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THIS IS THE CITY OF HOUSTON,[Joint TTI, Regulatory, and Quality of Life Committee on May 12, 2022]
CITY HALL CHAMBERS.MY NAME IS COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID ROBINSON, UH, CHAIR OF THE TTI COMMITTEE FOR TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
THIS MORNING, IT IS, UH, MAY 12TH, THURSDAY, IT'S 10:00 AM AT CITY HALL, AND THIS IS A JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE TTI COMMITTEE, THE QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE, AND THE REGULATION AND NEIGHBORHOOD AFFAIRS COMMITTEE.
I'M JOINED BY MY TWO FELLOW COLLEAGUES AND CHAIRS OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND RNA COMMITTEES.
THAT'S COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT GALLEGOS FROM DISTRICT I, AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN, UH, WHO IS OUR AT LARGE POSITION, NUMBER FIVE, COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE CHAMBERS AND, UH, UH, WE WILL COMMENCE SHORTLY WITH WHAT BODES TO BE A VERY ROBUST AND INTERESTING DISCUSSION ABOUT RAILROAD CROSSINGS WITH A NUMBER OF PARTNERS HERE IN, IN THE CHAMBER AND ONLINE, VIRTUALLY FOR THIS HYBRID MEETING.
BEFORE, UH, RECOGNIZING COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO ARE HERE WITH US AND ONLINE, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, TAKE A MOMENT FOR MY COLLEAGUES TO, UH, ADDRESS WITH OPENING REMARKS.
AND WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT GALLEGOS.
I WANT TO, UH, THANK THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS JOINING US THIS MORNING.
THE PRES PRESENTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO HAVE TUNED IN OR SIGNED UP TO SPEAK ON THIS CRITICAL TOPIC.
MY COLLEAGUES KNOW THAT IMPROVING RAIL OPERATIONS IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO ME, MY RESIDENTS, AND TO MANY COMMUNITIES ACROSS THIS REGION.
I OFTEN RAISE THIS MATTER HERE AT CITY COUNCIL, AND I ROUTINELY PUSH ON THE RAILROADS BOTH PRIVATELY AND PUBLICLY, TO OPERATE MORE RESPONSIBLY.
I WELCOME TODAY'S OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM BNSF ABOUT THEIR OPERATIONS, AS WELL AS FROM PUBLIC WORKS AND THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION ON A NEW PILOT PROGRAM TO MONITOR, MONITOR PROBLEMATIC CROSSINGS IN OUR CITY.
I ALSO WELCOME AND LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING TESTIMONY FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC A LITTLE LATER IN THE MEETING.
FINALLY, LET ME SAY THAT WE'VE HAD SOME RECENT ONE-ON-ONE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE FRA LEADERSHIP IN DC AND JUST THIS MORNING I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MAURICE HENDERSON, THE SENIOR ADVISOR IN THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY BUTTI, WHO ASSURED ME THE FRA AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, OUR MONITORING OPERATIONS IN HOUSTON, AND WE'LL BE REVIEWING PUBLIC TESTIMONY OFFERED AT TODAY'S MEETING.
I ALSO WANNA GIVE A BIG, BIG THANK YOU TO CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE AND HER TEAM FOR HELPING US CONNECT WITH THE FRA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION LEADERSHIP IN WASHINGTON, DC THANK YOU.
WE'LL TURN NOW TO OUR, OUR CHAIR OF THE RNA COMMITTEE, SALLY ALCORN.
AND I'M VERY GRATEFUL TO BE HERE.
I AM, UH, THE REGULATORY NEIGHBORHOOD AFFAIRS COMMITTEE.
SO I LOOK AT THIS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S PERSPECTIVE, AND SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE'RE HAVING WITH TRAINS ARE REALLY NEGATIVELY IMPACTING QUALITY OF LIFE IN MANY HOUSTON NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO I'M LOOKING AT IT FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE.
UM, LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING EVERYONE'S TESTIMONY.
REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL, AND HOPEFULLY GETTING SOME MONEY HERE FOR SOME GRADE, UM, GRADE SEPARATIONS.
UH, I THINK THAT WILL GO A LONG WAY.
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS MEETING AND HEARING FROM THE NEIGHBORS THAT ARE HERE.
UM, SO WITH THAT, WE'D LIKE, UH, TO TAKE A MOMENT JUST TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF THOSE ELECTED OFFICIALS AND STAFF MEMBERS WHO ARE HERE WITH US, EITHER, UH, IN CHAMBERS LIVE, UH, OR VIRTUALLY ONLINE, UH, IN THIS HYBRID MEETING.
AND WE'LL BEGIN WITH DISTRICT A.
WE HAVE STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER AMY PECK'S OFFICE, UH, VIRTUALLY, UH, HERSELF, COUNCIL MEMBER ABBY CAYMAN IS HERE, UH, FROM DISTRICT C.
WE'RE ALSO JOINED BY, UH, CAROLYN EVANS SHABAZZ, COUNCIL MEMBER FROM DISTRICT D, VIRTUALLY IN, UH, HERSELF AS WELL AS, UH, MARY ANNE HUFFMAN.
HER STAFF IS HERE WITH US IN CHAMBER, AS IS, UH, CARLOS CISNEROS, STAFF FROM HER OFFICE, AND THE AFOREMENTIONED ROBERT GALLEGOS, SALLY ALCORN, AND MYSELF AS THE THREE, UH, CO-PRESENTING CHAIRS OF THESE THREE COMMITTEES.
AND SO WITH THAT, UH, THIS MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER THAT THE DATE, AGAIN IS THE 12TH OF MAY, 2022.
IT'S 10:05 AM IT WITH ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS HERE IN ATTENDANCE.
I'D LIKE TO MENTION AGAIN THAT THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD IN HYBRID MODE DUE TO THE DISCONTINUATION OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
THAT'S CHAPTER 5 51 AND PROVISIONS THAT ALLOWED FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS TO BE HELD SOLELY AND VIRTUALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC.
THE MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, BOTH IN PERSON AT CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, AS WELL AS VIRTUALLY AS CHAIR AND PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE COMMITTEE.
UH, WE ARE HERE PHYSICALLY AND PRESENT IN THE CHAMBER, AND THAT'S IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION
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5 51 0.127 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE THAT'S APPLICABLE TO A GOVERNMENTAL BODY THAT EXTENDS INTO THREE OR MORE COUNTIES.ALL OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS THEN HAVE THE OPTION TO PARTICIPATE, UH, IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY VIA OUR MICROSOFT TEAMS DIGITAL FORMAT.
WE NOW HAVE, UH, 22 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO HAVE SIGNED TO SPEAK, UH, THAT'S BOTH VIRTUALLY AND IN PERSON, AND WE WILL HEAR SO AFTER ALL THREE OF THE PRESENTATIONS THIS MORNING.
SO WE WERE ASKING FOR THE PUBLIC TO HOLD THEIR QUESTIONS TILL THE END AND THEY WILL BE ADDRESSED.
UH, WE'VE ALSO BEEN JOINED, I UNDERSTAND NOW BY, UH, STAFF FOR COUNCIL MEMBER MIKE KNOX IN THE AT LARGE POSITION ONE, AS WELL AS STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA PLUMMER IN THE AT LARGE, UH, POSITION FOUR PRESENTATIONS OF THE FED THE PUBLIC, AND IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE COPIES OF THE PRESENTATIONS, THOSE ARE ON THE TABLE IN THE FRONT OF THE CHAMBER AND WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE, UH, SUBSEQUENT TO THE MEETING TODAY POSTED ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
AND I THINK WITH THAT, WE'LL TURN NOW TO THE AGENDA ITEMS. I WILL READ THE THREE PRESENTATIONS BEFORE CALLING THE FIRST TO THE PODIUM.
UH, AND WE WILL BE HEARING THIS MORNING FROM MISS JANELLE DAVIS, WHO'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR BNSF, OUR PARTNER RAILROAD TODAY, AND THEIR PRESENTATION IS ON RAILWAY OPERATIONS IN HOUSTON.
I WANNA WELCOME MS. DAVIS HERE.
OUR SECOND ITEM ON TODAY'S AGENDA IS FUNDING AND PRIORITIES FOR RAIL.
UH, THAT'LL BE PRESENTED BY THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S, DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS FOR HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, MS. VERONICA DAVIS, WHO IS HERE AS WELL AS HER COLLEAGUE, THE SENIOR STAFF ANALYST FOR TRANSPORTATION AND, AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS FOR THE HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, MS. CATHERINE SUMMERLIN.
AND WITH THAT, WE WILL HEAR A FINAL PRESENTATION TODAY ON SMART RAILROAD CROSSING MONITORS.
THIS IS A PILOT UPDATE, UH, THAT'LL BE PRESENTED IN HYBRID MODE FROM, UH, JESSE BOUNDS, OUR DIRECTOR FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE, AS WELL AS LIVE WITH OUR FRIEND JACK HRAF, WHO'S HERE AS A CONSULTANT TO THE CITY, UH, THE HOUSTON SMART CITY PROGRAM OUT OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE.
SO, AS YOU UNDERSTAND, UH, LOTS GOING ON THIS MORNING.
AND SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I'D LIKE TO ASK FOR MS. DAVIS TO JOIN US AT THE PODIUM WHERE IF SHE IS READY, WE WILL CUE THE FIRST PRESENTATION.
AND MS. DAVIS, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE WITH US THIS MORNING.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE ANYONE WHO'S HERE WITH YOU ON YOUR TEAM, WE WILL BE, UH, GOOD TO GO.
WELL, GOOD MORNING TO EVERYONE.
MY NAME IS JANELLE DAVIS, AND I'M THE EXECUTIVE PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR FOR BNSF RAILWAY WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA.
AND THIS MORNING I'M JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUE TESSA MINER, WHO IS THE DIRECTOR OF TRACKAGE RIGHTS BETWEEN THE BNSF AND, UM, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
FOR US ON OUR END, UH, I'D LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL FOR INVITING US, UH, HERE THIS MORNING WITH YOU TO SPEAK.
UH, TODAY I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW ABOUT OUR COMPANY AND THEN TOUCH ON OUR PRESENCE AND IMPACT ACROSS THE STATE.
THEN DISCUSS OUR OPERATIONS HERE IN THE HOUSTON AREA, AND WE'LL CLOSE BY TALKING ABOUT IMPROVING MOBILITY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO, JUST TO START WITH A BRIEF OVERVIEW ABOUT OUR COMPANY.
BNSF RAILWAY IS ONE OF NORTH AMERICA'S LEADING FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES, AND IS THE PRODUCT OF NEARLY 400, UH, RAILROADS THAT HAVE MERGED OR WERE ACQUIRED, ACQUIRED OVER THE LAST 170 YEARS.
SO A VERY LONG AND RICH HISTORY IN BOTH US, THE US AND IN TEXAS.
WE'RE A BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY COMPANY AND WE'RE HEADQUARTERED IN FORT WORTH, AND WE HAVE ABOUT 34,000 EMPLOYEES WORKING ACROSS OUR NETWORK IN NUMEROUS CAPACITIES IN ORDER TO SUPPORT OUR BUSINESS AND THE OPERATIONS OF OUR RAILROAD.
OUR RAILROAD COVERS THE TWO THIRDS WESTERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
UH, WE HAVE 32,500 ROOT MILES AND SERVE 28 STATES AND THREE CANADIAN PROVINCES.
WE HAVE ABOUT 8,000 LOCOMOTIVES ACROSS OUR NETWORK AND RUN ABOUT 1200 TRAINS A DAY, UM, OVER THAT TWO THIRDS WESTERN PART OF THE US OF OUR NETWORK.
IN TERMS OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
IN ADDITION TO THE RAIL, WE HAVE 13,000 BRIDGES AND 89 TUNNELS.
WE SERVE OVER 40 PORTS AND HAVE 26 INTERMODAL, UH, FACILITIES, THREE OF WHICH ARE LOCATED RIGHT HERE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
BNSF IS MOST CERTAINLY A KEY PART OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
OUR BUSINESS OPERATES 24 HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, TO HELP DELIVER, UH, MANY OF THE CRITICAL GOODS THAT ARE NEEDED BY TEXAS COMMUNITIES.
SO, DESPITE MANY OF THE OBSTACLES THAT WE FACED OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS WITH COVID AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN, OUR FOLKS HAVE REALLY BEEN WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE FO THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED.
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UM, AND I WANTED TO SHARE A STRIKING PIECE OF DATA FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS, AND THAT IS THAT EACH YEAR, THE, IN THE US TRAINS, TRUCKS AND BARGES DELIVER, UH, 57, UH, TONS OF GOODS PER AMERICAN PERSON.SO, UM, A LARGE PART OF THAT IS MOVED BY TRAIN.
SO THAT JUST GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF JUST HOW IMPORTANT OUR BUSINESS IS TO AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS.
SO, TO ZOOM IN A LITTLE BIT FURTHER TO TALK ABOUT OUR OPERATIONS HERE IN TEXAS, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT, UM, OVER 8,000 EMPLOYEES WORKING ACROSS THE STATE WITH A PAYROLL IN 2021 THAT WAS AROUND $817 MILLION.
WE OWN 2,600 MILES OF TRACK ACROSS THE STREET, THE STATE, AND HAVE 23 RAIL YARDS AND THREE INTERMODAL FACILITIES.
AS I MENTIONED, SPREAD OVER VARIOUS PARTS OF THE STATE.
WE CARRY FREIGHT OF MANY KINDS, BUT THE MAJORITY OF THE, THE ITEMS THAT YOU SEE ENTERING AND LEAVING TEXAS ARE CONSUMER GOODS.
SO THAT'S A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT YOU FIND IN LOCAL RETAIL STORES, RESTAURANTS AND AUTO DEALERSHIPS, AS WELL AS INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.
SO FOREST PRODUCTS, CHEMICALS, METALS, AND OTHER GOODS THAT REALLY HELP DRIVE THE ECONOMY.
OUR, UH, INVESTMENT IN THE STATE, UH, LAST YEAR WAS $205 MILLION, AND THE BULK OF THAT INVESTMENT WAS FOCUSED ON, UH, MAINTAINING OUR RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THAT'S IN TOP CONDITION, UH, TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS IN ULTIMATELY TEXAS COMMUNITIES.
SINCE 2019, WE'VE BOUGHT 37 NEW OR EXPANDED FACILITIES TO THE STATE, AND THAT'S BROUGHT ALONG A THOUSAND JOBS AS WELL AS 400 MILLION INVESTMENT.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT OUR ECONOMIC IMPACT ACROSS THE STATE, WE CERTAINLY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT ONE.
SO NOW I'M GONNA ZOOM IN FURTHER AND TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE ALL HERE, UH, TO DISCUSS TODAY.
AND THAT'S OUR OPERATIONS HERE IN HOUSTON.
BNSF IS ONE OF FOUR RAILROADS OPERATING HERE IN THE HOUSTON AREA, ALONG WITH THE UNION PACIFIC PTRA AND KCS.
WE HAVE 344 EMPLOYEES IN THE AREA, MAINLY WORKING IN OPERATING ROLES.
WE HAVE ONE YARD IN THE SOUTH OF WHAT WE CALL THE HOUSTON COMPLEX OR AREA, AND IT'S REALLY COMPRISED OF TWO SMALL YARDS, AND WE CALL THAT YARD THE SOUTH YARD.
25% OF THE TRAINS THAT YOU SEE OPERATING IN HOUSTON BELONG TO US OVER AT THE BNSF.
AND WE ENTER THE COMPLEX FROM, UH, ONE OF SEVERAL ENTRY POINTS, AND THAT INCLUDES THE TNO JUNCTION TO THE SOUTH BELL JUNCTION TO THE NORTHWEST, AS WELL AS THE UPS HOUSTON SUB TO THE NORTHEAST TO NAME A FEW.
ALL DISPATCHING, MEANING THE MOVEMENT OF OUR TRAINS, UM, IS CONTROLLED BY THE UNION PACIFIC.
WHILE THOSE TRAINS ARE DISPATCHED BY OUR FRIENDS OVER AT THE UNION PACIFIC, UM, BY AND LARGE, OUR TRAINS DO HAVE BNSF CREWS ABOARD THEM.
SO, UH, THIS SLIDE IS REALLY JUST GIVING, UM, YOU ALL AN IDEA OF HOW TRAINS ARE, UM, DISPATCHED BY THE UNION PACIFIC.
I KNOW THAT THIS, UH, SLIDE HAS BEEN SHOWN, UM, BY BOTH THE UNION PACIFIC AND JACK HANNA GRIFF, AND PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS, BUT WANTED TO GIVE YOU A VISUAL REP REPRESENTATION OF WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE, UM, SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IT AGAIN.
AND TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE, UM, COORDINATE, UM, TRAIN MOVEMENTS, UM, WITH THE UNION PACIFIC.
UM, WHEN A TRAIN ENTERS THE COMPLEX, THE DISPATCHING IS HANDED TO THE UNION PACIFIC.
SO WE COORDINATE HANDOVER, UM, OF DISPATCHING ONCE THE TRAINS ENTER THE COMPLEX, AND THEN MAKE THE UNION PACIFIC AWARE ALSO OF WHAT WE HAVE COMING IN AND WHEN OUR TRAINS ARE PROJECTED TO ENTER THE AREA.
ALL RAILROADS HAVE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE, UH, CO-LOCATED IN THE SPRING DISPATCHING CENTER, UM, IN ORDER TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND ANTICIPATE ANY ISSUES THAT ARE AFFECTING THAT COULD AFFECT OUR CREW, UM, OR OUR YARDS.
BUT FINAL DECISIONS ON TRAIN MOVEMENT AND ROOTING REST WITH OUR FRIENDS OVER AT THE UNION PACIFIC.
IN TERMS OF, UH, YARD MOVEMENTS, WHEN THERE'S A TRAIN COMING IN TO ONE OF OUR YARD, UH, ONE OF OUR YARDS, AND IN THIS CASE SOUTH YARD, UM, THE UNIT PACIFIC, UH, DISPATCH WILL COMMUNICATE WITH OUR YARD, AND THEN OUR YARD STAFF WILL LET, UH, THEM KNOW WHEN THEY CAN TAKE THE TRAIN.
UM, OUR CREW ALSO COMMUNICATES DIRECTLY WITH OUR YARD MASTER, AND ONCE THE TRAIN IS AT THE YARD, THEY HELP TO COORDINATE GETTING THAT TRAIN INTO THE YARD.
I WILL TELL YOU, UM, GIVEN THE LEVEL OF COORDINATION THAT'S REQUIRED TO GET A TRAIN INTO THE YARD, UM, FOR THAT TRAIN TO GET IN SAFELY, UM, AND FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING SO PROPERLY FOR AN OUTBOUND TRAIN.
UM, ONCE THE TRAIN IS ASSEMBLED AND READY TO GO, UH, OUR YARD WILL COORDINATE AND OUR CREW WILL, UH, WILL COMMUNICATE WITH UP DISPATCH IN ORDER TO COORDINATE THAT DE DEPARTURE.
NOW, TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, IN ANY INCIDENT OR ISSUES GOING ON, ON THE MAIN LINE, IN THE EVENT THAT THERE'S ANY ISSUE THAT'S OCCURRING, THE TRAIN CREW ABOARD ONE OF OUR TRAIN OR
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ANY OF THE TRAINS OPERATING IN THE COMPLEX, UM, WILL COMMUNICATE WITH UP DISPATCHING WHO THEN WILL COMMUNICATE WITH BNSF, UM, TO MAKE US AWARE OF ANY ISSUE GOING ON.AND THEN ANY, UM, PHONE CALL, ANY, ANY ISSUES THAT ARE OCCURRING OR COMMUNITY CALLS THAT COME IN, GO TO OR DIRECTED TO, TO THE UPS.
UM, CALL IN NUMBER NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
GIVEN THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS, AS YOU ALL ARE NOW BEING, UH, VERY MUCH MADE AWARE OF, OF OUR RAIL OPERATIONS HERE IN THE HOUSTON COMPLEX, WE KNOW THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH THE OTHER RAILROADS AND CERTAINLY WITH THE COMMUNITY WHERE WE CAN.
BNSF AND THE UNION PACIFIC HAVE DAILY PHONE CALLS IN ORDER TO PLAN FOR INBOUND AND OUTBOUND TRAINS.
