT, UH, THIS IS REALLY APPROPRIATE AND LONG OVERDUE FROM MY OPINION, UH, FOR OUR BIKEWAYS.
SO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CIRO, IF YOU ARE DONE, I THINK WE ARE AT THE END OF YOUR TIME.
AND JUST CHECK, 'CAUSE I THINK THIS WOULD BE THE TIME TO GO TO THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
UM, WE HAVE A LIST OF, UH, 10 OR 12 OF Y'ALL WHO ARE HERE, BOTH VIRTUALLY AND, UH, IN THE CHAMBER.
UM, AND I WILL DO MY BEST FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE SWITCHED FROM VIRTUAL TO IN PRESENT, GLAD YOU'RE ALL WITH
[01:25:01]
US TODAY.BUT I BELIEVE OUR FIRST, UH, SPEAKER TODAY IS SPEAKING ON THE BIKEWAYS UPDATE.
UH, TOM IS NOT HERE WITH US VIRTUALLY.
AND AS THE CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, LET ME ASK YOU, MR. COMPTON COMPSON, TO COME TO THE PODIUM.
AND, UH, LOVE TO HEAR YOUR REMARKS.
AND THANK YOU COUNSEL, UH, FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.
AND THANK YOU ALSO FOR PASSING THE BIKEWAY PLAN BACK IN, UH, 2017 AND FOR COMMITTING THE RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENT IT.
AND THANK YOU, DAVID AND, AND BRIAN FOR ALL YOU DO.
AND AS YOU SAID, IT'S A TEAM EFFORT.
IT'S THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, IT'S PUBLIC WORKS.
IT'S BEEN EXTREMELY, UM, GRATIFYING TO ME TO SEE THE CHANGE IN ATTITUDE OF THE CITY, NOT ONLY AMONG THE ELECTED OFFICIALS, BUT AMONG THE STAFF TO TAKE AN, A AN ENTHUSIASTIC APPROACH TO, UH, TURNING US INTO A GOLD LEVEL BIKE FRIENDLY CITY.
UM, AND AS OTHERS HAVE ALREADY STATED, AS, AS GRATIFYING AS IT IS TO SEE HIGH COMFORT BIKEWAYS GOING IN ON THE GROUND, UH, IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT WE MAINTAIN THEM.
IT'S, IT'S FRUSTRATING TO BUY CYCLISTS.
IT'S FRUSTRATING TO MOTORISTS WHEN YOU SEE A HIGH COMFORT BIKEWAY BLOCKED OFF A LANE, TAKEN OUT OF A STREET TO DO THAT.
AND THEN IT'S RENDERED UNUSABLE, UH, BY THE RAPID ACCUMULATION OF DEBRIS.
SO REALLY, UH, STRONGLY, UM, ADVOCATING FOR, UH, THE CITY TO COMMIT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THOSE BIKEWAYS SO THAT WE CAN USE AND TAKE THE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE INVESTMENT WE'VE MADE IN THEM.
AND, AND I'LL JUST SAY VERY BRIEFLY ON THE 11TH STREET ISSUE IS THAT I, I, I TRUST THE PROCESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE GOALS TO ME ARE WHAT ARE, ARE THE TWO KEY GOALS TO ME ARE SAFETY FOR ALL ROAD USERS, MOTORISTS PEOPLE ON BIKES, UH, PEDESTRIANS, PEOPLE ON, UH, SCOOTERS, ET CETERA.
AND, UH, APPRECIATE THOSE REMARKS VERY MUCH.
UM, WE HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME, UM, A AUDIO ISSUES ON THE OUTSIDE, SO MY APOLOGIES TO ANYONE WHO ARE TUNED IN.
WE'RE, UH, APPARENTLY SOMETHING BETWEEN HTV AND THE AUDIO PROCESS FROM THE CHAMBER HERE.
SO WE'RE DOING OUR BEST AND I ASSURE YOU THAT WE WILL, UM, ATTEND TO IT AS BEST WE CAN.
UH, BUT CURRENTLY WE'RE GONNA PROCEED WITH THE NEXT SPEAKER ON THE LIST.
MR. JERRY GAUZE IS HERE WITH US IN CHAMBER.
DID HE AN EMERGENCY? I BEG YOUR PARDON? I THOUGHT I SAW MR. GAUZE HERE EARLIER.
UM, AND I UNDERSTAND FROM A COMMENT IN THE CHAMBER THAT HE IS NOT WITH US TODAY.
AND, UH, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM AGAIN.
UM, MS. MARION WRIGHT IS NEXT ON OUR LIST, AND WE'LL HEAR FROM HER NOW, UM, AS SHE APPROACHES THE PODIUM.
GLAD YOU'RE WITH US, MS. WRIGHT.
AND, UH, IF YOU'D, UH, TAKE THE MIC THERE.
SO, UM, WHAT I WANNA TALK TO YOU GUYS ABOUT IS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN HOW Y'ALL ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND ACTUALLY ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY IN PROCESSES.
SO THE ISSUE THAT WE SEEM TO BE HAVING IN A LOT OF NEIGHBORHOODS IS THAT THE CIVICS CLUBS AND THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO ACTUALLY PUBLICIZE THE MEETINGS THAT THEY'RE HAVING ON EVENTS.
UM, YOU HAVE SOME, SO THEN WE'RE TOLD TO COME TO PUBLIC SESSION TO SPEAK ON THINGS, TO GET COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, TO DO PETITION STUFF.
SO WE DO THAT AS A COMMUNITY WHEN SOMETHING DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT.
BUT WE'RE BEING, UM, YOU HAVE CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS LIKE BIKE HOUSTON, AND THEY HAVE SOMETHING CALLED AN ACTIVIST CORP.
AND WHAT THEY HAVE ON THEIR WEBSITE IS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PLAN, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT WHEN THE OPPONENTS OF BIKE FRIENDLY SUITES STREETS PREVAIL IN ONE NEIGHBORHOOD, IT GIVES A RISE TO OPPORTUNITIES OF BIKE TO, UM, OPPONENTS OF BIKE FRIENDLY STREETS AND OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO THEY AREN'T LOOKING AT EACH PROJECT, THEY'RE PUSHING THE AGENDA OF JUST BIKE LANES ANYWHERE.
AND IT'S THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY THAT REALLY KNOW IF THE BIKE LANES IN THAT COMMUNITY ARE GONNA WORK OR NOT WORK.
WHEN YOU HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE JUST COMING AND JUST SAYING, KEEP MOVING IT FORWARD, WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE OR NOT, YOU GET A LOT OF ANIMOSITY BETWEEN PEOPLE AND IT CAUSES ISSUES.
WHEN YOU HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO GIVE A LOT OF WEIGHT TO CIVICS CLUBS AND SAY THINGS LIKE, WHAT MS. CIS JUST SAID IS UNANIMOUSLY,
[01:30:03]
PEOPLE ARE IN SUPPORT OF A PROJECT.I'M SORRY, I DON'T, I'M NOT EVEN FAMILIAR WITH THAT PROJECT.
BUT IT'S NEVER UNANIMOUSLY THAT SOMEONE'S IN SUPPORT OF SOMETHING.
WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS HAVE SOME SORT OF A PARADIGM SHIFT WHERE ACTIVISTS, ORGANIZATIONS CAN COME TOGETHER AND HAVE DISCOURSE WITH EACH OTHER AND FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THINGS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. WRIGHT, FOR BEING HERE.
LET ME REASSURE YOU, UH, I'LL SPEAK IN THE FIRST PERSON.
I'M HEARING YOU AND I KNOW MY COLLEAGUES ARE HEARING YOU.
I THINK YOU ARE VERY MUCH CENTRAL TO THE ISSUE OF WHY THE MAYOR HAS, UH, CALLED FOR THE 11TH STREET ISSUE TO COME BACK FOR A 30 DAY REVIEW.
AND I THINK WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE A PART OF A, UH, CIVIC CLUB ACTIVELY, OR DOING YOUR OWN, UM, ACTIVIST WORK, THAT THIS IS A PLACE EFFECTIVELY ON TUESDAY AFTERNOONS WHERE YOU'VE APPEARED OR BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE WHERE YOU ARE BEING HEARD, YOU'RE BEING PLACED ON PUBLIC RECORD, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR CONTRIBUTION TODAY.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. LANA SADLER.
I THINK MS. SADLER IS WITH US IN THE CHAMBER.
AND IF YOU'LL APPROACH THE MIC, UH, THE FLOOR IS YOURS.
UM, I HAVEN'T REALLY PREPARED ANYTHING, SO I'M JUST GONNA WING IT AS A, UH, 19 YEAR RESIDENT OF THE HEIGHTS.
I'M IN ABOUT FOUR HOUSES OFF OF THE INTERSECTION OF 11TH STREET ASHLAND.
SO I FEEL I'M, I'M, YOU KNOW, FAIRLY VESTED IN THIS WHOLE ENTIRE PROJECT HERE OF TRYING TO NARROW DOWN 11TH STREET.
PROBABLY ONE OF MY MAIN CONCERNS, OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT THE, UH, HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL AT 11TH AND NICHOLSON DESPERATELY NEEDS A PEDESTRIAN LIGHT.
I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW CRUCIAL THAT IS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO TRY TO CYCLE AND BIKE ON THAT PARTICULAR TRAIL.
BUT LET'S GET TO SOMETHING THAT IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT.
YOU HAVE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS PACKED INTO THIS AREA OFF OF 11TH STREET THAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT NARROWING DOWN 11TH STREET IS THE ONLY WAY TO MOVE THE RESIDENTS IN AND OUT, YOU KNOW, EAST AND WEST EFFECTIVELY, THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO MOVE THAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITHOUT HAVING 11TH STREET BE AS WIDE AS IT IS.
NOW, HERE'S PART OF THE PROBLEM.
IF YOU SHRINK THIS DOWN AND CREATE A GAUNTLET WHERE YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LANE, EAST AND WEST FOR VEHICLES TO TRAVEL ON, OKAY, YOU'VE GOT FIRE STATION DOWN THERE ON TC JESTER, OKAY? I HEAR EVERY SINGLE EMERGENCY VEHICLE THAT GOES BY.
THEY WHIZ DOWN THAT STREET EVERY SINGLE DAY.
EITHER A FIRE TRUCK, AN AMBULANCE, POLICE CARS, THAT IS THEIR ONLY CORRIDOR TO QUICKLY GET IN AND HELP THE RESIDENTS.
WHETHER IT IS A HOME ON FIRE, WHETHER IT IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, IT'S NOT JUST MINUTES COUNTING, IT'S SECONDS COUNTING.
THESE GUYS NEED TO BE, GET, GETTING IN AND OUT.
IF YOU CREATE A GAUNTLET WHERE THERE IS NO WAY FOR THAT EMERGENCY VEHICLE TO QUICKLY GET DOWN THERE, THEN WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM.
MS. SETTLER, YOU RAISE AN IMPORTANT POINT AND, UH, VERY MUCH APPRECIATE YOU COMING TODAY AND, AND RAISING THAT HERE, UH, WITH US.
UH, NEXT WE'LL HEAR FROM PAUL HERRERA.
UH, PAUL IS WITH US IN CHAMBER AS WELL.
AND MR. HERRERA, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE THIS MORNING, UM, HERE TO SPEAK ON THE, ON THE BIKEWAY PLAN.
AND, UH, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO HAND OUT, UM, WE WILL COME AND GET THAT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND, UM, WE WILL START YOUR TIME NOW.
WE, UH, YES, UH, I'M LIV A HEIGHTS AND A BIKE RIDER I WOULD'VE RIDDEN HERE TODAY EXCEPT FOR THE THREATENING WEATHER.