AND WE ALSO HAVE EMPLOYEES CO-LOCATED, AS I MENTIONED IN THE SPRING DISPATCHING CENTER TO TALK ABOUT ISSUES.
AND, UM, OUR FOLKS WHO ARE THERE, UM, IN THE, THE SPRING DISPATCHING CENTER, REALLY SERVE AS LIAISONS BETWEEN, UM, OUR RAILROAD AND THE UNION PACIFIC.
VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS ALSO PARTICIPATE, UM, IN A MONTHLY CALL WITH THE OTHER RAILROADS TO DISCUSS ISSUES AFFECTING OUR OPERATIONS AND TO, UH, DISCUSS ANY UPCOMING RAIL PROJECTS.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE'VE RECENTLY BEEN BEEN, UH, PARTICIPATING IN A WORKING GROUP ORGANIZED, UM, BY JACK HANNAH GRIFF, UM, WITH THE CITIES, THE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, UM, ALONG WITH HOUSTON FIRE AND PD, AND THE OTHER RAILROADS, SO THAT WE'RE ACTIVELY ENGAGED AND CONTINUE COMMUNICATING WITH THE CITY ON RAIL ISSUES.
SO I'D LIKE TO THANK THE CITY OF HOUSTON AS WELL AS JACK, UM, FOR WORKING SO WELL WITH US.
AND I'LL CLOSE THIS MORNING BY TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IMPROVING MOBILITY AT GRADE CROSSINGS.
WE KNOW THAT THERE'S FRICTION BETWEEN OUR TWO COMPETING RAILS, UH, UH, TWO COMPETING, UM, MODES OF TRANSPORTATION BEING, UH, RAIL AND, UH, TRAINS AND VEHICLES.
AND THE ISSUE IS BEING EXACERBATED BY CONTINUED TRAIN OPERATIONS THAT CONTINUE TO GROW WITH A CITY THAT KEEPS GROWING AT A TREMENDOUS RATE.
BUT WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE MOBILITY ISSUES BEING FACED BY THE COMMUNITY AND THE RAILROADS IS A JOINT PROBLEM THAT REQUIRES COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS.
FIRST THINGS FIRST, BNSF IS COMMITTED TO CONTINUING TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE WITH THE OTHER RAILROADS AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS ON ISSUES OF OCCUPIED CROSSINGS.
WE ALSO STAND READY TO WORK WITH PUBLIC AGENCIES AS THEY WORK TO PRIORITIZE AND DEVELOP PLANS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN THE AREA, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WE ALREADY DO.
SO SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW WE'VE DONE THAT, OR WITH THE RECENT T HOUSTON BELMONT FREIGHT STUDY, WHICH IDENTIFIES OPPORTUNITY LOCATIONS FOR FUNDING FOR OVERPASSES AND, AND UNDER OVERPASSES AND OVERPASSES WITH, AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS.
WE'VE ALSO WORKED WITH THE HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL ON THEIR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN AS WELL.
WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF COMMONLY DISCUSSED PINCH POINT AREAS HERE IN HOUSTON, NAMELY THE LONG GREGS AND MACA INTERSECTION WHERE THERE ARE LOTS OF TRAINS ENTERING AND EXITING THE COMPLEX, AND ALSO THE CROSSING TO THE EAST OF OUR SOUTH YARD AT TELEPHONE ROAD, POLK STREET AND LAWNDALE, THAT CONTINUE TO BE AREAS OF CONCERN.
THESE ARE AREAS WHERE WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COMMUNICATING, UM, THE BEST THAT WE POSSIBLY CAN, UM, TO ENSURE THE FLUID MOVEMENT OF OUR TRAINS.
I CAN ALSO TELL YOU THAT GIVEN THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE INTERSECTION AT LONG GREEKS AND MACAU, THAT WE ARE ENGAGED WITH THE UNION PACIFIC TXDOT AND THE CITY TO EXPLORE ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS THAT MIGHT ADDRESS SOME OF THE, THE CONGESTION, UM, THAT'S OCCURRING IN THAT LOCATION.
I, UM, WOULD ALSO CLOSE BY SAYING THAT AS MANY OF YOU ALL ARE AWARE, AND WE WILL HEAR LATER, UM, THROUGH OTHER PRESENTATIONS, THAT THERE'S A LOT OF FUNDING, UM, THAT IS BEING MADE AVAILABLE AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL FOR UPGRADES AND NEWLY ESTABLISHED INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE OVERPASSES AND UNDERPASSES.
SO I CERTAINLY THINK THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY TO PRIORITIZE WHERE THEY WANNA SEE IMPROVEMENTS TO MOBILITY, AND FOR US TO COLLABORATE TO TELL A UNIFIED STORY ABOUT HOW FEDERAL DOLLARS CAN HELP ALLEVIATE THE MOBILITY OF CHALLENGES AND ALSO ADD TO RAIL EFFICIENCY AND FLUIDITY.
AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH OUR RAILROAD PARTNERS AND PUBLIC PARTNERS TO REMAIN, UM, ENGAGED AND SOLUTION ORIENTED ABOUT THE OCCUPIED ISSUE, UH, OCCUPIED CROSSING ISSUE HERE IN THE HOUSTON AREA.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, AND WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. DAVIS, AND, AND FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BE HERE AND CLEARLY FOR THE WORDS YOU'RE SPEAKING, UM, FOR BEING WITH THE, THE CITY COUNCIL, AS WELL AS THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON IN THIS EFFORT.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I, I'VE MENTIONED THAT WE WERE GONNA TAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AT THE END OF ALL THREE PRESENTATIONS.
UM, SO FAR WE HAVE HEARD FROM ONE COUNCIL MEMBER WITH A QUESTION THAT I THINK I'M GONNA HOLD TILL THE END AND TRY TO HANDLE IT THAT WAY, UM, IN THE INTERESTS OF TIME.
SO WITH THAT, MS. DAVIS, LET ME THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION, AND WE'RE GOING TO, UH, PROCEED
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WITH THE AGENDA.AND SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING WITH US TODAY.
UM, AS WE PURSUE THE AGENDA, I WOULD TAKE A MOMENT OF, UH, CHAIR'S PRIVILEGE HERE TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE'VE ALSO BEEN JOINED BY CHIEF SAM PENA FROM THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT.
CHIEF, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
UM, OFF SCRIPT JUST A LITTLE BIT HERE TODAY.
WE'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD JOIN US.
YOU WERE WITH US FOR OUR FIRST PRESENTATION ON THE SAME TOPIC IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY.
AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PERHAPS SET THE CONTEXT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE A MOMENT, UM, TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT, UH, THE STATE OF RAILROAD CROSSINGS IN THE CITY.
WE'RE, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN.
AND THANK YOU, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UM, I, UM, I ATTENDED THIS MEETING BECAUSE IT'S A, IT'S AN IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR, FOR US, UH, IN PUBLIC SAFETY.
UH, I CAN TELL YOU AS WE PRESENTED BACK IN JANUARY, THAT SINCE 2019, WE'VE HAD OVER 3,200, UH, INSTANCES WHERE OUR FIRST RESPONDER VEHICLES HAVE HAD TO DIVERT, UH, AS A RESULT OF, OF THE BLOCKED, UH, INTERSECTIONS AND, AND CROSSINGS OVER THE TRAIN.
SO IT CERTAINLY IS A, A CONCERN FOR US.
UM, THE CREWS IN THESE DISTRICTS WHERE, WHERE THE TRAINS HAVE BEEN AN ISSUE AS FAR AS BLOCKING THE, THE AXIS HAVE ADAPTED THEIR RESPONSE ROUTES.
BUT, UM, EITHER THE TRAINS ARE GETTING LONGER OR WE HAVE MORE INSTANCES OF, OF THESE, UH, THINGS HAPPENING AS FAR AS BLOCKED, UM, CROSSINGS.
UM, WE CAN'T ANTICIPATE EVERY, EVERY INSTANCE.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IS INTERNALLY, WE'VE, EVERY TIME WE HAVE TO DIVERT, EVERY TIME WE HAVE TO ALTER OUR ROUTE BECAUSE OF A BLOCKED, UH, INTERSECTION, THE CREWS THEN REPORT THAT TO OUR COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.
THAT WAY THERE IS A, A DOCUMENTED, UH, RECORD OF, OF ANY DELAYS IN, IN RESPONSE.
AND SO IT IS A CRITICAL ISSUE THAT, UH, THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS.
WE DO NEED TO BRING ALL PARTIES TO THE TABLE TO FIND A SOLUTION ON HOW WE'RE GONNA, UH, ENSURE THAT WE'RE GOOD NEIGHBORS.
UM, WE ARE WILLING TO DO OUR PART, UH, AS FAR AS PUBLIC SAFETY AND RESPONSE.
BUT, UH, WE DO NEED TO HAVE AN OPEN AND ROBUST CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA ADDRESS THIS ISSUE BECAUSE IT'S, UH, AGAIN, OVER 3,200 IS, UH, INSTANCES IN THE LAST THREE YEARS, AND THAT'S NOT INSIGNIFICANT.
SO I'M HERE, UH, AS A, UH, AS AN OBSERVER, AND CERTAINLY I CAN, YOU KNOW, RELAY THE IMPACT THAT IT'S HAVING ON, ON OUR RESPONSES AND OUR ABILITY TO, TO QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY ANSWER THE 9 1 1 CALLS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, CHIEF, FIRST OF ALL, FOR BEING HERE AS WELL AS SETTING THAT CONTEXT.
I KNOW YOU MENTIONED PUBLIC SAFETY THAT IS CLEARLY ON OUR MINDS, AND, UH, FOREMOST YES.
UH, FOR THE REASON OF HAVING THIS MEETING TODAY, WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU FROM COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS.
FIRST OF ALL, THANK, THANK YOU, CHIEF, FOR BEING HERE THIS MORNING, AND THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING OUR JANUARY, UH, MEETING AS WELL, UH, IN JANUARY.
OF COURSE, YOU MENTIONED, UH, SOME STATS IN REGARDS TO THE DELAY OF THE, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT DURING EMERGENCIES AND TRYING TO GET ACROSS RAILROAD TRACKS BECAUSE OF, UH, BLOCK TRAINS.
UM, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE, WE ARE, WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE A, UH, PRESENTATION BY SMART RAILROAD CROSSINGS, UH, A LITTLE LATER, UH, IN REGARDS TO A MONITOR THAT WE ARE WORKING ON HERE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
THAT MONITOR IS TO, UM, KEEP, UH, DATA AND, AND TRACK THE, AS, UH, HOW LONG THE TRAINS ARE BLOCKING THE INTERSECTIONS.
UH, AND WE'RE HOPING THAT IN TIME THAT WILL ALSO HELP THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
I KNOW THAT, UH, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, CHAIR ROBINSON AND I, UH, WE MET WITH THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION VIRTUALLY, AND, UH, MR. UH, CARL ALEXI, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE RAILROAD SAFETY AND CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER FOR THE, UH, FRA, UH, I HAD ASKED, UH, IS THERE A, UH, ANY, UH, POSSIBILITY WHERE THERE COULD BE A MONITOR OR SOMETHING, SO THAT WAY THE RAILROADS CAN NOTIFY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND NOTIFY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO LET THEM KNOW THAT A TRAIN IS BLOCKING, LET'S SAY, FOR EXAMPLE, LAWNDALE.
UH, AND IT'S BEEN THERE FOR AN HOUR, AND WE'RE ANTICIPATING IT'S GONNA BE THERE FOR ANOTHER HOUR.
UH, THAT WAY IF THERE'S AN EMERGENCY WITH HPD OR HF, UH, HFD, UH, YOUR DISPATCHERS CAN THEN, UM, UM, SEND OUT THE EMERGENCY VEHICLE AND LET THEM KNOW, DO NOT GO DOWN LAWNDALE.
UH, BECAUSE THERE'S A BLOCK TRAIN AND THERE WILL BE A BLOCK TRAIN.
UH, SO I WAS TOLD, WE WERE TOLD BY MR. ALEXI, UH, THAT THERE IS SUCH TECHNOLOGY NOW, SO THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SHARING THAT INFORMATION WITH US.
SO WE'RE HOPING, UH, WITH OUR SMART RAILROAD CROSSING, UM, UH, THAT, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, THAT WE CAN ALSO INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION.
UH, SO HOPEFULLY THAT WAY THE RAILROADS CAN WORK WITH THE CITY, UH, SO THAT WAY WE CAN LET HFD AND HPD KNOW WHEN THERE'S A TRAIN BLOCKING.
AND THAT WAY THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES
[00:25:01]
ARE NOT GOING DOWN A ROAD WHEN THEY KNOW THAT THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, NOT KNOWING THAT THERE'S A TREATMENT AT THAT TIME.UH, HOPEFULLY THIS WILL SAVE TIME ON EMERGENCIES.
SO, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, WORKING ON THAT TECHNOLOGY AS WELL.
WELL, YOU KNOW, LOOK, ANY TECHNOLOGY, ANYTIME WE CAN LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY, WE WE'RE, WE WELCOME THAT MM-HMM
UM, CERTAINLY THE, THE CREWS, THE PRIMARY, THE FIRST RESPONSE CREWS IN THE DISTRICTS WHERE WE HAVE, UH, ISSUES, UM, HISTORICALLY HAVE ADAPTED AS I, AS I SAID, AND SOMETIMES THEY ANTICIPATE, UM, THE, THE ROADS BEING BLOCKED.
SO THEY CHOOSE ALTERNATE ROUTES.
THE TROUBLE IS WITH THE SYSTEM AS ACTIVE AS OURS MM-HMM
WE HAVE, UH, UNITS RESPONDING FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE CITY THAT MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH THE, WITH THE ISSUES IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS.
UM, SO LOOK, ANYTIME WE CAN LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY, ANYTIME THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN, UH, HAVE INFORMATION AHEAD OF TIME MM-HMM
UH, IT CERTAINLY WILL, WILL ASSIST US IN BEING ABLE TO EFFICIENTLY RESPOND.
AND, AND AGAIN, CHIEF, THANKS FOR BEING HERE, FOR ALL YOU REPRESENT IN OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT, UM, IN THE CONVERSATION THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS REFERRED TO WITH THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, I WANNA SAY GOING INTO THAT, THEIR RELUCTANCE TO BE A PART OF THIS PRESENCE PRESENTATION AND, AND, UH, MEETING TODAY WAS OF A GREAT CONCERN TO ME.
I, I, IN FACT, I, I DON'T OFTEN GET CROSS, BUT, UH, I WAS VERY CONCERNED WITH THEM.
UM, BUT IN THE COURSE OF THE DISCUSSION WITH THEM, THEY WERE FORTHCOMING WITH, UM, THEIR INTEREST IN WORKING WITH US.
AND, AND NOT ONLY IN THE WAYS, AS COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGO SAID, THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PROVIDE VITAL DATA AND STATISTICS ABOUT THE CROSSINGS.
AND I THINK AS, AS A BRIDGE TO THE NEXT PART OF OUR AGENDA, THAT IS WHAT WE WILL HEAR FROM, UM, NEXT ON THE AGENDA.
SO, CHIEF, WITH YOU BEING HERE, THANKS AGAIN.
AND I BELIEVE WE MAY HAVE JUST HAD ONE MORE QUESTION.
UH, THIS IS A QUESTION FOR YOU, CHIEF.
I'M GONNA READ FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ABEY CAYMAN.
UM, WHEN EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ARE DIVERTED, IS THAT EXTRA TIME TAKEN TO GET TO THE SCENE? ABSOLUTELY.
IF, UH, IF WE HAVE TO REROUTE, UM, WE ALWAYS CHOOSE THE, THE QUICKEST AND MOST DIRECT ROUTE TO, TO THE ADDRESS THAT WE'RE RESPONDING TO, ANYTIME WE COME UP, UH, ON, ON AN OBSTACLE THAT WE HAVE TO REROUTE, CERTAINLY THAT'S GONNA ADD TIME TO THE RESPONSE TIME.
AND SO, AGAIN, LOOK, ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO PARTNER WITH THE, UH, THE RAIL COMPANIES TO ENSURE THAT WE EITHER RECEIVING INFORMATION AHEAD OF TIME OR PREVENT THOSE, UH, THOSE BLOCKING, UH, THOSE INTERSECTIONS FROM BEING BLOCKED FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, UH, WE ARE MORE THAN THAN HAPPY TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT CONVERSATION, FACILITATING ANY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE CITY AND, UH, THE INDUSTRY, I THINK IS A SHARED GOAL FOR THE OUTCOME OF ALL OF THESE, UH, THESE MEETINGS.
THANK WITH THAT, UM, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN FOR THAT QUESTION.
THE OTHER QUESTION THAT YOU'VE ASKED, WE WILL HOLD, UH, FOR WHEN WE GET CLOSER TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, WE WILL NOW PROCEED TO THE THIRD ITEM ON TODAY'S AGENDA, WHICH IS FUNDING AND PRIORITIES FOR RAIL.
THIS IS OUR MS. DAVIS, THIS IS VERONICA DAVIS, THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, UH, ALONG WITH CATHERINE SUMMERLAND, OUR SENIOR STAFF ANALYST, ALSO FROM PUBLIC WORKS IN THE TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS DIVISION.
UH, LADIES, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
I THINK WE'RE QUEING YOUR PRESENTATION.
AND MS. DAVIS, IF YOU'D LIKE TO ADDRESS SOME OPENING REMARKS AND RECOGNIZE STAFF, WE'D APPRECIATE IT.
SO, GOOD MORNING, CHAIR ROBINSON, CHAIR GALLEGOS, AND CHAIR ALCORN, MEMBERS OF THE THREE COMMITTEES, THE SPEAKERS, AND THE RESIDENTS LISTENING NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO MY NAME IS VERONICA DAVIS.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS WITHIN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
AND THEN MY CO-PRESENTER IS CATHERINE SUMMERLAND, SENIOR STAFF ANALYST.
WITHIN TDO I'M ALSO JOINED, UH, BY SOME OF T D'S FINEST ONLINE.
UH, AND THAT'S IAN LACHE, MANAGING ENGINEER, UH, CATHERINE PARKER, WHO IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GULF COAST RAIL DISTRICT.
AND SO TODAY WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE FUNDING PRIORITIES AVAILABLE, BOTH FEDERAL, REGIONAL, AND LOCAL.
WE'LL TOUCH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT QUIET ZONES, UH, AND THEN WE WILL END WITH SOME OF OUR PRIORITY PROJECTS, SOME THAT HAVE BEEN MENTIONED BY THE PREVIOUS SPEAKER.
AND SO AN ACRONYM THAT EVERYONE WILL HEAR THROUGHOUT IS IJA, AND THAT IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT.
AND THAT IS THE FEDERAL MONEY, UM, THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE CLAMORING, UH, TO SEE WHAT WILL COME TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO, WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, WE ALWAYS LIKE TO REMIND EVERYONE OUR PURPOSE.
AND TOGETHER WE, UH, WE CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR HOUSTON TO THRIVE.
AND PARTICULARLY WITH TDO, I THINK MANY OF US THINK OF US AS ROADS AND DRAINAGE, BUT IN ADDITION, WE DO
[00:30:01]
SUPPORT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND JUST DUTIES AS ASSIGNED.UH, SO WE ARE ALWAYS HERE TO SERVE, UH, THE RESIDENTS AND VISITORS OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UM, OUR FIVE TO THRIVE VALUES ARE INTEGRITY, TEAMWORK, OWNERSHIP, COMMUNICATION, AND RESPECT.
AND ON THE, UM, VALUE OF TEAMWORK, UH, I'M ALSO JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUES IN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, DAVID FIELDS, CHIEF TRANSPORTATION PLANNER.
OUR TEAMS WORK VERY CLOSELY ON THESE PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION ISSUES TOGETHER.
SO, I WANNA START OFF, I KNOW THAT AS EVERYONE IS THINKING ABOUT THIS FUNDING, AND EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THE FEDERAL FUNDING WORKS, JUST STARTING OFF WITH A BIGGER FRAMEWORK, PICTURE OF FORMULA VERSUS DISCRETIONARY.
UH, SO FORMULA MONEY IS, UM, SO I WANNA BE CLEAR, THERE'S NO ATM, UH, THERE'S NO BANK THAT CITY OF HOUSTON CAN JUST GO AND WITHDRAW THE MONEY.
UH, THE FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY THESE TWO MEANS.