UM, AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO SAY IS THAT FOR BIKE RIDERS, THE NUMBER OF SIDE STREETS AND DRIVEWAYS ALONG 11TH STREET, WE'LL MAKE IT VERY DANGEROUS, UH, BECAUSE CARS WOULD BE TURNING OFF OF 11TH, TURNING ONTO 11TH, COMING OUT OF DRIVEWAYS.
UH, WE'VE SEEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN LIKE THAT ALL OVER THE CITY.
AND THERE ARE OTHER PROBLEMS WITH PROTECTED BIKE LANES, AND THAT'S WHAT THE PICTURES ARE FOR HERE.
'CAUSE A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
UH, THE FIRST ONE SHOWS THE LOST DRIVE BIKE LANE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE NEWER BIKE LANES AROUND, IT'S
[01:35:01]
BLOCKED BY GARBAGE CANS, AND MAYBE THAT'S ONLY ONE OR TWO DAYS A WEEK, BUT YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH THE SECOND PICTURE, UH, WHICH HAS BEEN ADDRESSED BY, UH, MR. FIELDS.THAT ONE'S NOT VERY OLD, AND IT'S ALREADY GETTING FILLED UP WITH DEBRIS.
THE THIRD PICTURE IS THE SCARIEST ONE, AND IT SHOWS THAT THESE PROTECTED BIKE LANES ARE NOT NECESSARILY ALL PROTECTED.
THERE'S A CAR HAS OBVIOUSLY RUN OVER THOSE CONCRETE CURB AND KNOCKED OFF THE, THE PLASTIC PYLONS THAT WERE ON TOP OF IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE DRIVE, YOU CAN SEE THE TIRE MARKS IN THE ARROW THERE.
SO I'M NOT AGAINST BIKE LANES.
THEY DON'T DIVERT TRAFFIC ONTO RESIDENTIAL STREETS.
UH, THEY MAKE GETTING AROUND DOWNTOWN MUCH EASIER.
THE ONE ON, UM, WALL DRIVE, I'M NOT SURE THAT AS IS, IS AS NECESSARY SINCE THERE'S AN OLD BIKE ROUTE ON, UM, WOODHEAD, WHICH IS SAFER AND, UH, EASIER TO GO DOWN.
SIR, I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE ROOTS, UH, THAT YOU MENTIONED.
AND THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE VERY CLOSE TO TO HOME.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THEM THERE, UH, WORTH AT LEAST A THOUSAND WORDS.
SO THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US TODAY AND, AND FOR, UH, BEING ON THE RECORD.
WELL NEXT HEAR FROM MATT TETLOW, UM, WHO WAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK IN PERSON.
I DON'T SEE ANYONE MOVING IN THE CHAMBER.
UM, SO ONE MORE TIME FOR MATT TETLOW, STAR SIX.
IF YOU'RE ONLINE AND NOT RESPONDING IN THE CHAMBER, WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT, UH, SPEAKER.
WE MAY BE HEARING, IS THAT, CAN YOU HEAR ME? IS THAT MR. TELO? THIS IS MATT.
YES, THIS IS, ARE YOU GUYS ABLE TO HEAR ME NOW? ALRIGHT, WE, UH, WE GOT YOU WITH US.
GO AHEAD AND WE'LL START YOUR TIME NOW.
UM, FIRST I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO ALL THE GREAT WORK OF THIS COUNCIL AND FOLKS LIKE DAVID AND BRIAN HAVE BEEN DOING, UM, UH, AS A MEMBER OF DISTRICT C AND SOMEONE WHO CYCLES AS A PRIMARY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION A LOT HERE.
I THINK THE WORK YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DOING IS GREAT.
UM, AND I HEAR THE OPPOSITION TO 11TH.
UM, BUT AS DAVID NOTED, I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE IS A LOT OF, THERE ARE A LOT OF US WHO ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THESE TYPES OF CHANGES WHO HAVE NOT DONE A GOOD JOB AT COMING TO THESE TYPES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS.
AND SO I DID WANT TO, YOU KNOW, COME HERE AND SPEAK ON, IN FAVOR OF THESE TYPES OF CHANGES.
NOT SAYING WE CAN'T THINK ABOUT SOME OTHER, YOU KNOW, DESIGN OPTIONS, BUT, YOU KNOW, I HEAR SOME OF THE OPPOSITION, WHICH MY DISTRICT COUNCIL REP ABBY, CAME AND SPOKE UP TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON.
BUT I THINK IT SOMETIMES IS MAYBE A BIT UNFAIR OF SOME OF THESE CHANGES.
YOU KNOW, JUST AS TWO POINTS REAL QUICK.
I HEAR PEOPLE CITING THAT THERE'S A LOWER THAN AVERAGE ACCIDENT RATE ON THE STREET.
THAT MAY BE TRUE NARROWLY OF CARS ACCIDENT RATES TOTAL IN GENERAL, BUT IT IS NOT TRUE OF PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLIST ACCIDENTS, PARTICULARLY THESE KEY CROSSINGS.
NICHOLSON 11 HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED MULTIPLE TIMES AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLIST CROSSINGS IN INTERSECTIONS AT ALL IN HOUSTON.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THESE ROAD DIETS AS THEY'RE CALLED, THE FOUR TO THREE CONVERSION WITH CENTER TURNS AND PROTECTED MEDIANS, THEY NOT ONLY HAVE AN EXCELLENT TRACK RECORD OF IMPROVING PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLIST SAFETY STATISTICS, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE AN EXCELLENT RECORD OF IMPROVING CAR STATISTICS.
AND I KNOW THAT MAYBE THE CAR ACCIDENT RATE ISN'T PARTICULARLY HIGH HERE, BUT THAT'S IN COMPARISON TO HOUSTON, WHICH HAS A VERY LONG
SO, YOU KNOW, I WOULD JUST WANT TO SPEAK UP TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF US OUT THERE WHO ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THESE TYPES OF CHANGES, NARROWING RIGHT OF WAYS GIVING US PROTECTED ISLANDS FOR CROSSINGS.
AND IF THERE IS EXTRA RIGHT OF WAY, WHICH THERE HAPPENS TO BE IN THE 11TH STREET CASE, THEN A BIKE LANE IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, I WOULD STOP CHARACTERIZING 11TH STREET AS A BIKEWAY PROJECT.
IT IS A NARROWING SAFETY PROJECT TO HELP PEDESTRIANS TO SLOW AND CALM TRAFFIC, WHICH HAPPENS TO ALLOW FOR CYCLISTS INFRASTRUCTURE.
I WANT TO JUST, AGAIN, GO ON THE RECORD AND SAY THAT THERE'S A LOT OF US WHO CAN SUPPORT THESE THINGS.
MATT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, BEING HERE VIRTUALLY AND FOR YOUR COMMENTS TODAY.
UH, I'D LIKE TO, I'D LIKE TO ADDRESS THE SPEAKER IF I COULD.
UM, SIR, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS ON, ON ALL OF THAT, BUT WHAT YOU'RE SUGGESTING IS THAT WE, WE GET, WE ADD A BIKE LANE TO ACT AS A SPEED CONTROL DEVICE ON WEST 11TH.
AND, AND IN MY VIEW, PUTTING BICYCLES IN THE MIX WITH CARS IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS.
AND SO I'D LIKE TO KNOW YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT THAT.
YEAH, I, I WOULD DISAGREE WITH MY CHARACTERIZATION.
[01:40:01]
THE REDUCTION OF LANE WIDTH AND OF LANE NUMBER FROM FOUR TO THREE WITH A CENTER TURN LANE, I SEE AS THE PRIMARY VARIABLE IN THIS PLAN, WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN CONSISTENTLY TO IMPROVE SAFETY.UM, SO THE FACT THAT YOU DO THAT GIVES US EXTRA RIGHT OF WAY.
AND I SHOULD MENTION BY THE WAY THAT THE STATISTICS ON ADDITION OF PROTECTED BIKE LANES, AND THAT IS KEY, SUGGESTS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE HIGHER CONFLICT AREAS WHERE A BIKE LANE IS PRESENT, IT ACTUALLY DOES ENCOURAGE CARS TO SLOW DOWN AND SPEED IS ONE OF THE KEY VARIABLES ON THE STREET.
THE 42 MILE AN HOUR AVERAGE SPEED ON A 35, YOU KNOW, IS A PROBLEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, I I THINK THE PEOPLE UNDER WHO RESEARCH COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M NOT ALLOWED COUNCIL MEMBER USING COUNCIL MEMBER MY TIME.
I'M NOT GONNA ALLOW THIS TO BE AN ARGUMENT.
LET'S, UH, WE DID ASK FOR HIS RESPONSE, SO LET'S RESPECT THE, THE CHA THE PROCESS HERE.
IF YOU WANT TO COMPLETE YOUR THOUGHT.
THOUGHT, I THOUGHT MEETINGS WERE FOR IS TO DISCUSS THINGS.
LET ME LET MR. TETLOW GET TO THE END OF HIS SENTENCE.
NO, LIKE I SAID, I, I WANTED TO WANNA SAY THAT I HAVE THE FAITH OF FOLKS LIKE, UH, DAVID FIELDS AND OTHERS AND THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR HIM THAT, YOU KNOW, BY NO MEANS SHOULD THIS BE DONE BLINDLY, BUT IF WE'VE DONE THE ANALYSIS AND THE DILIGENCE TO LOOK AT THIS AND WE KNOW THAT WHAT THE STATISTICS ON LANE REDUCTIONS AND CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE IS, WE SHOULD HAVE CONFIDENCE TO GO FORWARD, UH, WITH COURAGE TO MAKE SOME OF THESE CHANGES.
SO I WAS JUST WANTING TO, TO VERIFY HE DOES BELIEVE THEN THAT IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO USE BIKE LANES AS A, UH, SAFETY CONTROL DEVICE BY LIMITING THE NUMBER OF, OR THE, THE, THE NUMBER OF LANES THEREBY CREATING A, A, A LONGER BACKLOG OF CARS, WHICH CAUSES THEM TO SLOW DOWN.
IN OTHER WORDS, USING PEOPLE AS A, UH, TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE.
IF I'M STILL ALLOWED TO SPEAK, I WOULD HAPPILY MAKE A RESPONSE.
I'LL MR. TELO, WE'RE GONNA ALLOW YOU ONE RESPONSE AND THEN, UH, WITH TIME EXPIRING, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON, BUT GO AHEAD.
WE'VE BEEN TRYING THIS TACTIC FOR 50 YEARS, WHICH IS SEPARATE, CREATE EXTRA LANE WITH ALLOW CARS TO MOVE NOT IN CONFLICT.
THAT'S WHAT WE DO ON FREEWAYS.
IT'S WHAT WE DID ON THE KATY FREEWAY.
AND IT UNFORTUNATELY WITH HUMANS, IT TURNS OUT THAT DRIVERS, WHEN GIVEN COMPLEXITY RESPOND BY SLOWING DOWN AND BEING CAUTIOUS WHEN THEY'RE GIVEN A DRAG STRIP LIKE ENVIRONMENT TO SPEED.
THAT IS WHAT CAUSES THESE SAFETY ISSUES.
WE'VE BEEN BUILDING CAR CENTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN HOUSTON FOR 50 YEARS, AND WE'VE SEEN IN THE DATA PRESENTED TODAY WHERE THAT HAS GOTTEN US.
SO IT IS, I AGREE, A PARADOXICAL SEEMING, BUT YES, I ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE THAT THE PRESENCE OF CONFLICT IS WHAT ENCOURAGES CARS TO SLOW DOWN.
COUNCIL MEMBER, IF YOU HAVE A CONCLUDING REMARK, WE'RE WE'LL ALLOW THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S OKAY.