SO FORMULA BASICALLY MEANS THAT IT'S ALLOCATED TO THE STATE, UH, BASED ON WHATEVER THAT FORMULA IS SET BY CONGRESS.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, SOME OF THESE FORMULA PO UH, FUNDINGS MAY BE APPORTIONED BY PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION AND POPULATION DENSITY.
UH, AND THEN REGARDLESS OF HOW THAT MONEY IS ALLOCATED, THOSE FUNDS FLOW THROUGH THE STATE.
AND SO IN OUR CASE, THAT WOULD BE THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TDOT.
UH, AND THEN A FUNDING DECISION CAN BE MADE BY EITHER THE STATE OR THE MPO HOUSTON GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL IN OUR, UH, CASE.
SO AS AN EXAMPLE, THERE WAS A PRESS RELEASE RECENTLY ABOUT SOME OF THE BRIDGE FORMULA MONEY.
UM, ABOUT FIVE, UH, 576.8 MILLION IS COMING TO THE STATE OF TEXAS FOR BRIDGES.
SO THAT WILL GO TO TXDOT AND THEN TDOT WILL APPORTION THAT MONEY ACCORDINGLY.
GENERALLY, UM, THAT IS GOING TO BE FOR BRIDGES IN POOR CONDITION.
AND SO OUR BRIDGE TEAM IS COORDINATING VERY CLOSELY WITH TDOT TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHEN THAT MONEY WILL BECOME AVAILABLE.
UM, SO ON THE DISCRETIONARY SIDE, THESE ARE COMPETITIVE GRANTS BASED ON RULES AND CRITERIA SET BY U-S-D-O-T.
AND THEN TYPICALLY THOSE FUNDS WILL FLOW DIRECTLY TO WHOEVER THE APPLICANT IS.
UM, AND AS AN EXAMPLE, WE RECENTLY, UH, SUBMITTED A GRANT FOR THE REBUILDING AMERICA INFRASTRUCTURE, SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY, OR THE RAISE GRANT.
AND SO THE KEY THINGS ABOUT THE COMPETITIVE SIDE OF IT IS THAT WE MAY HAVE PROJECTS FURTHER IN DEVELOPMENT, BUT THERE'S VERY KEY CRITERIA THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND SO WE WANNA SUBMIT A COMPETITIVE PROJECT.
AND SO IN ORDER TO SUBMIT THAT COMPETITIVE PROJECT, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THE CRITERIA.
WE MAY HAVE A PRIORITY LIST, BUT SOMETHING WILL MOVE TO THE TOP.
AND TELEPHONE ROAD IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THAT.
IT'S NOT IN OUR CURRENT CIP, THAT PORTION THAT WE SUBMITTED IS NOT IN OUR CIP.
HOWEVER, WE HAD ENOUGH PLANNING STUDIES, UM, AND GUIDANCE TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THAT ONE FORWARD.
AND IT SCORED VERY WELL ON THE BENEFITS COST ANALYSIS.
AND SO THAT IS WHY WE SUBMITTED THAT PROJECT.
UM, AND SO JUST SOME NOTES, AGAIN, IT, YOU KNOW, FOR COMPETITIVE, IT REALLY NEEDS TO MEET THE CRITERIA.
UH, AND THE OTHER IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT, UH, DISCRETIONARY IS THAT IT NEEDS TO HAVE THE SUPPORT OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION IN DC.
UM, AND SO WHEN THEY ARE PASSIONATELY FOR THINGS, THEY WILL PASSIONATELY ADVOCATE FOR US WITH THE U-S-D-O-T IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A WINNING PROJECT.
UM, SO I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL.
SO ON MONDAY WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET IN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, AND TDO WILL BE PART OF THAT.
AND SO THE BIG PICTURE OF THIS SLIDE IS JUST TO TALK ABOUT THE BUCKETS OF MONEY THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US.
AND SO, AS WE ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION ABOUT FUNDING TODAY, UM, IT'S TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT WE HAVE ONE BUCKET OF MONEY TO WHICH WE CAN FUND OUR REPAIRS, OUR REHABS, AND OUR RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMS. AND SO FOR A LOT OF THIS FEDERAL MONEY THAT IS AVAILABLE, THERE IS A LOCAL MATCH.
AND DEPENDING ON THE PROGRAM, IT CAN RANGE ANYWHERE FROM 20 AS HIGH AS 50%.
AND SO THE HIGHER THE LOCAL MATCH, THE MORE COMPETITIVE THE PROJECT.
AND SO I SAY ALL OF THIS IS EVEN AS WE PURSUE FEDERAL MONEY, IT'S STILL COMING OUT OF THE SAME BUCKET THAT WE DELIVER ALL OF OUR OTHER SERVICES.
UM, AND THAT ALSO INCLUDES HOW WE FUND THE 900 EMPLOYEES THAT WORK FOR TDO.
AND SO IN PURSUING SOME OF THESE PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY NOT WITHIN OUR CIP PLAN, IT MAY MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS OF SHIFTING SOME OF THE PRIORITIES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE CIP PLAN.
AND I WILL PASS IT TO CATHERINE TO TALK ABOUT THE FEDERAL FUNDING AND THEN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HGAC TIP FUNDING.
[00:35:02]
IS THIS ONE? GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF.MY NAME IS CATHERINE SUMMERLAND, SENIOR STAFF ANALYST WITH, UH, TDO.
I'M HERE TO DISCUSS OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE IIJA FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND STAKEHOLDERS.
THE PASSAGE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT, OR THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW HAS PROVIDED THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION ITS MOST SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS SINCE ITS CREATION, U-S-D-O-T AND RA'S.
STRATEGIC AND OBJECTIVE GOALS RANK SAFETY AS ITS NUMBER ONE CRITERIA, RESILIENCE IN ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE, PARTICULARLY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH THE JUSTICE 40 INITIATIVE AND RACIAL EQUITY AND ECONOMIC INCLUSION AS ITS PRIORITIES.
FRA FUNDING IN THE BIL IS SPLIT BETWEEN ADVANCED APPROPRIATIONS, WHICH IS NEW FUNDING THAT BECOMES AVAILABLE FOR OBLIGATIONS STARTING ONE FISCAL YEAR AFTER THE FEDERAL BUDGET YEAR, AND AUTHORIZED FUNDING, WHICH IS MONEY AUTHORIZED TO BE SPENT IMMEDIATELY.
THE TOTAL AMOUNTS TO A $102 BILLION INVESTMENT OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS ON RAIL RELATED PROJECTS.
TWO PROMISING GRANT PROGRAMS FOR HOUSTON ARE THE CONSOLIDATED RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS GRANT, OR CHRISSY AND THE RAILROAD CROSSING ELIMINATION GRANT.
BOTH PROGRAMS ARE DISCRETIONARY IN NATURE AND ARE COMPETITIVELY RANKED WITH OTHER JURISDICTIONS NATIONWIDE.
THE EXISTING CHRISSY GRANT PROGRAM HAS SEEN ITS FUNDING LEVELS INCREASED TO 1 BILLION ANNUALLY FOR BOTH APPROPRIATED AND UNAUTHORIZED SPENDING FOR A TOTAL OF 10 BILLION OVER THE, IN THE AGGREGATE OVER FIVE YEARS.
THE RAILROAD CROSSING ELIMINA ELIMINATION GRANT PROGRAM IS NEW AND IS ALLOTTED 3 BILLION ANNUALLY FOR APPROPRIATED SPENDING, AND 2.5 BILLION IN AUTHORIZED SPENDING FOR A TOTAL OF 5.5 BILLION OVER FIVE YEARS.
BOTH GRANTS REQUIRE A MINIMUM 20% LOCAL MATCH.
THE CHRISSY GRANT SUPPORTS RAIL ENHANCEMENTS THAT MITIGATES RAIL CROSSING, CONGESTION, RAIL, RAIL, LOCATION, AND IMPROVEMENTS, AS WELL AS THE DEPLOYMENT OF RAILROAD SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.
THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO FUND PROJECTS THAT IMPROVE THE SAFETY, EFFICIENCY AND OR RELIABILITY OF INTERCITY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT RAIL SYSTEMS. THIS NOFO IS EXPECTED IN AUGUST, 2022.
THE RAILROAD CROSSING ELIMINATION GRANT TARGETS GRADE SEPARATION CONFLICTS THROUGH THE USE OF BRIDGES, EMBANKMENTS OR TUNNELS, AND EMPHASIZES SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS UTILIZING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS.
THIS GRANT'S PURPOSE IS TO FUND HIGHWAY RAIL OR PATHWAY TO RAIL, UH, GRADE CROSSING IMPROVEMENTS THAT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING SAFETY AND MOBILITY OF PEOPLE AND GOODS.
THIS NOFO IS EXPECTED IN JUNE OF 2022.
OTHER FUNDING SOURCES INCLUDE FORMULA FUNDS DISTRIBUTED FROM FEDERAL TO STATE TO REGIONAL MPOS USING SPECIFIC CRITERIA.
GRADE SEPARATIONS ARE ELIGIBLE UNDER THE STBG AND NHPP PROGRAMS. THERE IS CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING OR COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING, WHICH IS CAPPED AROUND APPROXIMATELY 10 MILLION PER CONGRESSIONAL OFFICIAL AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO A COMPETITIVE AWARD PROCESSES.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS IS CURRENTLY SOLICITING FUNDING REQUESTS FOR 2023.
UH, OF NOTE COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS, BILL KELLY WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE HAS CONFIRMED THAT BOTH OFFICES FOR REPRESENTATIVE GARCIA AND JACKSON LEE HAVE RECEIVED DOCUMENTATION ON QUIET ZONES AND HAVE, UH, ARE NOW CONSIDERING, UH, THESE REQUESTS.
DAVIS BACON AND BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAMS. THEY APPLY TO DURABLE GOODS LIKE IRON AND STEEL AND SOME CONSIDERATIONS WITH THIS.
UH, THE UTILIZATION OF BUY AMERICA, UH, RISKS, DRIVING UP COSTS THAT WE CURRENTLY PAY FOR MATERIALS DUE TO EXISTING SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGES AND, UH, INFLATION.
THE FEDERAL GRANT PROCESS IS QUITE LENGTHY.
THE PRE-AWARD STAGE IS THE TIME TO PREPARE APPLICATIONS THAT ADDRESS COMPETITIVE SELECTION CRITERIA OUTLINED IN THE NOFO.
U-S-D-O-T WANTS APPLICANTS TO ADDRESS CLEARLY WHETHER THE APPLICANT IS SEEKING FUNDS WITHIN AN AREA OF PERSISTENT POVERTY, WHETHER THE PROJECT IS IN A HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY, WHETHER
[00:40:01]
THERE ARE EXISTING SAFETY OR PROJECT DELAYS, WHETHER THESE PROJECTS ARE MULTIMODAL ENHANCEMENTS, WHETHER THE PROJECT IS WITHIN AN EVACUATION ROUTE.THE DURATION FROM PRE-AWARD TO PROJECT CLOSEOUT IS ESTIMATED AT AROUND FIVE YEARS, ASSUMING DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE GRANT GOES AS PLANNED.
NOW I'M GONNA SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE ON, UH, H-G-A-C-R-M-P-O AND THE TIP, UH, FUNDING OPTIONS.
NPOS AND STATE DOTS DEVELOP TIPS AND STATEWIDE TIPS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS AIP THAT DESCRIBE HOW THEY INTEND TO USE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR PROJECTS THAT HAVE REGIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.
FEDERAL RULES DICTATE THAT ALL FEDERALLY FUNDED ASSISTED PROJECTS MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE TIP TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING.
CERTAIN TIP PROJECTS MUST INCLUDE A LOCAL MATCH SHORT TO LONG RANGE.
REGIONALLY SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS ARE SPLIT ACROSS VARIOUS PLANNING CRITERIA AND FURTHER SUBDIVIDED BY THEIR RESPECTIVE FORMULA FUNDING STREAMS. THE PROJECT LIST IS APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND TRANSPORTATION POLICY COUNCIL, THEN INCLUDED IN THE STATEWIDE TIP ON MAY 20TH.
THE TPC IS SET TO APPROVE THE 20 23 20 26 TIP FOR INCLUSION INTO THE STATE TIP IN JUNE OF 2022.
AND REGARDING THE CALL FOR PROJECTS, THIS REQUEST FOR PROJECTS INFORMS THE NEXT ITERATION OF THE STATE TIP THE LAST FEW WEEKS.
UH, HGAC HAS BEEN CONDUCTING WORKSHOPS TO IRON OUT PLANNING FACTOR CRITERIA SLATED FOR FEDERAL FUNDING, UH, WITH APPROVAL BY THE TPC.
THERE MAY BE MORE WORKSHOPS IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO FINALIZE PROJECT CRITERIA.
FINALLY, UH, COLLABORATION ON GRAIN SEPARATIONS AND QUIET ZONES CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED.
U-S-D-O-T ENCOURAGES CITY LEADERS AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH NPOS DOTS AND WITH LEGISLATORS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS AND OTHERS TO ADD PROJECTS TO OR DELETE PROJECTS FROM THE TIP OR STEP ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
LETTERS OF SUPPORT DIRECT OUTREACH TO U-S-D-O-T OR FRA AND SHARED CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS THE 20% LOCAL MATCH WILL HELP MOVE PROJECTS TO IMPLEMENTATION FASTER.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH MS. SUMMERLAND.
AND I THINK OUR NEXT PART OF THIS AGENDA ITEM IS TO GO TO MS. DAVIS.
I WANTED TO ASK, 'CAUSE I THINK THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME CONFUSION BETWEEN YOUR WORDS AND THE SLIDE THAT WE SAW, UM, WHEN YOU MENTIONED A MOMENT AGO THAT THE NOFA WAS FOR JUNE, 2022, I BELIEVE THAT THE SLIDE SAID AUGUST, 2022.
SO I WANT YOU TO SAY WHICH ONE OF THOSE IS CORRECT AND WE'LL, SO CHRISSY IS DUE IN AUGUST OF 2022, AND THE RAILROAD CROSSING ELIMINATION GRANT IS DUE IN JUNE OF 2022.
I BELIEVE THAT'S NOW ON THE RECORD.
AND, UH, MS. DAVIS, BACK TO YOU THEN FOR THE NEXT SEGMENT.
UM, SO THE NEXT, WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT QUIET ZONES.
SO IN JANUARY, UH, THE COMMITTEE MEETING, WE DISCUSSED QUIET ZONES AND WE SHOWED THIS SLIDE.
AND SO JUST REORIENTED PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO SEE THAT PRESENTATION.
UH, SO FEDERAL REGULATION REQUIRES THAT TRAINS, UH, HORNS BE SOUNDED 15 TO 20 SECONDS BEFORE ENTERING A PUBLIC ROAD RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS, AND NO MORE THAN A QUARTER MILE IN ADVANCE.
AND SO A QUIET ZONE IS A SECTION OF RAIL LINE OF AT LEAST, UH, A HALF A MILE IN LENGTH THAT CONTAINS ONE OR MORE CONSECUTIVE PUBLIC ROAD.
AND RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS AND HORNS, UH, ARE NOT ROUTINELY SOUNDED WHEN TRAINS ARE APPROACHING THE CROSSINGS.
UM, HORNS MAY SOUND IN AN EMERGENCY AND IT DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE BELLS AT THE CROSSING.
AND SO THERE'S VERY SPECIFIC CRITERIA IN ORDER TO CREATE A QUIET ZONE, UH, DEPENDING ON THE CROSSING, IT MAY REQUIRE, UH, INVESTMENT BY THE RAILROAD.
UH, AND THEN THE CITY HAS THE PORTIONS ON OUR SIDE.
SO IT'S A LOT OF COORDINATION THAT HAPPENS TO GET THESE TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND AS A REMINDER, IT ALWAYS TAKES MONEY.
UH, CURRENTLY THERE'S NO FEDERAL MONEY SPECIFIC TO QUIET ZONES.
UM, THERE'S WAYS TO BE CREATIVE TO USE, UH, MONEY THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR SAFETY AND OTHERS, UM, FOR QUIET ZONES.
BUT THERE'S NOTHING, UH, SPECIFIC TO QUIET ZONES.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO FUNDING THE NEW QUIET, NEW QUIET ZONES, WE CONTINUALLY HAVE TO MAINTAIN THE EXISTING QUIET ZONES.
UH, AND I WILL SAY, YOU KNOW, THE QUIET ZONE COSTS, THEY CAN RANGE ON AVERAGE, UH, WE'RE ABOUT 350,000 PER QUIET ZONE.
LIKE I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER GALLS IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE EAST END TOO.
[00:45:01]
MORE BECAUSE OF THE SIGNALIZATION THAT IS REQUIRED.UM, AND I WILL SAY JUST IN GENERAL RIGHT NOW WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN, UH, ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES SIGNALIZATION ON THE CITY SIDE, WE ARE STRUGGLING, UH, TO GET EQUIPMENT.
UH, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE SOME TRAFFIC SIGNAL PROJECTS THAT ARE GOING UP, AND WE ARE AT ABOUT SIX MONTHS, UH, JUST TO EVEN GET THE POLES.
UM, SO SUPPLY CHAIN IS STILL, HAS NOT RECOVERED YET, UM, AS WE ARE STILL IN THIS PANDEMIC, MAYBE ENDEMIC.
SO THIS IS JUST A MAP OF THE QUIET ZONE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE THE EXISTING QUIET ZONES.
EFFECTIVE MARCH 31ST, 2022, UH, THERE WILL BE A FIFTH 15TH QUIET ZONE IN DISTRICT H MCKEES STREET.
UH, IT'S NOT CURRENTLY ON THIS MAP, IT'S ON THE NEXT MAP, BUT THAT, UH, WILL BE EFFECTIVE, UH, MAY 31ST.
AND WE HAVE, UH, SUBMITTED OUT DOCUMENTATION TO THE NECESSARY PARTIES FOR THAT NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS THE MAP OF THE REQUESTED AND PENDING QUIET ZONES.
THE ONES THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW ARE THE ONES THAT ARE PENDING.
AND AGAIN, IT REQUIRES A LOT OF COORDINATION, ONE ON OUR SIDE, UM, IN ORDER TO, UM, MAKE WHATEVER THE NECESSARY UPGRADES ARE AND COORDINATION ON THE RAIL SIDE FOR ANYTHING THAT THEY MAY NEED TO UPGRADE BEFORE WE'RE ABLE TO SUBMIT OUR APPLICATION.
SO I WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE GRADE SEPARATION PRIORITIES.
SO AS CATHERINE MENTIONED, UM, THERE IS THE RAIL ELIMINATION FUNDING THAT IS, UH, BECOMING AVAILABLE.
UM, AND SO OUR TEAM IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON THIS.
I WILL SAY THAT ALTHOUGH WE KNOW THE NOFO IS COMING OUT, UH, WE HAVE NOT SEEN IT.
SO WE ARE NOT, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CRITERIA IS.
UM, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE ARE THINKING, UM, BASED ON PROJECT READINESS.
SO, UH, FOR ALL OF THE GRADE SEPARATION, FOR ALL OF THE AT GRADE RAIL CROSSINGS, WE'VE ANALYZED ALL OF THEM.
UM, AND WE'VE CREATED A, UH, SPREADSHEET THAT BEGINS TO PRIORITIZE THEM.
AND THESE ARE SOME OF THE READINESS FACTORS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
SO SOMEWHERE WE HAVE PLANNED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, AS AN EXAMPLE, ANTOINE DRIVE, UH, IS CURRENTLY UNDER DESIGN.
AND SO THAT IS ONE, UM, THAT WOULD BE A PLANNED CONSTRUCTION PROJECT THAT INCLUDES AN AT GREAT RAIL CROSSING.
WE LOOK AT STREET CLASSIFICATIONS, TRAFFIC VOLUMES.
AND I DO WANNA BE CLEAR, ALTHOUGH WE ARE LOOKING AT THE VEHICLE TRAFFIC VOLUMES, WE DO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT PEOPLE ARE BIKING AND WALKING ACROSS THE RAIL.
UM, BUT WE JUST HAVE BETTER DATA FOR, UH, MOTOR VEHICLES.
UM, WE LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF REPORTED BLOCK CROSSINGS, AND SO WORKING COORDINATION WITH JESSE BOUNDS, UM, AS HE GETS THE TECHNOLOGY UP AND RUNNING TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT DATA, UM, TO HELP INFORM WHAT WE DO.
UH, WE LOOK AT PROXIMITY TO PUBLIC DESTINATIONS, COMMUNITY CENTERS, SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES, HEALTHCARE FACILITIES, UM, HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CATHERINE MENTIONED THAT IS A PRIORITY OF THIS PARTICULAR ADMINISTRATION IS RACIAL EQUITY.
AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE FACTOR INTO, UH, LOOKING AT THAT SPREADSHEET.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY IS ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY.
UM, AND SO THIS IS WHERE, UM, THINGS THAT MAY, UH, BE A PRIORITY MAY MOVE UP A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE A BLOCKED, UH, CROSSING THERE IS NO OTHER WAY AROUND, AS YOU KNOW, EVEN CHIEF PENON POINTED OUT.
SO, YOU KNOW, ONE EXAMPLE IS, UH, YOU KNOW, HEIGHTS BOULEVARD HAS AN AT GREAT CROSSING, UM, BUT THERE'S VERY CLOSELY YOU COULD TAKE YALE OR YOU COULD TAKE STU, UH, TO GET ON THE OTHER SIDE.
SO THERE ARE EXAMPLES IN THE EAST END WHERE THERE IS NO OTHER WAY AROUND.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE ELEVATE THINGS IN IMPORTANCE, LOOKING AT ACCESS IN CONNECTIVITY, UM, AND JUST AS A NOTE.
AND SO EVEN THOUGH WE'VE DONE THIS QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT THAT BEGINS TO RANK THE GREAT CROSSINGS, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE GONNA GO IN THAT SPECIFIC ORDER BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO GONNA BE SOME QUALITATIVE PRIORITIES THAT COME IN.
UM, SO WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO BALANCE INVESTMENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE TO LOOK AT THE PARTNERS THAT WE HAVE AT THE TABLE, SO THAT SUPPORT FOR TXDOT, OUR ABILITY TO COORDINATE WITH THE RAIL.
AND THEN, UM, LASTLY AGAIN, THE SUPPORT OF OUR DELEGATION THAT REPRESENTS US, UH, IN DC IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE THEIR SUPPORT ON THESE TYPE OF PROJECTS.
AND THEN JUST EMPHASIZING THAT THESE FEDERAL GRANTS DO HAVE TIME LIMITS ON THEM.
SO WE'RE ALSO THINKING ABOUT PROJECT READINESS.
SO THE PROJECTS I AM GONNA HIGHLIGHT ARE ONES THAT WE ARE AT SOME LEVEL OF DESIGN AND SOME LEVEL OF PROJECT READINESS.
AND SO DEPENDING, AGAIN ON THAT CRITERIA THAT COMES AVAILABLE, WE BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DELIVER THEM WITHIN WHATEVER THOSE LIMITS THAT ARE SET BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
I'M GONNA START WITH THE GULF COAST RAIL DISTRICT SEPARATION.
UM, SO THE GULF COAST RAIL DISTRICT HAS BEEN WORKING ON, UH, TWO KEY SEPARATIONS, COMMERCE NAVIGATION, WHICH IS AT ABOUT 60%
[00:50:01]
DESIGN, UH, SAMSON AND YORK, WHICH IS AT ABOUT 30% DESIGN.UM, IN TERMS OF READINESS, THESE PROJECTS HAVE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE.
SO ANYTIME WE HAVE FEDERAL PROJECTS, WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE NEPA PROCESS, NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT.
AND SO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH A NEPA PROCESS TO GET THE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE.
AND SO THESE TWO PARTICULAR GRAY CROSSINGS HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE.
WE DO HAVE FEDERAL MONEY RIGHT NOW, UM, BUT BECAUSE OF TIME, UM, BECAUSE OF INCREASED COST OF CONSTRUCTION, THE INCREASED COST OF RIGHT OF WAY, WE DO HAVE ABOUT A $30 MILLION FUNDING GAP, UH, FOR BOTH OF THOSE.
SO AS MENTIONED BY, UH, MS. DAVIS, LONG GRIGGS AND MACAU, UM, THIS ONE RANKS IN THE STATE, UH, AS A KEY GRADE CROSSING THAT NEEDS TO BE SEPARATED.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH PARTNERS AT THE GREATER SOUTHEAST MANAGEMENT DISTRICT.
THEY'RE CURRENTLY LEADING THE STUDY THAT'S LOOKING AT THE GRADE SEPARATION.
UH, TXDOT STATE HIGHWAY 35, UH, NEEDS TO COME OVER.
SO, UH, AND THEY ARE LOOKING AT A LETTING DATE, UH, IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
AND SO THAT IS, UH, RAISING THIS IN, IN, IN, UH, IN PRIORITY, IF YOU WILL.
UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UH, UNION PACIFIC AND BE AN SF ON THIS.
UM, AND SO IN AN IDEAL WORLD, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE TIMING, UH, BECAUSE IF TECH DOT GOES FIRST, THEN WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD THIS UNDER TECH DOT, BUT OVER THE RAIL.
UM, SO, UH, IT ALL BECOMES VERY COMPLICATED.
THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, SO THIS IS JUST A SPAGHETTI CONCEPT, UH, THAT IS VERY COMPLICATED.
BUT ESSENTIALLY THERE WOULD BE THREE TIERS.
AT LEVEL ONE YOU WOULD HAVE, UH, BNSF AND UP LEVEL TWO WOULD BE THE CITY'S PROJECT, WHICH IS THE GRO, UH, GREG'S LONG MACAU.
AND SO WE HAVE BEEN COORDINATING WITH METRO.
IT WOULD ALSO INCLUDE BIKE AND PED ACCESS.
AND THEN LEVEL THREE WOULD BE TDOT THAT HAS TO GET OVER ALL OF THIS.
UM, AND IT IS A VERY CONSTRAINED RIGHT OF WAY.
SO WE ARE CONSTRAINED BY RAIL AND WE'RE ALSO CONSTRAINED BY THE COLUMNS FOR STATE HIGHWAY 35.
AND SO THIS JUST SHOWS AGAIN, THE TIERS AND THE DIFFERENT CLEARANCES THAT WE NEED TO GET OVER THE TRAINS, GET OVER, UH, METRO AND ALL OF THEIR CATENARY FOR ANY FUTURE 'CAUSE WE DON'T WANNA PRECLUDE THEIR ABILITY TO BUILD IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN STATE HIGHWAY 35, THAT NEEDS TO GET OVER THIS NEXT SLIDE.
THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS CURRENTLY WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH METRO ON THEIR UNIVERSITY BUS, RAPID TRANSIT, BRT CORRIDOR.
UM, WE ARE MEETING PRETTY MUCH BIWEEKLY AT THIS POINT.
THEY'RE WORKING THROUGH THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PHASE.
THESE ARE RIGHT NOW AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL CONCEPT.
IT WOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE READY FOR THIS ROUND OF FUNDING.
UH, BUT WE ARE LOOKING AT FOUR GRADE SEPARATIONS.
UM, WE HAVE VERY HIGH LEVEL CONCEPTS, BUT AGAIN, THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING FOR FUTURE NO FOS THAT MAY BE COMING AVAILABLE.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, MS. DAVIS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT, UM, PRESENTATION AND, AND YOU TWO, MS. SUMMERLAND, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TODAY.
I THINK YOU JUST HAD THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE DAY, MS. DAVIS REFERRING TO THE MACAU, UH, GRIGGS IN LONG INTERSECTION AS IT ALL BECOMES COMPLICATED, UM, SECTIONALLY SPEAKING AND, UH, THE SPAGHETTI BOWL YOU REFERRED TO, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA BE WATCHING THAT CAREFULLY.
UM, I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THOSE DIAGRAMS TODAY TO ILLUSTRATE THAT POINT.
WITH THAT, WE HAVE SOLICITED QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS FROM OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, AND I'M SEEING NONE, BUT WE'LL ASK AGAIN IF THERE ARE THOSE, UH, BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE NEXT PART OF THE AGENDA.
BUT, UH, WELL, AND, UH, WE HAVE NOW GOT THEM HERE IS MY COLLEAGUE AND, AND CHAIRMAN GALLEGOS.
THANK YOU DIRECTOR FOR THE, UH, PRESENTATION.
UM, CAN YOU GIVE US A STATUS ON THE PENDING PERMITS FOR MODIFICATION ON SEVERAL CROSSINGS, UH, FOR THE, UH, EAST END TWO QUIET ZONE OR EAST END THREE QUIET ZONE.
OH, SO THE STATUS FOR THE PERMITS.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING I WILL HAVE MY TEAM FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON STATUS ON THE PERMITS.
AND WE'LL HEAR FROM STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS QUESTION WOULD BE, UH, MORE APPROPRIATELY DIRECTED TO YOU OR TO, UH, MS. DAVIS FROM BNSF, BUT HOW DO THE, UH, THE RAILROAD ENGINEERS KNOW WHEN A QUIET ZONE IS APPROACHING? HOW ARE THEY ALERTED TO THAT? SO, I DON'T KNOW ON, SO THAT WOULD BE A QUESTION FOR, UH, MS. DAVIS TO RESPOND ON, ON THEIR END.
UM, I WILL SAY WHEN WE DO ESTABLISH QUIET ZONES, UH, WE DO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION, UH, TO THE RAILROAD WITH THE SPECIFIC CROSSINGS, UH, THAT ARE INCLUDED.
AND SO FOR THE ONE THAT WE JUST SIGNED RECENTLY,
[00:55:01]
UH, THOSE LETTERS, UH, WILL BE GOING TO THE RAIL, UH, IT GOES TO ALL THE RAIL, IT GOES TO FRA AND OTHERS, UM, WITH THESE SPECIFIC, UH, LOCATIONS, UH, WHERE THE QUIET ZONE EXISTS.AND ON THAT NOTE, UM, OR SORT OF RELATED TO IT, UM, BEFORE THE SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS KICKED OFF, ABOUT HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE TO GET A, UH, QUIET ZONE APPROVED? UM, FOR THE QUIET ZONE APPROVALS, UM, IT CAN REALLY VARY BY QUIET ZONE.
IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, SO ONE, WE HAVE OUR PORTION OF WHATEVER NEEDS TO HAPPEN ON THE CITY'S ROADS, WE HAVE TO PUT THAT IN.
SO THAT'S, AGAIN, ALWAYS BALANCING EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED TO DO TO GET THAT SCHEDULED.
THEY MAY HAVE THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO DO ON THEIR SIGNALIZATION OR THEIR CROSSINGS AND HAVING THAT LEVEL OF COORDINATION, AND THEN THAT GETS SUBMITTED TO FRA FOR APPROVAL.
WE HAVE ONE, UM, I KNOW RIGHT NOW THAT IS PENDING WHERE WE HAVE DONE OUR PORTION.
WE'VE MET WITH FRA ON SITE, AND WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR APPROVAL.
AND THAT IS AT LEAST BEEN SINCE I'VE BEEN IN THIS POSITION.
UH, GOING BACK TO, UH, CHAIRMAN GALLEGOS, THANK, THANK YOU AGAIN, DIRECTOR.
GOING BACK TO MY, UH, THE PENDING PERMITS FOR MODIFICATIONS ON SEVERAL CROSSINGS ON THE EAST END.
THREE, UM, I KNOW THAT, UH, WE DO HAVE A RICHARDS INTAKE DIRECTOR OF, UH, UH, PUB PUBLIC AFFAIRS WITH, UH, UNION PACIFIC IN THE AUDIENCE.
AND ALSO, UH, CLINT KY, UH, ASSISTANT VP FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS WITH UNION PACIFIC.
UH, AND, AND, AND THIS IS A, UM, JUST A GENERAL QUESTION TO THEM.
THEY DON'T HAVE TO RESPOND, BUT, UH, HOPEFULLY THEY CAN GET BACK TO ME.
I KNOW THAT WE'RE WAITING ON PERMITS FOR MODIFICATIONS, UH, FOR FOUR CROSSINGS AT THE, UH, EAST END THREE, UH, QUIET ZONE.
SO IF Y'ALL COULD PLEASE FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, AND GET BACK TO DANIEL OR MYSELF, UH, 'CAUSE I KNOW THEY, WHAT I'M UNDER THE IMPRESSION IS UNION, UM, THE, UH, PUBLIC WORKS IS WAITING, UH, FOR THAT INFORMATION COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, WE HAVE SPOKEN WITH UP AS WELL AS BNSF, AND I THINK WE ARE GONNA HEAR FROM MR. ZANTEC IN, UH, IN A MOMENT WHEN WE GET TO THE PUBLIC COMMENTS.
SO IF YOU HOLD YOUR QUESTION, I THINK WE MAY EVEN BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT ADDRESSED HERE TODAY.
BUT I THINK WITH THAT, UM, LADIES, AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
AND OF COURSE IT WILL BE ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND IF YOU CAN STAY WITH US WHEN WE GET TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
SO WITH THAT, OUR THIRD AND FINAL PRESENTATION TODAY, UH, IS, UH, FROM OUR OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE.
AND WE'RE GONNA HEAR, I THINK, VIRTUALLY FROM MR. JESSE BOUNDS, OUR DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE, AS WELL AS HERE, UH, WITH US PERSONALLY, MR. JACK HRAF, WHO'S THE HOUSTON SMART CITY PROGRAM, UH, CONSULTANT, UH, MR. HRAF.
I KNOW WE'RE AD-LIBBING A LITTLE BIT HERE WITH MR. BOUNDS HOME, BUT LET ME CHECK AND SEE IF HE'S WITH US HERE FIRST.
JESSE, ARE YOU THERE? I AM, YES, SIR.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? EXCELLENT.
WHY DON'T YOU, UH, GO AHEAD AND KICK OFF THE SMART RAILROAD CROSSING SECOND.
AND, UH, GOOD MORNING TO EVERYONE, AND THANKS FOR HAVING US.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE.
UH, REALLY SORRY I COULDN'T BE THERE WITH Y'ALL IN PERSON TODAY BECAUSE I'M A LITTLE BIT UNDER THE WEATHER.
UH, BUT WE'LL TRY TO MUDDLE THROUGH THIS WITHOUT ANY MAJOR ISSUES.
AND LUCKILY Y'ALL ARE HERE, UH, JOINED TODAY IN PERSON WITH MY COLLEAGUE JACK RI, WHO I'D LOVE TO, UH, PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND, AND THANK FOR BEING SO INSTRUMENTAL IN OUR EFFORTS TO RESOLVE RAIL SAFETY ISSUES AND IN THE CITY, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
UH, BUT JACK RECENTLY RETIRED FROM A DA DISTINGUISHED CAREER IN HPD AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY, AND HAS GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO FOREGO THE GOLF COURSE AND RETIREMENT, FULL RETIREMENT UNTIL, UH, WE CAN, UH, YOU KNOW, GET THIS REALLY IMPORTANT ISSUE RESOLVED.
OH, SO, UH, CAN THERE, IT'S OKAY.
UH, SO WE KNOW THAT TRAINS BLOCK HOUSTON ROADWAYS ON OCCASION, AND THE ANECDOTES ARE TROUBLING.
YOU KNOW, BUSINESSES ARE LOSING BUSINESSES.
KIDS CAN'T GET TO AND FROM SCHOOL.
FIRST RESPONDERS AREN'T ABLE TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES.
UH, ASK ANYONE IN SOME OF THE MOST HEAVILY IMPACTED NEIGHBORHOODS, SOME OF WHOM WILL ARE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK TODAY, AND THEY'LL TELL YOU, THIS IS A REAL PROBLEM, THAT IS SEVERELY AND ADVERSELY IMPACTING PUBLIC SAFETY, ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY, QUALITY OF LIFE.
UH, BUT ASIDE FROM THE ANECDOTES, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW BIG THE PROBLEM IS, WHETHER IT'S GETTING BETTER OR WORSE, AND REALLY HOW TO SOLVE IT.
BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE RELIABLE DATA.
UH, WE KNOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP US GATHER DATA AND IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM, BUT THERE AREN'T
[01:00:01]
REALLY ANY SOLUTIONS ON THE MARKET THAT DO EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED.THERE ARE RFID SENSORS, RADAR ACOUSTIC SENSORS ON THE MARKET, BUT THOSE DON'T SUPPORT VISUAL VERIFICATION, WHICH MEANS WE CAN'T TRACK THE TRAIN TO A SPECIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, UH, OR TRIAGE THE UNDERLYING ISSUES, UH, THAT MIGHT BE PRESENT.
SO WE SET ABOUT DEVELOPING A SOLUTION TO DO EXACTLY THAT.
ONE, ONE THAT ENABLES US TO GATHER DATA IN REAL TIME SO WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND, MANAGE, AND CONTROL THE IMPACTS OF TRAIN BLOCKAGES.
UH, ONE THAT COULD ALERT MOTORISTS AND FIRST RESPONDERS WHEN TRAINS ARE BLOCKING ACCESS AND, UH, DIVERT TRAFFIC AWAY FROM THOSE ROUTES.
UH, ONE THAT WOULD SUPPORT DATA-DRIVEN COLLABORATION BETWEEN COMMUNITIES, THE RAILROAD COMPANIES, CITY OFFICIALS, AND REGULATORS.
I'M GONNA TAKE THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES.
SO, THOSE OF US THAT HAVE DRIVEN THROUGH HOUSTON TRAFFIC, WE KNOW IT'S VERY COMPLEX, AND YOU'VE HEARD THOSE WORDS, COMPLEXITY, COMPLEX CHOKE POINTS ALL THROUGH THE OTHER PRESENTATIONS.
SO WE DETERMINED IT WASN'T ONE SOLUTION WAS GONNA FIT ALL THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.
AND THEN WHEN YOU INTRODUCE THE COMPLEXITY OF TRAIN OPERATIONS INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS, IT, IT'S A WHOLE NOTHER DYNAMIC.
SO, IN THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION, WE WERE LOOKING AT SEVERAL SOLUTIONS.
UH, IT WAS JUST NOT A MATTER OF PUTTING CAMERAS UP THERE.
THEY GIVE YOU THE VISUAL VERIFICATION, THEY LET YOU DETERMINE WHAT'S GOING ON.
BUT WE WANTED TO PUT SMART CAMERAS THERE.
WE WANTED CAMERAS THAT COULD ASSIST US, COULD VISUALLY IDENTIFY THE ANOMALIES THAT'S OCCURRING, BLOCK CROSSINGS, MOTORIST BEHAVIOR, PEDESTRIAN BEHAVIOR.
THOSE ALL CONTRIBUTE AND CAUSE THE ENVIRONMENT OF A BLOCK CROSSING.
WE ALSO WANTED TO GET, UH, VERY STRATEGIC BECAUSE SOME OF THESE CROSSINGS ARE COMPLEX.
SOME OF THE ENVIRONMENTS IN THERE OFFER, UH, WHAT WE CALL VISUAL CLUTTER AND ANOTHER, UH, UH, ISSUES.
SO WE WANT TO, UH, COMPLIMENT THE CAMERAS WITH ANOTHER SENSOR CALLED LIDAR.
LIDAR IS BASICALLY A, A SMALL LASER THAT CAN BE, UH, POSITIONED ACROSS THE TRACKS, AND IT CAN ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY TELL US THAT'S A PERSON, THAT'S A TRAIN, THAT'S A TRUCK.
SO THEN WE'RE GETTING GOOD DATA AND WE'RE GETTING GOOD ALERTS BECAUSE IT, IT'S ALL, IT'S ALL LIKE CHIEF PENA SAID, GETTING THAT REAL TIME DATA TO HIS, TO HIS DISPATCHERS, TO HIS FIRE PERSONNEL SO THEY CAN MAKE DECISIONS BEFORE THEY LEAVE.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, THROUGH COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAS AND THE OTHER CHAIRS ON THIS COMMITTEE, THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION WILL BE PUTTING ADDITIONAL SENSORS OF THE, UH, ACOUSTIC TYPE THAT CAN ACTUALLY, BY SOUND OF WHAT THE TRAINS ARE MAKING, CAN TELL US WHAT THE TRAINS ARE DOING.
UH, AND THE FRA IS WILLING TO PUT THREE TO FOUR SENSORS OUT AS A TEST.
AND I'M WORKING CLOSELY WITH THEM TO, UH, UH, TO GET THAT IMPLEMENTED.