I, I THINK WE COULD GO ON FOR DAYS ABOUT THIS, BUT, UM, I, I JUST, I DON'T SEE THE INHERENT SAFETY.
IF, IF SAFETY'S OUR FIRST CONCERN, UH, THAT'S WHAT IT VERY GOOD.
I DON'T SEE PUTTING, UH, BICYCLES WITH CARS AS A SAFE ALTERNATIVE.
AND, UM, MOVING ON TO OUR THANK YOU MR. TETLOW FOR, FOR YOUR COMMENTS TODAY.
MOVING ON TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER.
WE WILL CALL AGAIN FOR ANNE BERRY.
MS. BERRY IS HERE IN THE CHAMBERS.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US AND IF YOU'LL APPROACH THE MIC, WE WILL HEAR FROM YOU.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN AND COUNCIL MEMBERS AND OTHERS WHO ARE PRESENT.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO FOLLOW UP WITH SOMETHING THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE SAID, AND THAT IS ABOUT THE DRIVEWAYS AND INTERSECTIONS, ALLEYS AND BUS STOPS THAT ARE ON 11TH STREET.
UM, WHICH MEANS THAT AT THE PROTECTED BIKE LANE WILL NOT BE PROTECTED.
IT WILL BE MOSTLY PAINTED BECAUSE OF ALL THE INTERRUPTIONS IN THE BIKE LANE FROM SHEPHERD TO MICHA.
UM, AND I'D LIKE TO REITERATE ALSO THAT, UM, MOST OF THE FATAL, THERE HAVE BEEN NO FATALITIES OR SERIOUS INJURY CRASHES ON 11TH STREET BETWEEN 2014 AND 2019.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE 2019.
IT'S BEEN 20 19, 20 20, 20, 21, 20 22.
NOW, UH, HALFWAY OVER, WELL, MAYBE A THIRD OVER.
BUT, UM, WE STILL NEED TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION AND WE DON'T HAVE IT.
UM, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO BRING TO ATTENTION, UH, SOMETHING SOME OF THE OWNERS, THE BUSINESS OWNERS ON 11TH STREET HAVE TALKED ABOUT.
THE LARGE DELIVERY TRUCKS LIKE THE 18 WHEELERS, THE TRACTOR TRAILERS ARE NATIONALLY, ARE DIRECTED TO A NATIONAL, UH, ROAD FOR THEIR DELIVERIES, WHICH IS 11TH STREET.
AND YET THEY'RE ALSO TOLD NOT TO PARK ON THE SIDE STREETS.
SO IF YOU HAVE A BIG DELIVERY COMING IN, WHERE'S THE TRUCK SUPPOSED TO GO? ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A SMALL BUSINESS AND YOU DON'T HAVE A LARGE PARKING LOT LIKE BUCHANAN'S
[01:45:01]
OR C AND D OR, UH, BERRY HILL.A LOT OF THE BUSINESSES ARE VERY SMALL, BUT THEY STILL HAVE LARGE TRUCKS, BIG BOX TRUCKS OR 18 WHEELERS THAT ARE MAKING DELIVERIES.
SO WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO, THEY NEED TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO IN THOSE CASES.
UM, AND LAST I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT BIKE BOULEVARDS.
I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING YOU WANNA CONCLUDE THAT THOUGHT? GO AHEAD.
UM, YEAH, MIKE BOULEVARDS, I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT'S REALLY BEEN THOUGHT THROUGH IN THIS PLAN, AT LEAST NOT IN THE HEIGHTS AREA.
WE KNOW THAT, UM, FROM THE BICYCLIST IN OUR AREA, MY HUSBAND PAUL HERRERA, WHO JUST SPOKE THAT 10TH STREET WOULD ACT AS A VERY GOOD BIKE BOULEVARD AS WELL AS 12TH STREET AND 14TH STREET ON 14TH STREET.
AND, UM, ON 14TH STREET YOU'VE GOT LIGHTS THAT CROSS, UM, SHEPHERD AND DURHAM.
YOU ALSO HAVE A LIGHT AT STUDEWOOD.
SO 14TH STREET GOES STRAIGHT THROUGH MM-HMM
ON 10TH STREET, THERE IS A LIGHT AT 10TH AND SHEPHERD.
AND, UH, THE ONLY PLACE YOU'D HAVE TO CROSS, UH, IS YALE HEIGHTS.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE SOME GOOD IDEAS.
I KNOW I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THOSE STREETS AS WELL.
AND I ASSURE YOU THAT THAT IS WHAT, UH, THE MAYOR AND THE TEAM WITH THE PLANNING GROUP WE'LL BE LOOKING AT OVER THE COMING DAYS.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE FOR YOUR COMMENTS TODAY.
AND WE HAVE JUST A FEW MORE SPEAKERS IN OUR, OUR QUEUE, UH, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY.
UM, PREVI PREVIOUSLY LISTED AS A VIRTUAL, BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND, PRESENT WITH US IS KEVIN STRICKLAND.
UH, MR. STRICKLAND, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US TODAY.
THANK YES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, MY NAME IS KEVIN STRICKLAND.
UM, JUST BY WAY OF BACKGROUND, I AM WITH SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD 15.
I'M WITH THE HGAC SUBCOMMITTEE FOR PEDESTRIAN AND, UH, BIKING.
UM, I'M WITH DEXTER HANDY'S GROUP, UH, CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION COALITION.
AND UM, I'M WITH BIKE HOUSTON'S GEAR SHIFTER VOLUNTEER CORPS.
SO THE ADVOCACY I DO IN THIS AREA IS DEADLY SERIOUS TO ME.
UM, AS THE PRIOR SPEAKER ONLINE ON THE PHONE MENTIONED, HOUSTON HAS PRIORITIZED CARS FOR DECADES.
AND I'M HERE TO SHARE A SECRET WITH YOU.
IT TELLS US THIS RIGHT HERE, AND WE'VE FORGOTTEN THAT.