AND WE BASICALLY, LIKE JESSE SAID, WE WANT TO KNOW THE WHO, THE WHAT, THE WHERE, AND THE WHY, REALLY THE WHY, WHY IS THIS OCCURRING? WHAT IS IT DOING? AND SO WE CAN WORK CLOSELY WITH THE RAILROADS, UH, TO REDUCE SOME OF THESE IMPACTS.
SO, COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS, YOU AND YOUR CONSTITUENTS, YOU KNOW, HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH THIS, THIS TRAIN, UM, OCCURRENCE FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
UH, YOU BROUGHT IT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND ALSO TO THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
UH, YOU GAVE US THE STARTING POINT TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THESE HIGH PRO HIGH PROFILE EVENTS WERE OCCURRING.
SO IT, WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, QUICKLY AND PRECISELY DEPLOY SENSORS INTO THE RIGHT PLACES BASED ON HISTORICAL DATA THAT CAME FROM THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT.
IT'S BASED ON THE IMPRESSION OF WHO'S REPORTING IT AND THEIR EXPERIENCE.
SO GETTING THESE SENSORS OUT THERE IS VERY IMPORTANT.
UH, WE ALSO, AS YOU'VE HEARD FROM BOTH RAILROADS, THE EAST END FROM FIFTH WARD, ALL THE WAY DOWN THE SOUTH UNION HAS CRITICAL ASSETS VITAL TO THE RAILROAD IN THEIR OPERATION.
IF TRAINS NEEDED A LANDING STRIP, THE EAST END AND THOSE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS ARE IN IT.
SO JUST BECAUSE THERE'S SENSORS HERE, THAT WAS A STARTING POINT.
WE ARE LOOKING AT DEPLOYMENTS IN THOSE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS BECAUSE WE WANT TO GET THE RAILROADS COMMODITY FLOW FLOWING EFFICIENTLY, UH, AND WE WANT TO HELP THEM DO IT.
UM, WE COULDN'T DO THIS ALONE.
IT, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, FOUR CITY DEPARTMENTS
[01:05:01]
WERE INVOLVED IN THIS DEPLOYMENT.AND THEN A WHOLE LIST OF PRIVATE INDUSTRY PARTNERS WHO TOOK THE TIME AND THE EFFORT AND THEIR RESOURCES TO COMMIT TO THIS, UH, EVENT OR THIS INITIATIVE AND OFFER SOLUTIONS.
AND I WOULD LIKE THEM TO STAND THE TEAM TO STAND AND BE RECOGNIZED.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES WE DEVOTED.
IT WAS BOSCH CAMERAS, IT WAS, UH, CRADLEPOINT, UH, WIRELESS ROUTERS.
IT WAS GENETECH THAT GAVE US THE GENETECH SMART HUB THAT WE HAVE OVER, UH, IN, UH, TRANS STAR.
SO WE CAN START COLLECTING THIS DATA.
IT WAS TRANS STAR, IT WAS INTEL, IT WAS OPT X, WHICH IS ANOTHER SENSING, AND THEN VERIZON, BECAUSE YOU GOTTA BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE FROM THE SITE TO THE TRANS STAR, AND WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
MR. HRAF, I WANT TO THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF THE CITY AND TO ALL OF YOU, UH, VENDORS WHO'VE PROVIDED SERVICES AND SUPPLEMENTARY ASSISTANCE, UH, TO JACK'S PROGRAM.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FROM ALL OF US HERE.
UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR YOUR HELP.
AND, AND CHIEF PENA, I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME GOOD NEWS.
I THINK WE HAVE A, A MEANS TO GET THE LIVE FEEDS INTO STATION 18 RATHER QUICKLY.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON A SOLUTION TO GET THE LIVE FEEDS FROM THE CAMERAS INTO STATION 18.
SO, UH, WORKING CLOSELY WITH THOSE PERSONNEL SO THEY CAN AT LEAST LOOK UP BEFORE THEY DEPART TO SEE WHAT, WHAT CROSSINGS ARE IMPACTED, AND THEY CAN MAKE THEIR DECISIONS.
DO THEY GO LEFT OR THEY GO RIGHT? THEY SAID THAT WOULD BE PARAMOUNT TO THEIR RESPONSE.
YEAH, SO AS, AS FAR AS WHERE WE'RE HEADED WITH THESE, UM, WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE REFINING STAGE OF THE PILOT.
SO WE'RE STILL AT THE TOP THERE, UH, GETTING A LOT OF, A LITTLE BIT TOO MANY FALSE READINGS TO BE FULLY COMPETENT IN THE DATA, UH, PARTICULARLY ON SHORTER DURATION EVENTS.
SO FOR, FOR LONGER EVENTS LIKE BLOCKAGES THAT LAST OVER AN HOUR, WE HAVE A HIGHER DEGREE OF COMPETENCE, BUT WE'RE STILL SEEING SOME ISSUES.
A BIG DISCLAIMER ON THE INITIAL FINDINGS YOU SEE THERE, UH, THE LINE GRAPH AT THE TOP SHOWS ALL OF THE EVENTS THAT LASTED MORE THAN AN HOUR, UH, AT THE 5,200 LAWNDALE CROSSING.
UM, AND YOU SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, MARCH 25TH, THERE WERE SEVEN, SEVEN EVENTS OF MORE THAN AN HOUR.
UH, BUT IT ENDED UP BEING MULTIPLE EVENTS WHERE SOMETHING LIKE A BIG GUST OF WIND OR, UH, YOU KNOW, POSSIBLY A CONNECTIVITY ISSUE, RE-TRIGGERED THE ALERT EVERY FEW HOURS.
SO IT WAS JUST ONE LOG ALERT THAT GOT BROKEN UP.
UH, SO WE'RE STILL DEALING WITH THAT.
AND THE, THE MACHINE IS STILL LEARNING.
UH, IT, IT, THERE IS AN ALGORITHM THAT IT'S DEVELOPING AND IT NEEDS MORE FOOTAGE IN ORDER TO REFINE THE ALGORITHM.
UH, BUT ALL TOLD THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 107 EVENTS OVER AN HOUR, UH, IN THE MONTH, UH, IN THAT, THAT PERIOD, UH, THE LONGEST BEING NEARLY 14 HOURS AND 54 MINUTES.
UH, AND 32 EVENTS WERE OVER THREE HOURS IN DURATION.
UM, AND IN TERMS OF WHEN THESE BLOCKAGES ARE HAPPENING, UH, THERE REALLY AREN'T THAT MANY DATA POINTS TO REACH THE INSIGHTS WE'LL NEED TO MAKE OR, OR ENCOURAGE, UH, TACTICAL AND OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, BUT, UH, FROM THE HEAT MAP IN THE MIDDLE, IT LOOKS LIKE EVENTS ARE MORE FREQUENT IN THE MORNING, UH, AND ON THURSDAYS AND SATURDAYS, ALTHOUGH THE PEAK WAS SUNDAY MORNING DURING THIS PERIOD.
UH, SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THIS TYPE OF DATA WILL, UM, WILL REALLY ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION AT MINIMUM, UH, WHEN WE, WE CAN START TO TRACK TRENDS, KNOW HOW THINGS ARE PERFORMING OVER TIME, TRY TO DO SOME INTERVENTIONS AND SEE IF WE CAN BRING THOSE NUMBERS DOWN.
THAT'S HOW CHANGE IS GONNA HAPPEN.
UH, VISIBILITY IN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM AND WHAT'S BEING DONE TO SOLVE, SOLVE.
IT WILL ONLY RESULT IN BETTER OUTCOMES.
AND ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE HAS A STAKE IN THIS FROM THE RAILROADS, THE PUBLIC BUSINESSES, ALL OF US.
UH, SO ONCE WE FINISH THE REFINING STAGE, WE NEED TO DO AN EVALUATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND PROGRAM TO ULTIMATELY DECIDE WHETHER IT'S WORTH PURSUING AND AT WHAT SCALE.
UH, WE'LL NEED TO FIGURE OUT THE COST AND HOW WE INTEND TO DELIVER THE INFORMATION TO FOLKS THAT NEED IT, LIKE TO OUR 9 1 1 DISPATCH SYSTEM.
SO FIRST RESPONDERS ARE AWARE, UH, TO TRANS STAR CENTRAL TRAFFIC DATABASE, WHICH FEEDS INTO WAY FINDING SERVICES LIKE GOOGLE AND WAYS.
SO MOTORS CAN GET ALERTS OR, UH, TO DISPLAY BOARDS, UH, THAT ARE NEARBY, UH, TO DIVERT TRAFFIC.
UH, WE'LL ALSO NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHO'S GONNA MAINTAIN THESE DEVICES.
UH, SO OUR FANTASTIC PUBLIC WORKS, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS GROUP YOU HEARD FROM EARLIER, UH, WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY SOURCE, UH, TO, TO, UH, MAINTAIN AND OWN THESE CAMERAS.
BUT THEY'RE ALREADY SHORT STAFFED AND OVERWORKED, SO WE'LL LIKELY NEED FUNDING FOR THAT AS WELL.
UH, WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE, THE FUNDING AND PROCUREMENT OF
[01:10:01]
THINGS.UM, SIDE OF THINGS, WE WE'RE ACTIVELY RE UH, REVIEWING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES NOW, UH, FOR THIS.
BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE WERE MENTIONED BY PUBLIC WORKS EARLIER.
UH, AND THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME PROMISING LEADS, ALTHOUGH WE'RE NOT REALLY SURE ABOUT THE TIMING AND THE POTENTIAL ALLOCATION AMOUNTS AT THE MOMENT.
UH, BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY AN AREA WE COULD USE SOME HELP ON, AND WE'RE WILLING TO TRACK DOWN ANY LEADS.
JUST KEEPING IN MIND THAT WE, UH, WILL NEED SOME TYPE OF ONGOING SUPPORT COMPONENT TO THESE SENSORS ONCE THEY'RE INSTALLED AND ACTIVE.
UH, WE, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE THESE COSTING VERY MUCH SO THE EQUIPMENT IS ACTUALLY PRETTY CHEAP.
IT'S LIKE LESS THAN A $10,000 A SITE.
UH, BUT WE'RE STILL TRYING TO COST OUT THE SOFTWARE AND OTHER PROGRAMMING EXPENSES THAT COULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, WE'LL RELY ON THE SAME FACTORS THAT PUBLIC WORKS IS USING FOR THEIR GRADE SEPARATION ANALYSIS THAT THEY SHOWED EARLIER, UH, TO DETERMINE WHETHER WHERE THESE SENSORS SHOULD, SHOULD BE BEST PLACED, UH, HOW MANY ARE NEEDED ACROSS THE CITY.
UH, AND ALL OF THAT WILL IMPACT THE PROJECT COSTS AND TIMELINES AND, UH, AND, AND OUTCOMES, UH, POTENTIALLY.
SO YOU CAN SEE WE STILL HAVE, UH, WAYS TO GO, UH, TO WHERE THESE ARE FULLY IMPLEMENTED AND EVERYWHERE IN THE CITY, BUT WE'RE HOPING TO BUILD MOMENTUM FROM TODAY NOW THAT THESE ARE SHOWING SIGNS OF PROGRESS AND HAVE THESE DEPLOYED AND DRIVING CHANGES AND POSITIVE OUTCOMES BY THE TIME THAT MAYOR TURNER LEAVES OFFICE.
SO, LIKE JESSE SAID, WE HAVE A LITTLE WAYS TO GO IN THE TECHNOLOGY, HOWEVER IT IS HELPING US, UH, IDENTIFYING THESE TROUBLE SPOTS.
IT IS HELPING US FIND THE NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACKS.
UH, BUT LIKE THIS SAID, THE SLIDE SAYS, UH, WE NEED GOOD DATA AND WE NEED EVERYBODY'S HELP ON GETTING THIS DATA.
CURRENTLY, THERE ARE ABOUT FOUR WAYS TO REPORT A BLOCK CROSSING TO DIFFERENT ENTITIES, AND THEY'RE ALL DISCONNECTED.
SO THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION IS WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH 3 1 1, UH, TO, UH, IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WHERE IT COMES TO REPORTING RAILROAD ANOMALIES.
AND WE WANT TO CREATE A RAILROAD SECTION SO IT'S EASY TO FIND, AND YOU CAN GO THROUGH YOUR LIST OF CATEGORIES, BE IT ROUGH CROSSING, BLOCK CROSSING, TRAIN NOISE, UH, UH, WEEDS AND TRASH AROUND THE TRACKS, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER'S RAILROAD IN CENTER, THAT, THAT WOULD BE THE GOAL.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA WORK VERY CLOSELY THE 3 1 1.
AND THEN WE WANNA CREATE THE REPOSITORY OF, OF ALL THESE DATA COLLECTION POINTS INTO ONE CENTRALIZED LOCATION, THAT THE DATA CAN BE SHARED WITH THOSE THAT NEED IT MOST FOR THEIR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.
TRANS STAR, SO THE PUBLIC CAN HAVE ACCESS, SO THEY CAN MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.
EVERY ONE OF US GETS ON OUR PHONES TO FIGURE OUT WHAT FREEWAY TO TAKE AND WHAT STREET TO TAKE.
ON OUR WAY FROM POINT A TO POINT B, WE WANT TO INCLUDE RAILROAD CROSSINGS THAT AS PART OF THAT DECISION MAKING, UH, WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE FRA GETS THIS DATA BECAUSE THEY ARE THE GOVERNING REGULATORY AUTHORITY ON RAILROAD OPERATIONS.
AND WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE SEEING WHAT IS OCCURRING WITHIN THE STREETS OF HOUSTON.
WE ALSO WANNA SHARE THIS WITH THE RAILROADS SO THEY CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR OPERATIONS IS IMPACTING THE NEIGHBORHOODS, HOW THEY'RE TRAINS IF THEY'RE MOVING EFFICIENTLY.
THEY TALK A LOT ABOUT EFFICIENCY AND FLUIDITY.
SO THEY WILL BE ABLE TO SEE FIRSTHAND HOW THAT IS, HOW THAT IS OCCURRING IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, AND HOPEFULLY WORK WITH US TO FIND SOME SOLUTIONS.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT CHIEF PENA AND CHIEF FINNER, UH, EACH FROM THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, THAT THEIR PERSONNEL ARE GETTING REAL TIME DATA, EITHER VISUALLY OR SOME KIND OF ALERT SO THEY CAN MAKE THEIR DECISIONS.
UH, 'CAUSE LIKE CHIEF SAID, THEY'RE COMING FROM ALL SIDES OF THE CITY, AND WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THOSE RESPONDING PERSONNEL CAN GET THE BEST ROUTES TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
AND I THINK THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. HRAF, UM, FOR BEING HERE, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND, UH, FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO THESE ISSUES.
AS YOU SAY, THIS IS COMPLICATED MATERIAL, UH, WHAT MS. DAVIS SAID PRIOR TO THAT, UH, ABOUT THE COMPLEX COMPLEXITY OF THE WHOLE SITUATION.
I THINK WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT IN THIS ROOM.
AND I THINK, UH, UH, OUR BNSF, UH, MRS. DAVIS HAS FURTHER UNDERSCORED THAT POINT WITH HER PRESENTATION TODAY.
SO, UH, JUST AS A POINT OF HOUSEKEEPING HERE, WE ARE GONNA HEAR FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS.
WE DO WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT FOR THE INDUSTRY AGAIN, TO RESPOND.
THAT'S BOTH BNSF AND UP IF THEY SHOULD, LIKE, BEFORE PUBLIC COMMENTS.
AND WE HAVE, UH, A GOOD NUMBER OF PUBLIC COMMENTS.
[01:15:01]
ADO, I THINK WE'RE GONNA TURN, UH, TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.AND WE'RE GONNA BEGIN WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ABBY CAYMAN.
CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME ALL RIGHT? YES, MA'AM.
UM, FIRST, JACK AND JESSE, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS ON THE CITYSIDE AND, UH, MS. DAVIS AS WELL.
ONE QUESTION REGARDING THE REPORTING THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING RESIDENTS TO DO, BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN COMMUNICATING, AND I'LL GET TO THE ISSUES WITH THAT IN A SECOND WITH THE RAILROAD COMPANIES, BUT WE'VE BEEN ASKING RESIDENTS TO CONTACT THE RAILS WHEN THERE'S BLOCKED CROSSING.
SO DO WE WANT TO PIVOT, UM, IN TERMS OF MESSAGING TO HAVE THEM REPORT TO 3 1 1, AND IS THAT, DOES THAT NEED FURTHER CONVERSATION? MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WOULD BE THE GOAL IS TO TRY TO GET IT THE EASIEST AND MOST CONVENIENT FOR THE CITIZEN TO REPORT.
DO I SEND IT TO THE RAILROAD? WHICH RAILROAD DO I GIVE IT TO THE FRA, DO I GIVE IT TO THE TDOT PUBLIC WORKS? SO IF WE CAN GET IT INTO A CENTRALIZED LOCATION, THAT IMPROVES THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, MAKES IT SIMPLE FOR THEM, AND THEN THEY CAN GET BETTER DIRECTION, AND THEN WHERE WE CAN THROUGH THE TECHNOLOGY, ESCALATE THAT OR, OR SEND THE DATA TO THE APPROPRIATE, UH, UH, ENTITY TO HANDLE.
AND IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE WITH ALL OF THAT DATA, UM, CHIEF PENA, I'M THINKING OF YOU AND, UH, I THINK A NEW CAT IS GONNA COME INTO PLAY WITH THIS AS WELL, IN TERMS OF DISPATCH AND INFORMATION AND DATA.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO THANK YOU BOTH FOR, INCLUDING IN THE PILOT PROGRAM, TWO LOCATIONS IN DISTRICT C, UM, BOTH THE BRAESWOOD AND THE DURHAM LOCATION.
AND I WOULD APPRECIATE JUST TO BE, UM, KEPT IN THE LOOP AS THE PILOT PROGRAM CONTINUES ON WHAT, UH, THAT DATA IS SHOWING FOR THOSE LOCATIONS SPECIFICALLY.
BUT AGAIN, THANK YOU BOTH, UH, A CHAIR.
I HAD, UH, QUESTIONS AND FOLLOW UP FOR, UH, BOTH BNSF AND UP, UH, WHEN APPROPRIATE.
I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S, THIS IS THE TIME.
I'M HAPPY TO HOLD MY QUESTIONS.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, IF YOU'LL HOLD ONE SECOND, WE'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THE QUEUE.
LET ME TURN NOW TO CHAIR GALLEGOS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK, UH, DIRECTOR BOUNDS AND, UH, JACK, UH, FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS ON THIS, UH, PILOT PROGRAM.
UH, PERSONALLY, UH, WANT TO THANK, UH, ALL THE, ALL THE PILOT PARTNERS, UH, BOSCH, UH, CRADLEPOINT, GENETIC, HOUSTON TRANS STAR, INTEL OPEX, VERIZON.
AND IF I MISS ANYONE ELSE, MY APOLOGIES.
UH, BUT AS YOU CAN TELL, WITH THE STATS THAT WERE PRESENTED AS AN EXAMPLE, UH, IN REGARDS TO 5,200 LAWNDALE, UH, JUST FROM, UH, MARCH THE 10TH THROUGH APRIL THE FIFTH, YES.
UM, 107 TIMES THE TRAIN, UH, WAS THERE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME.
UH, 27, WITHIN 27 DAYS, UH, ONCE THE TRAIN WAS THERE FOR OVER 14 HOURS, UH, AND FOR 30, 32 TIMES THE, UH, TRAIN WAS THERE, UH, FOR MORE THAN THREE HOURS, UH, PERIOD.
UH, SO THAT JUST SHOWS, AND I'M GLAD, UM, UH, BURLINGTON NORTHERN IS HERE AND UNION PACIFIC IS HERE.
UH, SO THAT WAY THEY CAN, HE, THEY CAN ACTUALLY SEE THIS DATA, UH, AND, AND, AND REALIZE WHY
OR YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE GOING DOWN AT 5,200 LAWNDALE.
UH, YOU KNOW, AND, UH, UH, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT, THIS PILOT PROGRAM.
AND AGAIN, I WANNA THANK EVERYONE THAT MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
UH, YOU KNOW, NOW WE HAVE SOME DATA THAT WE CAN PRESENT TO THE RAILROADS.