AND I KNOW THAT HOUSTON IS BASED ON CARS.
BUT WE HAVE AN EPIDEMIC OF CAR INJURIES AND DEATHS, PARTICULARLY FOR PEDESTRIANS.
I WAS VERY APPRECIATIVE THAT HGAC BROUGHT UP THE DATA, EXTREMELY APPRECIATIVE THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS CISNEROS FLAGGED IT.
WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THIS ENOUGH.
WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT THIS IN EVERY SETTING.
UM, ARE YOU DOUG BEGLEY? IS HE HERE? YES.
UH, HE, MR. BEGLEY IS IN THE CHAMBER.
THEY WRITE ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME.
THIS IS, IT SHOULDN'T BE NEW NEWS.
SO 11TH STREET IS NOT ABOUT A BIKE LANE, IT'S ABOUT SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.
WE HAVE A RIGHT TO SAFE STREETS THAT WE ARE NOT GETTING, YOU CANNOT SAFELY CROSS 11TH STREET.
SO TO COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX, THIS POINT THAT WE'RE USING OUR BODIES TO SOLVE CAR CRASHES, IT'S A PROTECTED BIKE LANE.
OTHER CITIES WHICH HAVE DONE THE DEEP DIVE, THAT THEY'RE MUCH FURTHER ALONG THAN WE ARE ON THIS PROCESS.
THE DATA SHOWS PROTECTED BIKE LANES NOT ONLY REDUCE PEDESTRIAN DEATHS AND INJURIES, BUT ALSO CAR CRASHES BECAUSE THE SPEED IS BEING REDUCED.
11TH STREET HAS AN EXTRA LANE.
WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE THE AVERAGE SPEED IS 40 MILES PER HOUR.
ONE MORE THOUGHT QUICKLY, IF YOU COULD WRAP UP.
WE CAN'T MAKE PUBLIC POLICY WITHOUT DATA, AND WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE DATA AND THE FACTS HERE ENOUGH.
APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE WITH US.
MR. STRICKLAND, THANK YOU FOR COMING DOWN AND, UH, SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS WITH US TODAY.
UM, NEXT ON OUR LIST, UH, I THINK VIRTUALLY WITH US IS MELISSA BEELER.
MS. BEELER, IF YOU'RE THERE, IF YOU COULD HIT STAR SIX TO JOIN US ONLINE AGAIN, MS. MELISSA BEELER, STAR SIX FOR MELISSA BEELER.
CAN HEAR? YEAH, THERE YOU ARE.
WE'LL START YOUR TIME TRYING AGAIN WITH STAR SIX.
MY NAME IS MELISSA ER AND I'M THE YOUTH TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE COORDINATOR FOR AIR ALLIANCE HOUSTON.
UH, WE ENVISION HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
[01:50:01]
WITH CLEAN AIR EVERY DAY FOR EVERYONE.UM, WE ARE STRONGLY IN SUPPORT OF THE CITY IMPLEMENTING THE BIKE PLAN AS WELL AS THE GOALS OF THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AND RESILIENT HOUSTON, WHICH IS WHY WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CITY PHASING THE 11TH STREET REDESIGN INTO CONSTRUCTION THIS SUMMER AS SCHEDULED.
UM, WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT CHANGE IS SCARY FOR EVERYONE, BUT CHANGE IS COMING REGARDLESS.
UM, THIS CHANGE IS CLIMATE CHANGE.
UM, OUR REGION WILL CONTINUE TO GROW AS HOUSTON IS EXPECTED TO BE A CLIMB DESTINATION FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES ALONG THE GULF COAST.
SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO LEAN INTO, OR AN UNFORTUNATE REPUTATION AS A CAR CENTRIC CITY, WHICH GIVES US HIGH RATES OF OZONE POLLUTION AND VEHICLE EMISSIONS, OR CAN RAPIDLY REDESIGN OUR STREETS WITH VIABLE CHOICES TO REACH OUR DESTINATION.
UM, WE'RE REALLY CONCERNED THAT IF WE CAN'T GET THIS ONE PROJECT THROUGH, IT MAY CALL INTO QUESTION WHETHER WE'LL BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE ANY OF OUR CLIMATE AND SAFETY GOALS.
UM, ESPECIALLY OUR GOAL TO REDUCE VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED IN THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF NEED ACROSS HOUSTON.
I SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH THIS WARD.
UM, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PROTECTED BIKE LANES.
THEY LACK ACCESS TO BUFFALO BIO TRAILS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD AND GET 11TH STREET REDESIGN, WHICH HAS BEEN IN THE PROCESS FOR OVER THREE YEARS, UM, UH, COMPLETED AND SEEING MORE RAPID IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS.
SO WE JUST REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF, UH, MULTIMODAL SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS ALL OVER HOUSTON.
CONTINUE SUPPORTING STAFF TO DO THIS AND THROUGH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, FUNDING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, POLITICAL WILL.
THANK YOU MS. BEHLER, UH, FOR JOINING US TODAY.
AND YOUR REMARKS WILL BE IN THE PUBLIC COMMENT, SO THANK YOU.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MR. PAUL BENS, I BELIEVE HE IS WITH US VIRTUALLY MR. BENZ, YOU KNOW, THE DRILL.
STAR SIX TO JOIN US IF YOU'RE THERE.
I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA SPEAK ON SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UH, TODAY, BUT, UM, I, HEARING THE COMMENTS, I, I FEEL COMPELLED TO KIND OF DO SOMETHING I HADN'T PLANNED ON DOING, WHICH IS BASICALLY, UH, I'VE HEARD A LOT OF FACTS AND FIGURES AND TOUTING OF WHAT'S SAFER, WHAT'S NOT.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT'S, THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THE BIKE PLAN, UH, SPECIFICALLY CALLING OUT 11TH STREET, UM, WHERE THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE PROCESS.