MR. HRAF, WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND? UH, YES, SIR.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GALLUS, JUST FOR CLARIFY, THE 107 TIMES, WE STILL HAVE TO VALIDATE, UH, WE'RE ASSUMING WE'RE, WE'RE STILL GETTING THE SYSTEM TO CREATE AN EVENT AND CLOSE AN EVENT.
AND SOME OF THOSE MAY BE REPEATING EVENTS.
THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND AND OTHERS' MINDS THAT THE 14 HOURS PROBABLY ACCURATE.
AND, AND THEN WE ARE SEEING ANOMALIES THREE HOURS AND LONGER, AND WE ARE VALIDATING THOSE.
SO THAT IS STILL OCCURRING AT LAWNDALE, UH, BUT WE'RE GETTING BETTER INFORMATION TO THE RAILROAD SO THEY CAN SEE WHAT'S OCCURRING, UM, UH, 'CAUSE SOME OF THESE THINGS THEY MAY NOT BE AWARE OF, OR THEY THOUGHT IT WAS WORKING THIS WAY, AND IT'S NOT.
AND WE ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE RAILROAD, UH, TALKING WITH BNSF AND UP SAYING, WE'RE SEEING THIS ACTIVITY, BUT WE'RE ALSO SEEING THIS COUPLED WITH IT.
SO THERE'S SOMETHING, IT COULD BE OPERATIONALLY OR IT COULD BE SOME OTHER OTHER FACTOR OCCURRING, BUT WE STILL HAVE TO VET THE DATA.
BUT IT IS LEAST GETTING US IN AN AREA TO WHERE WE CAN FOCUS MORE STRATEGICALLY ON RESOLVING THE ISSUE.
AND, AND MR. HRAF, THANKS AGAIN.
WE HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION FROM COUNCIL STAFF, UH, FOR YOU.
AND THAT COMES FROM THE OFFICE OF COUNCIL
[01:20:01]
MEMBER CARLOS CISNEROS.I THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS ON THIS.
SO, FIRST, HOW LONG WILL THE PILOT PROGRAM BE AT THESE LOCATIONS? IS IT LIKE PERMANENT, UH, THAT THESE DEVICES WILL BE AT THESE LOCATIONS? AND WILL THERE BE OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO EXPAND ON OTHER LOCATIONS? UH, I DO KNOW THAT IN THE EAST END, ESPECIALLY IN, IN THE EAST END SIDE OF SECOND WARD IN DENVER HARBOR, IN DISTRICT H, THIS IS A VERY, UH, BIG ISSUE WHERE WE SEE A LOT OF CROSSINGS BEING BLOCKED.
SO I THINK THE COMMUNITY WOULD DEFINITELY BE OPEN TO SEEING THESE DEVICES IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS TO GATHER THAT DATA.
'CAUSE THEY DEAL WITH THIS ON A DAILY BASIS.
SO WE'RE HOPING THAT TYPICALLY A PILOT PROGRAM COULD TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 90 TO 90 DAYS TO SIX MONTHS, UH, JUST DEPENDING.
THE PARTNERS HERE HAVE BEEN VERY CONSIDERATE, AND THEY'RE ALL IN, AND I'M SUSPECTING THEY WILL ALWAYS BE IN AS LONG AS THEY CAN, UH, SUPPORTING THIS, THIS EFFORT.
UH, THE FRA IS COMMITTING RESOURCES TO AT LEAST DECEMBER OF 2022 WITH THE OPTION BASED ON THE ACTIVITY WE HAVE HERE.
AND THEY PRETTY MUCH PROJECT THAT THERE WILL BE SOME EXTENSION ON THEIR SENSORS.
UH, WE, WE ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH PUBLIC WORKS AND SOME OF THE COMMUNITY LEADERS AS WELL AS COUNCIL STAFF TO IDENTIFY THESE OTHER TROUBLE SPOTS.
AND RIGHT NOW, THE, THE CURRENT AREA OF CONCERN SEEMS TO BE THE FIFTH WARD, DENVER HARBOR, EAST END, THE EAST END AREA, AND THE OST SOUTH UNION AREA, BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE A LOT OF THE CONVERGING TRAIN TRAFFIC OR TRAIN EFFORT IS, IS COMING INTO AS PART OF THEIR COMMODITY FLOW.
UH, AND THEN WE'LL GROW THE OTHER SENSORS APPROPRIATELY, UH, THROUGHOUT THE, THE CITY AS FUNDING OR OTHER RESOURCES BECOME AVAILABLE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CISNEROS AND HER STAFF ARE DEFINITELY WILLING TO GIVE ANY FEEDBACK TO YOU GUYS ABOUT LOCATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UM, STAFF AND, AND THANK YOU AGAIN, MR. HRAF.
THAT'S, THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS WE HAVE FOR YOU AT THE PODIUM.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
AND AGAIN, IT WILL BE POSTED ONLINE SUBSEQUENT TO THE MEETING TODAY.
UH, AND WITH THAT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PIVOT TO QUESTIONS TO THE INDUSTRY BEFORE GOING TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND WITH THAT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN, I'VE GOT YOU HOLDING IN THE QUEUE, PERHAPS TO TEE UP YOUR QUESTION EITHER FOR BNSF OR UP.
SO, UM, LET ME LET YOU TAKE IT AWAY.
UH, MS. DAVIS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND BEING HERE.
YOU MENTIONED, UM, CRITICAL CORRIDORS THAT YOU'RE FOCUSING ON, BUT THERE WASN'T A MENTION OF, UH, THE WASHINGTON AVENUE CORRIDOR IN DISTRICT C, WHICH HAS HAD CONSISTENT ISSUES.
AND ALSO, UH, QUITE A NUMBER OF REROUTES, UM, FOR PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, BECAUSE OF THOSE BLOCK TRAINS THERE, AGAIN, ALONG THE WASHINGTON AVENUE CORRIDOR.
UM, DO Y'ALL NOT UTILIZE THAT CORRIDOR OR DOES THAT, UM, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT I CAN BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO AS ANOTHER AREA THAT Y'ALL NEED TO BE LOOKING AT? THANK YOU.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR, YOUR QUESTION.
UM, I AM NOT FAMILIAR ENOUGH WITH THE, THE WASHINGTON CORRIDOR TO KNOW, UH, WHAT EXACTLY OUR OPERATIONS ARE THERE.
HOWEVER, I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TAKE THIS, UH, QUESTION BACK TO OUR OPERATIONS FOLKS AND ALSO PARTNER WITH OUR PUBLIC PROJECTS TEAM TO TALK ABOUT WHERE THAT FALLS IN TERMS OF OUR PRIORITIES AND SUCH.
UM, BUT WE'LL CERTAINLY LOOK IN FOR, INTO IT FOR YOU.
'CAUSE THERE IS A, A VERY LARGE RAIL YARD RIGHT THERE.
UM, I'LL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION AT THE DURHAM SHEPHERD CORRIDOR, BUT AGAIN, ALL ALONG WASHINGTON AVENUE, PARALLEL TO I 10, UM, WE HAVE CONSISTENT ISSUES.
AND AS YOU SAW IN THE PILOT PROGRAM THAT THE CITY'S DOING, THEY'RE EVEN FOCUSING ONE OF THE SENSORS THERE BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD SO MANY PROBLEMS. UM, SO PLEASE, IF YOU CAN REACH OUT TO MY OFFICE, WE'RE HAPPY TO ASSIST.
BUT I, I JUST WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THAT CORRIDOR AS WELL.
WE ALSO HAVE, UH, MR. ZANTEC FROM, FROM UNION PACIFIC AT THE PODIUM, AND I THINK HE, HE COULD ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION AS WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER, EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME.
RICHARD ZANTEC, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS WITH UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
SO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE.
AND TO, TO FURTHER, UH, HAVE OUR CONVERSATION WITH YOU ALL RELATED TO, UH, TO THE COMPLEXITIES WHEN IT COMES TO THE RAILROAD OPERATIONS HERE IN HOUSTON.
COUNCIL MEMBER THAT IS, UH, A UNION PACIFIC TRAINS, AS WELL AS AN AMTRAK ROUTE.
UH, LET ME GO BACK INTERNALLY WITH OUR DISPATCH AND OUR SUPERINTENDENT OVER DISPATCH AS WELL.
UM, I KNOW WE'VE HAD, UM, A, A FEW OF THOSE ISSUES.
WE'VE HAD THOSE CHALLENGES THAT HAVE, UH, WE HAVE FACED OF THOSE CROSSINGS BEING BLOCKED ALONG OUR HOUSTON SUB COMING IN THROUGH DOWNTOWN AND THEN GETTING INTO, INTO THE YARDS.
UH, SO LET ME, LET ME FURTHER DISCUSS THIS INTERNALLY WITH OUR
[01:25:01]
TEAM AND DISPATCH, UH, AS WELL AS OUR SUPERINTENDENT.AND I'LL GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH YOUR OFFICE WITH FURTHER INFORMATION AS WELL.
AND RICHARD, JUST TO FOLLOW UP, I KNOW I ASKED A QUESTION EARLIER ABOUT RESIDENTS REPORTING.
UM, I'LL FOCUS ON UNION PACIFIC BECAUSE YOU'RE MORE AWARE OF THAT LOCATION.
UH, BUT FOR, YOU KNOW, MS. DAVIS, I, THIS QUESTION WILL APPLY TO YOU AS WELL.
UM, WE ASK RESIDENTS TO REPORT, TO CALL THE LINE WHEN THERE'S A BLOCKED TRAIN.
I HAVE PERSONALLY CALLED THAT LINE, HOWEVER, WHEN IT'S AFTER HOURS, UH, BLOCKED CROSSINGS BY UNION PACIFIC ARE NOT DEEMED, UH, AN EMERGENCY.
AND SO THOSE CALLS GET DEFERRED.
THEY'RE EITHER TOLD TO CALL BACK DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS OR THEY CAN LEAVE A MESSAGE, BUT BASED ON THE PHONE TREE, YOU HIT BLOCK CROSSING AND NO LIVE OPERATOR PICKS UP, UM, FOR THAT ISSUE.
SO, AS YOU'VE HEARD FROM THE CHIEF, UH, CHIEF PENA ON THIS, IF YOU'VE HEARD FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS, I'M THE CHAIR OF PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, COMMITTEE, UH, IT'S ABSOLUTELY AN EMERGENCY ISSUE, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION IS GETTING TO Y'ALL IN REAL TIME.
SO, UH, I'M ALSO NOT CLEAR THAT YOU ARE GETTING ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS, BECAUSE, AGAIN, BASED ON THE PHONE TREE, WHEN YOU HIT THE BUTTON FOR BLOCK CROSSINGS, THAT IT'S NOT PICKED UP IN REAL TIME, UH, AND ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER HOURS.
SO, UH, CAN YOU RESPOND TO THAT? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU AND PACIFIC CAN DO? AND THEN AGAIN, UH, FOR BNSF, WHAT IS Y'ALL'S REPORTING MECHANISM? AND IF YOU COULD SHARE THAT FOR THE PUBLIC SO THAT THEY CAN CALL IN, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
COUNCIL, SO I'LL, I'LL, I'LL START OUT AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMITTEE IS AWARE, UH, AND COUNCIL MEMBER, WE HAVE, UH, STARTED A NEW, UH, PROGRAM, AN ONLINE REPORTING SYSTEM ON UP.COM.
AND I'LL BE SURE THAT EVERY OFFICE WITHIN THE CITY, 'CAUSE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE SHARING THIS WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
IF YOU GO TO UP.COM, IT'S A THREE STEP PROCESS, UH, UP.COM, AND I BELIEVE IT'S IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND, THE CONTACT US.
UH, AND THEN YOU WOULD GO TO BLOCK CROSSINGS WHERE YOU CAN REAL TIME PUT THAT INFORMATION INTO OUR SYSTEM, UH, TO REPORT THAT BLOCK CROSSING.
SO THAT'S A NEW TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT THAT WE PUT ON, UH, OUR UP.COM TO ASSIST WITH REPORTING THOSE BLOCK CROSSING ISSUES THAT COME UP.
AND ARE Y'ALL POSTING THAT INFORMATION, UM, AT RAILROAD CROSSINGS WHERE YOU LIST THE PHONE NUMBERS? RIGHT NOW IT'S JUST THE BY, BY FEDERAL REGULATION.
UH, WHAT FRA, THE, THE BLUE NES SIGN THAT'S THERE.
UM, AND I BELIEVE ALSO ON OUR, OUR, UH, UTILITY BOX, THE GRAY BOX IS THERE, UH, THE NUMBER AS WELL.
SO NOT, NOT ON THAT, BUT VIA OUR WEBSITE.
AND THEN I WOULD ENCOURAGE AND ASK IF YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS, HERE IS A NEW WAY OF REPORTING.
BUT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN HEAR A QUICK RESPONSE FROM BNSF AS WELL.
SO AS MENTIONED DURING MY PRESENTATION IN THIS CASE ON A MAINLINE TRACK, THAT, UM, COMMUNITY CALL WOULD GO TO THE UNION PACIFIC'S, UM, CALL IN NUMBER THE, UNLESS THE CROSSING, UM, BELONGS TO THE BNSF, THAT IS WHEN A COMMUNITY, UM, SOMEBODY IN THE COMMUNITY WOULD CALL US.
SO IN THIS CASE, UM, THE CALL WOULD CONTINUE TO GO TO THE, THE UNION PACIFIC AS IT'S DISPATCHED BY THEM.
COUNCIL MEMBER, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION.
UM, AND I THINK WITH THAT, WE HAVE ONE OTHER, UM, IN THIS CASE STAFF MEMBER IN THE QUEUE TO ASK THE INDUSTRY PARTNERS, AND IT COMES FROM THE OFFICE OF COUNCIL MEMBER MARIANNE HUFFMAN.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO, UH, ASK, ASK YOU THE, THE QUESTION THAT I ASKED THE DIRECTOR, UM, DIRECTOR DAVIS, UH, JUST A LITTLE WHILE AGO, HOW ARE THE RAILROAD ENGINEERS ALERTED TO, UM, THE FACT THAT THEY'RE APPROACHING A QUIET ZONE? IS THERE AN ELECTRONIC MECHANISM OR ARE THEY RELYING ON SIGNAGE? UM, HOW DO THEY KNOW WHEN THEY'RE COMING TO ONE? SO TYPICALLY INTERNALLY, AND SO IN THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS, THE COMMUNITY IS OFTENTIMES, UM, REACHED OUT TO THE RAILROAD AND SAID, HEY, WE WANNA A QUIET ZONE IN THIS LOCATION.
AND WE SAY THAT IT HAS TO BE, UM, APPLIED FOR DIRECTLY THROUGH THE FRA.
UM, AND THEN ONCE THAT, UH, THE QUIET ZONE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, THEN THERE'S FURTHER COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THAT COMMUNITY AND THE RAILROAD.
OUR, UH, OFFICE OF PUBLIC PROJECTS, UM, IS WHO HANDLES THAT.
UM, AND THEN ONCE, UH, ALL OF THE, UM, ADDED, UH, SAFETY MEASURES HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE AND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT NEEDS TO TO BE, UM, ADDED TO THE CROSSING IS COMPLETED.
UM, AT THAT POINT, OUR CREWS ARE MADE AWARE FROM ON THE OPERATION SIDE, UM, THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE BLOWING THE HORN IN THE QUIET ZONE.
DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I CAN ANSWER, YEAH.
MS. DAVIS, ARE YOU SUGGESTING SOMEONE, A COLLEAGUE OF YOURS COME FORWARD? YES.
IS THAT OKAY? IF YOU COULD INTRODUCE YOUR COLLEAGUE FOR THE RECORD?
[01:30:02]
OKAY.AND SO OUR, UH, DIRECTOR OF TRACKAGE RIGHTS, UH, ON OUR END, TESSA MINOR, WILL BE ANSWERING THE QUESTION FURTHER.
I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT PROTOCOL.
UM, MY NAME IS TESS MINOR, DIRECTOR OF TRAFFIC RIGHTS FOR BNSF.
AND OUR CREWS ARE MADE AWARE, AS SOON AS IT'S OFFICIAL AND WE ARE MADE AWARE THAT THERE IS A QUIET ZONE, THEN WE IMMEDIATELY PUT OUT A GENERAL NOTICE, AND THAT GOES IN OUR CREW RULES SO THEY KNOW WHERE THE QUIET ZONES ARE, AND THEN, UM, IT BECOMES, UH, PERMANENT IN THEIR TIMETABLES.
AGAIN HERE AGAIN, YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
THANK YOU MS. MINOR FOR BEING HERE.
UM, AND IF I COULD, IF I COULD JUST ASK ONE MORE, JUST A BROADER QUESTION, I GUESS.
UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT STALLS, I MEAN, WE, WE, WE, WE TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW OFTEN THEY OCCUR, BUT I, WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED A LOT ABOUT, TOUCHED ON THE, THE, THE ROOT CAUSES.
SO WHAT, WHAT CAUSES A TRAIN TO BE STALLED AT A BUSY INTERSECTION? IS IT A MECHANICAL FAILURE? UM, IS IT A LOGISTICAL, UH, PROBLEM? IS THERE PROBLEMS WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE? WHAT, WHAT IS THE, WHAT ARE THE GENERAL CAUSES FOR A TRAIN TO STALL? SO I THINK YOU HIT ON, SO I'LL, I'LL START FROM OUR SIDE OF THE UP AND THEN WITH OUR, MY, OUR FRIENDS FROM BNSF AS WELL.
IT CAN BE A RANGE OF ISSUES, RIGHT? IS IT A MECHANICAL ISSUE, UH, THAT WOULD REQUIRE THE ENGINEER, IF THERE'S SOMETHING DETECTED ON THE TRAIN TO HAVE TO PHYSICALLY, UH, WALK THE TRAIN AND INSPECT WHERE, WHERE IS SOMETHING HAPPENING? WAS IT A TRESPASSER RELATED ISSUE? UM, OR IS IT, IT'S THE CONGESTION, RIGHT? OF THE AMOUNT OF GOODS THAT ARE TRYING TO COME IN AND OUTTA THE HOUSTON COMPLEX.
I'VE SAID IT TO Y'ALL BEFORE, I THINK IN JANUARY TOO, AND, AND I KNOW MY SIX YEARS WITH UP GREAT ECONOMIC STORY THAT THE AMOUNT OF GROWTH THAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE GULF COAST IS HERE, BUT A LOT OF THAT FREIGHT HAS TO COME IN AND OUTTA THE HOUSTON COMPLEX, UM, BEING EITHER MOVED BY US, BY P-N-S-F-K-C-S OR PTRA AS WELL.
SO I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, COMPLEX.
A LOT OF DYNAMICS THAT COME INTO PLAY.
UM, I'D LIKE TO JUST REITERATE TO ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE STAFF.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE ARE HAVING THESE CONTINUED CONVERSATIONS MEETING MONTHLY, UH, WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
WE'RE HAVING THOSE WITH JACK'S TEAM AS WELL.
SO THE CONVERSATIONS ARE STILL OCCURRING.
UM, WE KNOW THERE ARE CHALLENGES THAT THAT, THAT WE ARE WORKING TO CONTINUE TO ADDRESS.
UH, BUT THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE.
MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE HEARING THE MESSAGE, HEARING FROM THE CONSTITUENTS THAT ARE CALLING Y'ALL AND, AND KNOW THAT, THAT WE'RE HERE TO PARTNER WITH Y'ALL AND WORK TOWARDS SOLUTIONS.
AND WOULD YOU HAVE ANY, NO, JUST TO REITERATE, UM, A NUMBER OF THINGS COULD CAUSE A TRAIN TO STALL.
UM, THE TRAIN IS, UM, CONNECTED VIA AIR, AND SO ANYTHING THAT COULD CAUSE THAT AIR TO BE INTERRUPTED IN THE TRAIN COULD CAUSE THE TRAIN TO STOP.
AND AS HE SAID, THE CREW MEMBERS HAVE TO WALK AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY BEFORE THEY CAN GO BACK ON THE MOVE AGAIN.
AND THAT DOES TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME.
AND WITH THAT, WE'RE GOING FOR A SECOND ROUND OF QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS.
LET ME REMIND YOU THAT WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF, UH, FOLKS FROM PUBLIC, UH, HERE FOR THEIR COMMENTS.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I'M TURNING BACK TO CHAIR GALLEGOS.
UM, RI RICHARD, THESE FOLLOWING TWO QUESTIONS ARE FOR, UH, UNION PACIFIC.
UH, AGAIN, LIKE I STATED EARLIER, STATUS ON THE PENDING PERMITS FOR MODIFICATIONS OF SEVERAL CROSSINGS AT THE EAST END.
THREE PROPOSED EAST END THREE, UH, QUIET ZONE.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING, UH, FOR AN UPDATE FOR SOME TIME NOW, SO I'M, I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN GET AN UPDATE SOON.
UH, A AS IN REGARDS TO THE, UH, PENDING PERMITS.
LET ME, LET ME TOUCH BASE WITH OUR CONSULTANT WHO'S WORKING ON, ON THAT, AND THEN I'LL GET BACK TO YOUR, YOUR TEAM.
ALSO, UH, IN JANUARY WHEN YOU WERE HERE, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT UNION PACIFIC IS DOING SOME IMPROVEMENTS, UH, SIGNALIZATION AND, UH, IMPROVEMENTS ON THE TRACKS, UH, THERE AT YOUR ENG INGLEWOOD YARD.
UH, CAN YOU GIVE AN UPDATE ON THAT? SURE.
SO WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SOME OF THOSE INSIDE THE YARD, UH, TRACK IMPROVEMENTS AS WELL AS THAT SIGNAL SYSTEM, THE UPGRADE THAT WAS, WAS COMPLETED AS WELL.
UM, FURTHER CAPITAL PROJECTS ARE, ARE OCCURRING AT INGLEWOOD, UM, WHICH HOPEFULLY BY THE END OF THE YEAR WE'LL START TO SEE, UH, CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT IN THE FLUIDITY.
BUT IT IS A DAILY CONVERSATION THAT I HAVE WITH OUR SUPERINTENDENT AND ANDRE WHO WAS HERE, OUR GENERAL MANAGER AS WELL, UH, WHO ALSO JOINED US AT THE, THE PUBLIC MEETING TWO OR THREE WEEKS AGO.
UH, WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS EVERY DAY ON HOW IS THE FLUIDITY THROUGH THE COMPLEX, WORKING WITH OUR, OUR RAILROAD PARTNERS AS WELL, UM, DAILY.
SO IT IS, IT IS DEFINITELY A MESSAGE I START MY DAY OUT WITH AND, UH, CHECKING IN JUST TO SEE HOW'S THE FLUIDITY THROUGH THE COMPLEX.
UM, ALSO, I'D LIKE TO JUST, UM, THIS QUESTION IS FOR UNION PACIFIC AND BNSF, UH, LIKE I STATED BACK IN JANUARY.
UH, AND, AND, AND, AND JUST SO BNSF CAN BE AWARE AS WELL, UH, WE HAVE THREE TRACKS.
[01:35:01]
UM, UH, THEY'RE IN THE EAST END, UH, IN REGARDS TO, IT'S A TRAIN TRIANGLE.UM, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE BASICALLY, AND IT'S IN THE EASTWOOD, UH, EASTWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS IN DISTRICT.
I, UH, AND YOU HAVE THREE TRACKS THERE.
AND, AND RIGHT IN THE CENTER YOU HAVE FIRE STATION 18.
UH, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN WHERE ALL THREE TRACKS, THERE'S A TRAIN.
UH, SO THEREFORE, WHEN THERE'S AN EMERGENCY, UH, FIRE STATION 18, OF COURSE, UH, UH, HAS A DIFFICULT TIME, OF COURSE, AN IMPOSSIBLE TIME, BUT THEY'RE TRYING TO GET TO AND FROM THE EMER EMERGENCY.
UH, SO THAT, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT AGAIN, UH, WE WANNA BRING TO THE ATTENTION OF BOTH UNION PACIFIC, UH, AND BNSF, UH, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THIS TRIANGLE, UH, THERE IN THE EAST END WITH A FIRE STATION IN SEVERAL SCHOOLS, UH, WITHIN THAT TRIANGLE.
UH, SO OF COURSE YOU HAVE FRUSTRATED PARENTS TRYING TO GET TO THEIR KIDS OR, OR TAKING THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL IN THE MORNING.
UH, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT Y'ALL, Y'ALL ARE AWARE OF THAT AS WELL.
UM, IF YOU HAVE A RESPONSE FOR HIS OBSERVATION THERE.
OTHERWISE, WE HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION FOR, UH, FROM COUNCIL AND STAFF.
IN THIS CASE, I'D LIKE TO WELCOME, UM, UH, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER TARSHA JACKSON IN DISTRICT B, WHO'S, UH, CHIEF OF STAFF HAS BEEN HERE FOR, I THINK, THE ENTIRETY OF THE MEETING.
MS. MORENO, UH, GO AHEAD WITH YOUR QUESTION.
UM, YOU STATED EARLIER THAT THE, THE TRAINS CAN BE STOPPED AT A INTERSECTION FOR VARIETY OF REASONS.
DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHEN AND WHY TRAINS BLOCK THE INTERSECTIONS? I DON'T, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME? I DON'T KNOW THAT WE KEEP A FORMALIZED LOG OF EVERY SINGLE TIME.
UH, THE TRAIN IS SITTING THERE AND FOR WHAT REASON? UM, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE TRY TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT THAT WE CAN ON OUR END, UM, TO AVOID OCCUPYING THE CROSSING TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN REST ASSURED THAT ANYTIME THERE IS A TRAIN SITTING AND OCCUPYING A CROSSING, WE DON'T WANT IT THERE ANYMORE THAN THE COMMUNITY DOES WANT IT THERE.
'CAUSE IT MEANS THAT OUR FREIGHT IS NOT MOVING.
SO, UM, WOULD WOULD SAY THAT, AND THAT WE MAKE EVERY EFFORT THAT WHEN THERE IS AN ISSUE THAT'S HAPPENING WITH OUR TRAIN ON ONE OF THE LINES, UM, TO RESOLVE THAT ISSUE AND RESUME THE SAFE MOVEMENT OF OUR TRAINS.
YEAH, AND I WOULD, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, BASED ON IF, IF THE CONSTITUENTS OR THE COMMUNITY HAS REPORTED IT TO OUR RMCC DATA CENTER, UH, THAT IS WHERE WE WOULD HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT THAT, THAT WE COULD LOOK AT.
BUT I AGREE WITH WHAT, WHAT JANELLE'S ECHO HER SENTIMENT OF WE DON'T WANT TO BE STOPPED.
WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO BE MOVING.
UH, I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT I MO THAT I MADE THE POINT.
I'LL, I'LL WORK WITH JACK, UM, HAVING THAT 3 1 1 SYSTEM, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS TALKING TO OUR REPORTING MECHANISM TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT THAT DATA IF FOR, FOR ALL OF US ON THE RAILROAD SIDE AS WELL, UH, WILL BE IMPORTANT.
AND I KNOW HE MADE, MADE A MENTION OF THAT.
UM, THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBER I CAN MAKE REAL QUICK, THE, UH, UH, FOR THE CHIEF, I KNOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS PART OF THOSE, UH, RAILROAD COLLABORATIVE MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE AS WELL.
SO WE'LL MAKE SURE BETWEEN THE FIRE STATION AS WELL, THE SCHOOLS WITHIN THE EASTWOOD, THAT THAT'S AN ITEM THAT WE TALK ABOUT DURING OUR MEETINGS.
AND, AND MS. MORENO, I, I THINK WE GOT KIND OF A HALF ANSWER THERE.
UH, FOR BNSF, LET ME AS THE CHAIR POINT OUT THAT I THINK KEEPING A LOG OF THOSE REASONS FOR THOSE CROSSINGS WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING LARGELY TODAY ABOUT IDEAS FOR WORK GOING FORWARD.
WE'VE HEARD FROM A NUMBER OF AUTHORITIES, BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE CITY THAT ARE TALKING ABOUT THE DATA ENRICHED SET OF INFORMATION CHOICES THAT WE CAN PROVIDE HERE FOR THE PEOPLE OF HOUSTON AND GETTING TO A BETTER PLACE, UM, AS THE MUNICIPALITY AND A HOST OF REGULATORY GROUPS HERE.
SO I, I THINK WITH THAT, I, I WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BE HERE, FOR YOUR PARTICIPATING IN THESE MEETINGS AND GOING FORWARD.
LET US REMEMBER THAT THIS IS, THERE IS ONGOING WORK THAT IS WITH BOTH, UH, THOSE PRESENTING TODAY FROM HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS AND OUR AFFILIATED AGENCIES AND INTERESTS, THE HCAC WITH THE TIP PROCESS GOING ON THIS SUMMER.
ALL THOSE POINTS RECOGNIZED ABOUT GRANT APPLICATIONS AND FUNDRAISING AND, UH, FOR THAT MATTER WITH THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION AND THE DATA POINTS FOR WHICH COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS AND COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN AND I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH, AMONG OTHERS ARE PARTNERS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, BOTH CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON, LEE CONGRESSWOMAN SYLVIA GARCIA, AND IN THE CONVERSATION THAT I WAS A PART OF WITH, UH, SECRETARY BUTTIGIEG AS WELL AS OTHERS.
AND I THINK WITH THAT, IF YOU'LL STAND BY, WE'LL SEE, UH, WHERE THE PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL GO.
BUT WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, WE WILL COMMENCE
[01:40:01]
WITH A, A LIST NOW, UM, WE'RE A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF INTO THE MEETING AND, UH, WITH A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS, AND WE'LL BEGIN WITH OUR FIRST SPEAKER.IF Y'ALL COULD, UH, UH, MAYBE STAND STAND BY MS. DANIELLE LAPIERRE IS HERE FROM DISTRICT I, I BELIEVE, AND, UH, WE'LL SPEAK TO TRAIN OPERATIONS IN THE EAST END.
MS. LAER? YES, I GOT THAT RIGHT.
UH, THANK YOU, CHAIR ROBINSON.
I'M THE PRESIDENT OF THE EASTWOOD CIVIC ASSOCIATION, AND I SPEAK TODAY TO URGE THE CITY OF HOUSTON TO LEAD THE CHARGE IN THE CREATION OF A RAIL MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT EVALUATES AREAS WHERE TRAINS CLASH WITH QUALITY OF LIFE, MOBI, MOBILITY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
WITH SUCH A PLAN COUNCIL WOULD GAIN THE KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO PRIORITIZE AND SEEK COLLABORATIVE FUNDING FOR KEY INVESTMENTS LIKE IMPROVEMENT STUDIES, GRADE SEPARATION, CROSSING CLOSURES, AND QUIET ZONES.
THERE ARE MANY ACTORS AND FUNDS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO EASE THE PAIN OF RESIDENTS EXPERIENCING EXCESSIVE BLOCKAGES AND INTOLERABLE NOISE, BUT HOW CAN THEY BE LEVERAGED WITHOUT A PLAN? LET'S MAKE A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AS YOU CONSIDER THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THAT STAFF PRESENTED TODAY.
I'D LIKE TO SHARE THE INVESTMENT PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED BY THE EASTWARD CIVIC ASSOCIATION.
WE NEED RELIEF ON THREE LINES TO IMPROVE MOBILITY IN OUR COMMUNITY.
I'LL SPEAK TO THE GALVESTON SUB AND MY NEIGHBOR LINDSAY, WHO'S UP NEXT.
WE'LL SPEAK ABOUT EAST AND WEST BELTS LATER ON THE GALVESTON SUB.
OUR TOP PRIORITY IS AN UNDERPASS ON LOCKWOOD, WHICH WAS IN THE PRESENTATION.
THIS IS THE EXPECTED ROUTE OF METRO T'S UNIVERSITY CORRIDOR LINE.
BUT LET ME BE CLEAR, OUR NEIGHBORHOOD BELIEVES AN OVERPASS IN THIS AREA WOULDN'T BE THE RIGHT SOLUTION.
WE ARE INSTEAD IN FAVOR OF A SMALL UNDERPASS THAT WOULD PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY WITH ONE ADDITIONAL NORTH-SOUTH CROSSING, BUT STILL LEAVE SEVEN CROSSINGS AT GRADE THAT ARE BLOCKED DAILY.
AS SUCH, I URGE THE CITY OF HOUSTON TO ALSO SEEK FUNDING FOR A RAIL IMPROVEMENT STUDY ON THIS LINE TO EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT ADDRESS THE ENTIRETY OF THE SUB, NOT JUST ONE CROSSING.
AND THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH METRO TO ENSURE SOLUTIONS CAN BE EXPEDITED TO ALIGN WITH THE TIMELINES FOR BRT CONSTRUCTION.
MY COLLEAGUE LINDSAY WILL SHARE PRIORITIES FOR EAST AND WEST BELT OR EAST AND WEST BELTS IN HER REMARKS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. LAPIERRE.
AND, UH, WE WILL PROCEED WITH THE, I BELIEVE, HOLD ON.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE PODIUM, WE HAVE A QUESTION FROM, UH, CHAIR GALLEGOS.
THANK YOU DANIELLE, FOR BEING HERE TODAY AND REPRESENTING US.
EASTWOOD, UH, JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I DID MEET WITH, UH, THE NEW BOARD CHAIR, SANJAY.
UM, AND, AND, AND DID, DID BRING THAT TO HIS ATTENTION.
HE CAME INTO MY OFFICE, UH, THAT THERE ARE CONCERNS IN REGARDS TO THE BRT GOING DOWN LOCKWOOD, UH, IN REGARDS TO AN OVERPASS THAT MIGHT, MAY BE CONSTRUCTED OR AN UNDERPASS.
UH, SO, UM, THEY ARE AWARE OF IT AND, UH, WE ARE GOING TO BE MONITORING IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, PROCEED TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER.
THANKS AGAIN, UH, MS. LINDSEY WILLIAMS, UH, WITH US VIRTUALLY AND ONLINE PROCEED.
MS. WILLIAMS, IF YOU'D HIT STAR SIX TO UNMUTE, WE'LL AWAIT YOUR COMMENT.
MS. LINDSEY WILLIAMS ONLINE, WE SEE YOU ONLINE.
IF YOU CAN UNMUTE STAR SIX, WE CAN COME BACK TO YOU IF THERE ARE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES WITH THAT NICE INTRO FROM DANIELLE.
I'M SORRY WE CAN'T TAKE IT RIGHT TO MS. WILLIAMS, BUT WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU IF WE CAN.
UH, MR. TOM THOMPSON ALSO ONLINE VIRTUALLY TESTING OUR SYSTEM HERE.
MR. COMPSON, ARE YOU THERE? ARE YOU ABLE TO MUTE? UNMUTE, PLEASE.
WE SEE YOU MR. COMPSON, AND WE KNOW WE HEARD YOU AT THE PUBLIC SESSION THIS WEEK AT COUNCIL.
UH, WE'RE CHECKING OUR SYSTEM TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES RIGHT NOW, BUT PROCEEDING WITH OUR LIST, A CALL FOR EITHER MS. WILLIAMS OR MR. THOMPSON ONLINE.
AND WHILE WE'RE ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES THERE, WE WILL PROCEED.
PRESENT HERE IN CHAMBERS IS PANKAJ WAHA.
LET'S HEAR FROM YOU AT THE PODIUM.
SIR, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
IF YOU COULD STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD AND PROCEED WITH YOUR QUESTION OR COMMENT.
UH, THANK YOU FOR HOLDING THIS MEETING.
THANK YOU BNSF FOR BEING PRESENT, UH, PROVIDING VITAL, VITAL RAIL SERVICES TO OUR CITY AND THE COUNTRY.
I JUST WANNA SAY I LOVE TRAINS.
I ENJOY COUNTING TRAIN CARS WITH, WITH MY KIDS AS THEY ROLL BY WHEN I'M STUCK AT
[01:45:01]
ONE OF THE BLOCK CROSSINGS.I'M PART OF THE HOUSTON QUIET ZONES COMMITTEE, AND I'M ONE OF THE RESIDENTS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE NEAR THE BNSF RAIL LINE THAT RUNS PARALLEL TO THE 34TH STREET TRACKS, UH, JUST NORTH, UH, OUTSIDE OF SIX 10 LOOP ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE, UH, FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS, FROM OAK FOREST, ALL THE WAY TO INDEPENDENCE HEIGHTS.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE, UH, ON THE MAP, I'VE PROVIDED YOU GUYS, UH, THERE ARE OVER 500 HOUSEHOLDS, UH, THAT HAVE VOICED THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE 34TH STREET STREET QUIET ZONE CORRIDOR.
CONSIDERING EACH HOUSEHOLD TYPICALLY HAS TWO TO FOUR RESIDENTS, THERE ARE AT LEAST SEVERAL, SEVERAL THOUSAND HOUSTONIANS IMPACTED BY THE TRAIN HORNS ON THE STRETCH OF TRACKS.
IT'S TIME TO SILENCE THE TRAIN HORNS IN HOUSTONS PEOPLE IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD LIVE WITH, LIVE IN COMMUNITIES, UH, THAT ARE MUCH MORE DENSE WITHOUT THE OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD TRAIN HORNS, HOUSTON CAN DO THE SAME.
WE DON'T LIVE IN THE 18 HUNDREDS WITH COAL FIRED TRAINS, BELCHING OUT BLACK.
SO BLACK SOOT AND POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT, DO WE THEN WHY SHOULD WE LIVE WITH AN OUTDATED SAFETY MEASURE AS A TRAIN HORN? THE TRAIN HORN IS THE LAST RESORT FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS NOTIFYING ANYONE TO GET OFF THE TRACKS.
SAME, AS SAME AS IT IS FOR WHEN WE DRIVE OUR VEHICLES.
WE DON'T HONK OUR HORN EVERY TIME WE DRIVE THROUGH AN INTERSECTION.
UM, WE DON'T, WE DON'T HONK OUR HORN WHEN WE CHANGE LANES.
SO WE HAVE SAFETY MEASURES IN PLACE, AND WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO MANDATE, UH, PER THE CITY OF HOUSTON INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN MANUAL TO PUT THESE MEASURES IN PLACE AND HAVE HORNS ONLY AS A LAST RESORT, UH, PER THE, UH, FRA, THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS THE AUTHORITY TO MANDATE THIS, UH, TO PUT EFFECTIVE QUIET ZONES IN PLACE.
AS YOU GUYS HAVE DISCUSSED EARLIER TODAY, AND I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE IN PROCESS OF DOING THAT, BUT WE NEED TO DO THIS NOW.
IT'S LONG AWAITED, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS ARE PART OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE.
IT'S NOW TIME TO MAKE THIS, UH, BETTER FOR ALL CITIZENS QUALITY OF LIFE, ESPECIALLY THE THOUSANDS OF HOUSTONIANS THAT HAVE JUST, UH, ADVOCATED FOR THIS.
UH, IF I MAY HAVE ONE MORE MINUTE.
WELL, YOU, YOU CAN CONCLUDE YOUR REMARKS.
YEAH, I HAVE ONE MORE, MAYOR, I'LL GIVE YOU A FEW MORE SECONDS.
UM, I'M SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS OF, BUT WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO TODAY.
MR. PADUA, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS REGARDING FUNDING AND COSTS OF THE QUIET ZONES.
I DON'T THINK THE CITY SHOULD BE BURDENED WITH THIS, NOR THE TAXPAYERS.
LET'S LOOK AT BNS BNS F'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
UH, IN 2021, THEY HAD 22 BILLIONS IN REVENUE, 13 BILLIONS IN EXPENSES WITH A NET, UH, INCOME OF 7 BILLION.
NOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBER, UH, 350,000 WAS MENTIONED EARLIER AS A COST PER.
UM, SIR, IF, IF YOU'D LIKE TO FOLLOW UP INTER UP, WE CAN TAKE YOUR COMMENT ONLINE AND WE'LL BE HAPPY TO POST IT AND CIRCULATE IT TO THE COMMITTEES.
UH, BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE AND, AND I APPRECIATE ASKING YOUR QUESTIONS.
I APPRECIATE YOU ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK.
IF YOU COULD WRAP UP, SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT 0.03% OF BNFS F'S PROFITS TO IMPLEMENT A $2 MILLION QUIET ZONE.
ALONG THE 34TH STREET, UH, CORRIDOR.
APPRECIATE THAT PROCEEDING NOW TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER, WE'RE GOING TO TRY AGAIN FOR ONLINE.
OUR SPEAKER IS MS. ORLANDO POLO.
MS. PTO, IF YOU'RE HERE, PLEASE JOIN US.
IMPLEMENT THE 2 MILLION QUIET ZONE.