UM, THE FIRST ONE HAS TO DO WITH VISIBILITY TO ALL THIS DATA, WHICH WAS CALLED OUT BY SOME OTHER PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND SO I THINK GOING FORWARD ON ANY PROJECT, ALL THE DATA HAS TO BE RELEASED DOWN TO ITS DETAIL, NOT SUMMARIES, NOT, YOU KNOW, AN AVERAGE HERE THAT APPLIES ONLY TO ONE PART OF THE STREET VERSUS A WHOLE SEGMENT OF THE STREET, THAT SORT OF THING.
THE SECOND THING IS VISIBILITY.
UM, THESE SHOULD BE PUBLIC COMMENT MEETINGS, UM, NOT JUST AT, UM, AND WHEN I, WHEN I SAY THAT THESE BIKE PLAN, UM, AS THEY WERE SHOWN THE IN THE SLIDES, THESE PROJECTS SHOULD BE FULL PUBLIC COMMENT MEETINGS WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO AND INDEPENDENT OF ANY SORT OF CIVIC CLUB OR ORGANIZATION OR WHO'S CONTROLLING IT.
AND CITY OF HOUSTON NEEDS TO RUN THAT JUST LIKE THEY RUN OTHER GOOD, UH, TWO-WAY CONVERSATIONS WITH, UM, OTHER PROJECTS.
AND A THIRD POINT, WHICH IS GONNA SEEM A LITTLE OUT OF PLACE, UM, THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL REQUESTS RIGHT BACK TO THE BEGINNING, COMMENTS FOR THE BIKE PLAN FOR 2017 FOR HOUSTON AVENUE, BETWEEN WHAT WAS WHITE OAK, UH, UP TO WASHINGTON AVENUE, UH, TO HAVE SOME SORT OF REORGANIZATION THAT MIGHT INVOLVE, AND IT, THERE'S ROOM FOR IT, A, UH, A BIKE LANE.
AND THAT, UH, THERE WAS A ROAD DIET THAT WAS PUT ON THE HOUSTON AVENUE BRIDGE.
UH, AND THAT'S WORKED PRETTY WELL.
HAVEN'T HEARD ANY COMPLAINTS PER SE ABOUT IT.
UH, BUT UH, WE'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING, UH, THAT GOES FURTHER DOWN THE STREET, UM, AND THEN CONNECTS TO WASHINGTON AVENUE.
THERE'S MONEY IN THAT TUR THERE, UH, THAT COULD SUPPORT THAT RES STRIPING.
UM, AND I THINK THAT'S MAINLY WHAT'S NEEDED THERE.
UM, IT WAS ALREADY DONE ON PART OF HOUSTON AVENUE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. BEN FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
AND, AND, UH, BUT MORE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IS SOMETHING I WOULD WELCOME AS WELL.
APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS TODAY.
AND WITH THAT, WE HAVE TWO SPEAKERS TO GO.
CHRISTINA RONEN JOINING US VIRTUALLY ONLINE.
MS. RONEN, IF YOU CAN HIT STAR SIX, WE'RE READY FOR YOU.
CHRISTINA RONEN BERG VIRTUAL PARTICIPANT.
[01:55:01]
COMMITTEE.UH, MY NAME'S CHRISTINA ROTENBERG.
AND FIRST I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR PUTTING ON SUCH AN EXCELLENT CONVERSATION THIS MORNING.
I THINK IT'S PRECISELY IN HEARING ABOUT THE FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THAT WERE DISCUSSED BY MR. RAYBORN AND MR. WEELL AND THE WORK OF THE CITY'S PLANNING DEPARTMENT DISCUSSED BY MR. FIELDS AND MR. SMITH.
IT'S REALLY THIS WORK THAT IS POSITIONING THE CITY TO BE RESILIENT, SUSTAINABLE, MORE EQUITABLE, AND FRANKLY THE CITY THAT WE NEED HOUSTON TO BE.
SO FIRST, I JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR HAVING THIS GREAT CONVERSATION AND IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE CITY TO BE OPEN TO INNOVATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT THAT WILL COMBAT, AS MELISSA SAID, PRECISELY TODAY'S CLIMATE AND TRAFFIC VIOLENT CRISES.
WE'RE UTMOST CONCERNED ABOUT THESE ISSUES AT BI QIN.
WE'RE PARTICULARLY GRATEFUL TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS SUCH AS CAYMAN AND CISNEROS FOR USING THEIR DISTRICT CNH AS PROVING GROUNDS FOR PLANNING BEST PRACTICES THAT ARE BEING USED ACROSS THE WORLD AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND WE KNOW ARE HAVING MEASURABLE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS LIKE ROAD DIET, THE ONE THAT'S ON 11TH STREET PROPOSED FOR 11TH STREET.
WE KNOW THAT THESE ARE PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES AND WE HOPE TO SEE THESE MORE.
AND ON THE TOPIC OF 11TH STREET, WE SAY FOR A MINORITY OF VOCAL OPPONENTS, WE KNOW THAT HOUSTONIANS WANT THIS IMPROVEMENT.
WE'VE HEARD FROM BUSINESSES, WE SPOKE TO 26 BUSINESSES IN FEBRUARY.
WE SPOKE TO RESIDENTS, WE KNOW FROM BY HOUSTON MEMBERSHIP THAT WE, THEY WANT SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS FOR ALL MODES.
IT'S NOT JUST FOR BIKES, IT'S NOT JUST FOR CARS.
WE REALLY, REALLY NEED TO BE A RESILIENT CITY.
AND WE ALSO KNOW THIS FROM KINDER SURVEY THAT HOUSTONIANS WANT MORE OPPORTUNITIES.
SO I REALLY WANNA THANK THIS COMMITTEE FOR THE GREAT WORK PROMOTING, UM, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSPORTATION AND I CAN'T STRESS HOW MUCH WE SUPPORT THE BIKE LANE MAINTENANCE PLAN THAT MR. UM, SMITH DISCUSSED BECAUSE WE'VE PUT AN INCREDIBLE INVESTMENT INTO OUR BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE ALREADY, AND IT WOULD IRRESPONSIBLE FOR US NOT TO PROVIDE THE FUNDING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. ROTENBERG.
APPRECIATE, UH, YOUR INPUT AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US TODAY.
UH, NEXT AND I BELIEVE OUR FINAL, UH, SPEAKER ON PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY IS MR. JOE REVO.
UH, MR. REVO, IF YOU COULD HIT STAR SIX.
LOVE TO GET YOUR COMMENTS FOR THE RECORD.
MR. CFO, JOE CFO, IF YOU COULD HIT STAR SIX TO JOIN US WITH YOUR VIRTUAL COMMENT.
LAST CALL FOR JOE KURE FO I HEAR SOMETHING ONLINE THERE, BUT WITHOUT HEARING YOU, MR. KURE FO I BELIEVE WE SEE YOU ONLINE AND, UH, SEEING AN INDICATION THAT YOU NEED A SECOND.
OTHERWISE, WE CAN CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP WITH YOU AND GET YOUR QUESTION AND COMMENT ADDED AND ADDRESSED.
UH, FOR TODAY'S MEETING, I'M GONNA HOLD FOR ONE LAST CALL, JOE REVO STAR SIX.
IF YOU'RE WITH US, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
SO WITH THAT, I, I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS BRINGING US TO THE CONCLUSION OF OUR MEETING.
IT'S BEEN A TWO HOUR, UH, AFFAIR HERE TODAY.
SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE PARTICIPANTS, THE PRESENTERS, AS WELL AS THE PUBLIC FOR THEIR COMMENTS.
UM, I'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR NEXT TTI COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE NEXT WEEK, A WEEK FROM TODAY.
IT'S A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING ON MAY 12TH, 2022.
IT'S A JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE TTI COMMITTEE ALONG WITH THE QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE AND THE, UM, UH, REGULATION AND NEIGHBORHOOD AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ON THE CONTINUATION, UH, OF THE DISCUSSION OF WORK RELATED TO FREIGHT RAIL OPERATIONS IN THE HOUSTON REGION.
THIS IS A ONE TOPIC MEETING THAT WE EXPECT TO BE A ROBUST DISCUSSION WITH, UH, RAILROAD CROSSINGS AS TOUCHED ON TODAY, AS WELL AS, UH, COMMENTS, UH, FROM A NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS.
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT NEXT WEEK, I BELIEVE.
UM, WE MAY HAVE, JOE, I'M GONNA ASK FOR YOU ONE MORE TIME.
DID YOU GET I'M HERE, MR. REVO, I'M HERE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? WE'RE READY FOR YOU.
UH, AGAIN, MY NAME IS JOE COTRUVO.
I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BIKE HOUSTON.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS, EXPRESS MY STRONGEST SUPPORT FOR THE MAINTENANCE PLAN THAT THE STAFF HAS PUT FORWARD FROM THE HOUSTON BIKE WASTE TEAM AT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.
AS EVERYBODY KNOWS, OUR BIKE LANES ARE FULL OF DEBRIS, DIRT,
[02:00:01]
GRAVEL, GLASS, REMNANTS OF CAR CRASHES.I ONCE CAME ACROSS THE ENTIRE BUMPER OF A HONDA IN A BIKE LANE ONCE, YOU KNOW, NOBODY LIKES A FLAT TIRE, BUT ROADSIDE DETRITUS ISN'T JUST AN INCONVENIENCE, IT'S A SAFETY HAZARD TOO.
AND ANYTIME SOMEONE HAS TO NAVIGATE AROUND SOMETHING IN A BIKE LANE, POTENTIALLY MIXING WITH TRAFFIC UNEXPECTEDLY, UH, THAT REALLY DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF OUR PROTECTED BIKE LANES.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE INVESTED A GREAT DEAL OF CAPITAL, REAL AND POLITICAL IN THIS BIKE LANE NETWORK.
AND MAINTAINING THIS AS CRITICAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, IS, IS JUST SOMETHING WE NEED TO DO.
THIS IS NOT, UH, THESE ARE NOT AMENITIES.
THESE ARE PART OF OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND THEY NEED TO BE MAINTAINED.
UM, I URGE YOU TO GET IT DONE THIS YEAR.
UM, MY OTHER COMMENT BRIEFLY, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HERE IS LOUD AND CLEAR.
THAT 11TH STREET, THIS IS A PROJECT THAT IS ABOUT SAFETY AND IT'S ABOUT OPTIONS.
THIS IS ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE TO THE DESTINATIONS ON 11TH STREET SAFELY, UH, TO GET ACROSS MAJOR ARTERIAL ARTERIAL ROADS IN THE HEIGHTS SAFELY.
THIS IS ABOUT MAKING A STREET SAFE FOR ALL USERS, TURNING 11TH STREET FROM A VIRTUAL HIGHWAY INTO A COMMUNITY BOULEVARD, A STREET THAT PEOPLE CAN WALK AND BIKE ON SAFELY AS WELL AS DRIVE.
UH, I TRUST THE, THE PROCESS THAT OUR PLANNERS HAVE DONE, AND I BELIEVE THIS PROJECT NEEDS TO HAPPEN, UH, QUICKLY AND WE'LL SEE A, A MAJOR IMPROVEMENT IN SAFETY FOR ALL USERS ON 11TH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
AND WITH THAT, UH, AGAIN, WE ARE, UH, AT THE END OF OUR AGENDA.
OUR NEXT MEETING IS A WEEK FROM TODAY ON MAY 12TH, A JOINT MEETING OF THE T-T-I-Q-O-L AND RA COMMITTEE.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL PRESENTATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE TTI WEBSITE.
THAT'S AT WWW.HOUSTONTX.GOV/COUNCIL/COMMITTEES/TTI HTML.
AND WITH THAT, WE ARE ADJOURNED.