THANK YOU FOR, UM, ALLOWING ME A FEW MINUTES TO SPEAK.
SO, YOU KNOW, UH, I SUBMITTED, UM, IN WRITING MY CONCERNS TO BACK UP, UH, WHAT I'M SPEAKING OF TODAY.
SO WITH THE RAILROAD, I'VE BEEN IN THIS COMMUNITY FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
AND, UM, I'M JUST LIKE VERY UPSET THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, THE RAILROAD IS SITTING THERE TALKING ABOUT THEY HAVE, UH, DAILY CONVERSATIONS, UH, MONTHLY MEETINGS, BUT YET THERE'S NO SOLUTION IN ADDITION TO THIS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS BLOCKAGE, THIS BLOCKING OF, OF, OF, OF VEHICLES HAVING TO REROUTE INCLUDE MASSIVE 18 WHEELERS TRYING TO GET TO THESE BACK INDUSTRIES.
YOU KNOW, THESE ARE NEIGHBORHOODS, THESE ARE SMALL STREETS, AND THESE MASSIVE TRUCKS NAVIGATING THROUGH THE COMMUNITY ARE NOT ONLY TEARING UP OUR STREETS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A TRAIL, A WALKING TRAIL, WE HAVE A PARK, BUT OUR, OUR WIRES SIT LOW WHEN THEY COME THROUGH HERE.
AND I'VE ALREADY REPORTED THIS NUMEROUS TIMES.
THEY CAUSE DAMAGE TO MY HOUSE IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.
UM, THEY HAVE POPPED MY INTERNET WIRES, UM, CAUSING MY WHOLE, UH, HOUSE TO BE DAMAGED.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY FORCED THEIR WAY IN ANYHOW POSSIBLE, ANY WAY POSSIBLE.
AND I'VE SUBMITTED PICTURES OF THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE CHILDREN RIDING THEIR BIKES.
WE HAVE PEOPLE, WE HAVE OLDER SENIORS WALKING, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE TRUCKS HAVE, YOU KNOW, ARE TRYING TO GET TO THIS INDUSTRY.
THEY'RE TRYING TO EXIT THIS INDUSTRY.
OUR COMMUNITY STREETS ARE NOT FOR THAT.
[01:50:01]
AND, YOU KNOW, UM, THE YOUNG MAN BEFORE ME WAS TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE REVENUE.UM, YEAH, THERE HAS TO BE ALTERNATIVE WAYS IN THESE MEETINGS THAT THEY HAVE TO PUT THIS REVENUE TO, TO, TO, IN EFFECT.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IS, UM, YEAH, WE NEED SOLUTIONS AND WE NEED 'EM QUICKLY.
THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH, MS. POLITO.
WE DO HAVE THE HANDOUT THAT YOU BROUGHT, UH, OR DELIVERED TO US, UH, WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT YOU MENTIONED.
AND, UH, UH, WE WILL, UM, WE WILL POST THOSE AND CIRCULATE.
SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND BEING HERE, SEEING NO QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL, WE'RE GONNA PROCEED TO THE NEXT SPEAKER, UH, WHICH IS MS. MARA GOMEZ.
UH, MS. GOMEZ IS HERE WITH US IN CITY HALL CHAMBERS.
IF YOU'D JOIN US AT THE PODIUM, UH, WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENT OR QUESTION TODAY FOR THE COUNCIL, IF YOU COULD IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
UH, MY NAME IS MANA GOMEZ AND I'M WITH LINK HOUSTON, A NONPROFIT THAT ADVOCATES FOR A ROBUST AND EQUITABLE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK SO THAT ALL PEOPLE CAN REACH OPPORTUNITY.
TODAY I'M ADDRESSING THIS JOINT COMMITTEE ABOUT THE INCREASING BURDEN TRAIN BLOCKAGES CONTINUE TO POSE FOR TRANSIT RIDERS, BICYCLISTS, AND PEDESTRIANS IN THE EAST END AND FIFTH WARD COMMUNITIES LINK HOUSTON SHARES MANY OF THE CONCERNS RESIDENTS ARE SHARING WITH YOU TODAY.
I LIVE IN THE EAST END, SO I EXPERIENCE FIRSTHAND THE IMPACT THESE TRAIN BLOCKAGES HAVE ON OUR COMMUNITIES.
UM, WE ARE FORCED TO REROUTE TO ACCESS JOBS, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, AND WELLNESS, RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHILE RIDING METRO'S 40 LOCAL BUS ROUTE, ONE DAY, THE DRIVER HAD TO REROUTE ALONG THE I 45 FRONTAGE ROAD AND MISSED 10 STOPS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE TRAIN BLOCKAGE.
SEVERAL METRO BUS ROUTES ARE OFTEN FORCED TO REDIRECT WHEN TRAINS BLOCK CROSSING, CAUSING PEOPLE TO BE LATE TO THEIR DESTINATIONS.
SOME PEDESTRIANS, SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN INCLUDED, GO UNDER OR OVER IN BETWEEN THE CARS OF TRAIN STOPS, OF STOP TRAINS BLOCKING THEIR ROUTE AND RISK THEIR LIVES.
PEDESTRIANS WILL TRY TO FIND THE QUICKEST WAY TO THEIR DESTINATION, ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE BEING LATE, AFFECTS THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE.
ADDITIONALLY, THEY CAN FORCE BICYCLISTS TO REROUTE ONTO BUSIER STREETS, WHICH MAY NOT HAVE THE BUILT-IN INFRASTRUCTURE TO AFFORD SUFFICIENT SAFETY.
SO TODAY WE ASK THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION UP BNSF AND THE KCS RAIL COMPANIES TO WORK WITH OUR LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS AND COMMUNITIES TO FIND THE BEST COMMUNITY DRIVEN SOLUTIONS TO THESE TRAIN BLOCKAGES WITH OUR MOST VULNERABLE ROAD USERS IN MIND, AND WITHOUT FURTHER DIVIDING THE COMMUNITIES THE RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE GOES THROUGH.
AND WE ASK OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO HELP HOLD THESE COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE AND DO RIGHT BY THE COMMUNITIES THEY OPERATE IN.
YOUR EFFORTS TO REMEDY THESE ISSUES WILL REMOVE ADVERSE BARRIERS AND BRING ABOUT EQUITY IN HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. GOMEZ.
SEEING NO QUESTIONS IN THE QUEUE, WE'LL PROCEED.
UM, I SEE THAT MS. WILLIAMS HAS REJOINED US OR HOPEFULLY IS ABLE TO UNMUTE MS. WILLIAMS. CAN YOU DO THAT? THERE YOU ARE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, GO AHEAD.
CONTINUING TO SHARE OUR INVESTMENT PRIORITIES DANIELLE STARTED WITH ON THE WEST BELT.
WE AGREE WITH THE PRIORITIZATION OF YORK STREET PRESENTED BY STAFF AND INCLUDED IN THE 10-YEAR-OLD RAIL DISTRICT STUDY.
HOWEVER, THERE IS A CRITICAL MISSING PIECE IN PHASE ONE NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE NH H I'S PLAN IN ANTICIPATION OF THE CLOSURE AT POLK AND ST.
EMANUEL, WE WOULD URGE THE INCLUSION OF AN UNDERPASS AT LELAND AS AN EQUAL PRIORITY TO ALLOW EASTON RESIDENTS A STRAIGHT ACCESS TO DOWNTOWN ON THE EAST BELT.
THE COMMUNITY DESPERATELY NEEDS AT LEAST ONE EAST WEST CROSSING, EITHER AT POLK, LAWNDALE OR TELEPHONE.
POLK SERVES AS A ROUTE FROM METRO BUSES.
LAWNDALE WOULD PROVIDE BETTER ACCESS TO KIPP SCHOOL AND POST OFFICE, AND THE TELEPHONE MAY UNDERGO A COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION.
IF THE RACE GRANT AND TURS 23 PARTNERSHIPS COME THROUGH, THERE ARE TOUGH CHOICES, BUT WE'D BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH THE CITY TO ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY ON WHICH CROSSING THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE PRIORITIZED.
MOVING ON FROM INFRASTRUCTURE TO QUIET ZONES, SINCE AT LEAST 2011, THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN SEEKING QUIET ZONES ACROSS THE WEST BELT, EAST BELT, AND THE GALVESTON LINE.
EACH TIME THERE'S SOMETHING PREVENTING QUIET ZONES FROM MOVING FORWARD, FUNDING OTHER PRIORITIES, OR WAITING ON NO HORN SIGNS.
COUNSEL, THERE ARE NEW BIL GRANTS, WHICH COULD SOLVE FOR FUNDING.
WE HAVE HAD QUIET ZONES IMPLEMENT.
WE COULD HAVE HAD QUIET ZONES IMPLEMENTED A LONG TIME AGO WITH THE USE OF GRANTS TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT FEELS LIKE OUR VOICES HAVE GONE UNHEARD.
MONEY IS AVAILABLE NOW, AND THERE SEEMS TO BE NO URGENCY AT THE CITY TO APPLY FOR DOLLARS TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE EAST
[01:55:01]
END.PROJECTS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN FOCUSED ON THE WEST SIDE, AND IT'S TIME TO SEE DOLLARS HELPING THOSE WHO LIVE EAST OF I 45 PUT THE MONEY WHERE THE PROBLEM IS.
CHICAGO IS ALREADY CELEBRATING BIL DOLLARS AS THEY, THEY THEY EXPECT TO RECEIVE AND WE ARE ALREADY BEHIND.
SO, PASSING IT BACK TO COUNCIL, HOW SOON DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE THE FIRST PROPOSALS READY FOR FUNDING FROM THE BIL? AND I HOPE YOU HAVE AN ANSWER.
WELL, MS. WILLIAMS, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND ASKING YOUR QUESTION.
I DON'T SEE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS JUMPING AT THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.
UM, UH, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, UH, WELL, THERE WE GO.
WE'VE GOT COUNCIL MEMBER CHAIR, ALCORN, UH, HERE TO ADDRESS YOU.
AND I JUST WANNA, UM, SAY I'M SO IMPRESSED WITH THE EASTWOOD RESIDENTS.
I MEAN, YOU GUYS NOT ONLY KNOW YOUR, YOUR COMMENTS ARE WITH SUCH SPECIFICITY THAT IS SO HELPFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU EXACTLY.
YOU HAVE A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
AND I, FOR ONE, AM IMPRESSED BY THAT AND WILL CERTAINLY, UM, CERTAINLY DO WHAT I CAN TO ADVOCATE FOR, FOR WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
WE ARE WORKING VERY, VERY HARD HERE.
THANK YOU, MS. WILLIAMS. WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS ALSO IN THE QUEUE.
THANK, THANK YOU MS. WILLIAMS FOR, FOR TAKING TIME TO BE BE HERE.
UH, JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION, WE HAVE, UH, SUBMITTED, UH, A REQUEST TO, UH, CONGRESSWOMAN GARCIA AND, AND CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE, UH, FOR FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY PROJECT, UH, FOR THE EAST END QUIET TWO, UH, ZONE.
SO, UH, WE'RE HOPING THAT, UH, THAT WILL BE APPROVED.
AND THANK YOU MS. WILLIAMS FOR BEING HERE, UM, AGAIN, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY AND, AND BRINGING YOUR QUESTION TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE'RE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SPEAKER.
WE'RE GONNA TRY AGAIN FOR MR. TOM COMPSON, IF HE'S, UH, BACK ONLINE AND ABLE TO JOIN US.
OTHERWISE, WE'RE GOING TO PROCEED WITH THE NEXT SPEAKER, WHICH IS MS AMY DEN.
AMY DEN VIRTUALLY WITH US, I BELIEVE.
AMY, ARE YOU THERE? WE'RE SEEING YOU ONLINE, BUT HEARING NOTHING, CAN YOU, UH, JOIN US WITH STAR SIX? IF NOT, WE WILL PROCEED AND HOPEFULLY GET BACK FROM YOU.
THE NEXT SPEAKER ON THE LIST IS MR. CLAY DIPPLE CLAY.
IF YOU COULD APPROACH TO THE PODIUM, HAPPY TO HEAR YOUR QUESTION OR COMMENT TODAY.
IF YOU COULD IDENTIFY YOURSELF FOR THE RECORD.
I'M ALSO A RESIDENT OF EASTWOOD.
I WANT TO THANK YOU COMMITTEE MEMBERS, ELECTED OFFICIALS, UH, CHIEF PENA.
I ALSO REGRET THAT THE FRA COULD NOT MAKE IT.
UH, WE HAVE ESTABLISHED IN SEVERAL PUBLIC MEETINGS THAT THE TRAIN BLOCKAGES IN THE EAST END HAVE BEEN INCREASING IN FREQUENCY AND INDURATION ALL WHILE THE TRAINS THEMSELVES GET LONGER.
WHILE HOUSTON'S POPULATION GROWS, UNION PACIFIC TELLS US THEY EXPECT TRAIN TRAFFIC THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS ONLY GOING TO INCREASE WITH JUST A $30 SECURITY CAMERA AT JUST ONE CROSSING.
IN EASTWOOD, PRIVATE CITIZENS HAVE AN AMASSED AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF DATA, UH, TO PROVE THE SCOPE OF THE BLOCKAGE PROBLEM.
IT'S MEASURABLE, IT'S PERSISTENT, AND IT'S ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY.
THE PROBLEM IS ONLY GONNA GET WORSE.
WE COME NOW TO URGE THE COUNCIL TO WORK WITH CITY PUBLIC WORKS STARTING TODAY.
TO USE THIS DATA AND THE DATA FROM THESE PILOT SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS TO CREATE A CONCRETE ACTION PLAN.
WE WANT TO KNOW HOW HOUSTON CAN APPLY AND ALLOCATE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DOLLARS FOR GRADE SEPARATED UNDERPASSES, COMPLETION OF LONG PROMISE QUIET ZONES AND ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENT STUDIES SO THAT A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CAN GIVE YOUR CONSTITUENTS A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHICH PROJECTS YOU INTEND TO APPLY FOR IN EACH YEAR OF THE B'S FIVE AVAILABLE YEARS.
RAIL OPERATORS HAVE LONG TREATED OUR NEIGHBORHOOD EASTWOOD, LIKE A PARKING LOT FOR TRAINS THAT ARE TOO LONG BY THEIR OWN STANDARDS TO FIT IN THE SWITCHING YARDS BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE THEM.
THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHICH INTERSECTIONS THEY'RE BLOCKING.
THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND WORK AND SHOP AND INVEST HERE WANT TO SEE BOOTS ON THE GROUND TO SECURE FUNDING FOR A FIX.
PLEASE TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THIS ISSUE.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU ARE OUR VOICE.
WE NEED YOU TO SPEAK UP FOR US.
AND I END WITH A QUESTION FOR COUNCIL.
WHAT ARE THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S FUNDING REQUEST PRIORITIES FOR ALLEVIATING RAIL BLOCKAGE ISSUES? AND HOW DO YOU INTEND TO INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY IN DECIDING WHICH OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS COME FIRST? FIRST OF ALL, MR. DIPPLE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
AND FOR YOUR QUESTION, UH, FOR RESPONSES IS CHAIR GALLEGOS.
AND THANK YOU CLAY, FOR YOUR CONTINUED ADVOCACY.
I KNOW YOU AND OTHERS WERE AT THE, UH, UM, TOWN HALL, UH, HELD BY THE EAST END CHAMBER, AS WELL AS
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THE FIFTH WARD.UH, AND THERE AT GUADALUPE CHURCH, UH, WITH, WITH CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE.
UH, AND AND THANK YOU FOR THE, THE NICE, UH, HANDWRITTEN NOTE.
UM, ALSO, I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT, THAT THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT, UH, UNION PACIFIC AND, UH, BURLINGTON NORTHERN, UH, ARE AWARE OF THIS TRIANGLE, UH, WHICH AFFECTS EASTWOOD UH, FIRE STATION 18.
UH, IT DOES, AGAIN, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN WHERE THERE'S A TRAIN ON ALL THREE TRACKS.
UH, SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT RESIDENTS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EMERGENCY VEHICLES.
UH, YOU'RE TALK, AGAIN, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PARENTS THAT CAN'T TAKE THEIR KIDS, UH, TO SCHOOL OR, OR PICK THEM UP AFTER SCHOOL.
UH, SO IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST CHAOS.
UH, AND THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING BURLINGTON NORTHERN AND UNION PACIFIC TO LOOK AT THIS TRIANGLE, UH, AND AND ASK YOUR DISPATCHERS, UH, TO NOT STOP TRAINS IN WITHIN THIS TRIANGLE BECAUSE IT IMPACTS QUITE A FEW RESIDENTS.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. ERICA MIRANDA, WHO I BELIEVE IS ONLINE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEAH, LET'S HOLD OFF ON THE QUESTION FOR MS. MIRANDA AND GO BACK ON OUR LIST FOR MS. DEN.
SORRY, I WAS, I SOMEHOW WE HAD A MISSED CONNECTION.
I'M THE PRESIDENT OF SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD 64 IN 88.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR HAVING THIS SECOND MEETING ON RAILROAD OPERATIONS AFTER THE JANUARY, 2022 MEETING.
UH, SINCE YOUR FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING IN JANUARY, OUR SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD CONDUCTED A COMMUNITY SURVEY REGARDING RAILROAD IMPACTS.
AND MR. HGR PRESENTED AT OUR FEBRUARY 9TH, 2022 SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING TO SHARE THE INFORMATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS SPECIFIC TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE ALSO SHARED THESE RESULTS OF THAT COMMUNITY SURVEY WITH MR. HGR, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH ANY OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT ARE INTERESTED.
WE ARE GLAD THAT COUNCIL IS CONTINUING TO ENGAGE ON THIS ISSUE.
THE CURRENT RAILROAD OPERATIONS ARE SAFETY ISSUES FOR PEDESTRIANS, BICYCLISTS, AND VEHICLES IN OUR SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD AND THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES BECAUSE OF THE HORNS NOISE AND IMPACT TO PRODUCTIVITY FOR THOSE TRAVELING TO WORKER SCHOOLS.
OUR SURVEY REVEALED THE FOLLOWING CONCERNS.
FIRST EXTENDED AND REPEATED BLOCK CROSSINGS FOR MANY HOURS AT LAWNDALE AND TELEPHONE BY THE KIPP POST OFFICE AT LELAND AND SCOTT AT LOCKWOOD, UM, AT RUST AND HARRISBURG ON HUGHES STREET AT POLK AND HARRISBURG ON GRIGGS AT REDWOOD.
AND BOBBY LEE AT THE GUS WORTHHAM GOLF COURSE.
BLOCKING THE PEDESTRIAN BIKE AND BAYOU TRAIL TO CAPITOL STREET FOR HOURS ON SATURDAY MORNINGS, THE DUMBBELL AND HARRISBURG IN, IN, UH, INTERSECTIONS.
AND AT 1500 TELEPHONE ROAD NEAR CEDAR JOBS.
WE ALSO EXPERIENCE REGULARLY, UH, HORN NOISE DURING THE DAY AND NIGHT, AND SPECIFICALLY ILLEGAL DUMPING ALONG THE RAIL LINE AT 300 NORTH 67TH STREET IN HOUSTON, TEXAS.
WE THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO OUR CONCERNS AND GIVING US THIS FORM.
THE RESULTS OF OUR SURVEY ARE AVAILABLE BY REQUEST.
UH, YOU CAN SEND THE REQUEST TO ME AND I'M LISTED UNDER SUPER COUN THE SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL INFORMATION.
UM, APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS AND YOUR ONGOING WORK ON, ON THE ISSUE AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE NOW GONNA TRY, UH, FOR, EXCUSE ME, HOLD ON.
AMY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS YOU.
I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AGAIN.
I KNOW YOU ADDRESSED US IN, UH, THE JANUARY MEETING THAT WE HAD.
UH, AND, UH, THANK YOU, UH, FOR REPRESENTING THE EASTWOOD LAWNDALE WAYSIDE SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, UH, AGAIN, TWICE ON IN JANUARY AND TODAY.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. ERICA MIRANDA, WHO IS WITH US VIRTUALLY.
IF YOU'RE ONLINE, SPEAK UP OR HIT STAR SIX ON MUTE.
ERICA, IF YOU JOIN US, PLEASE LET US KNOW OR, UH, I'M HERE.
CAN ME GO AHEAD, MS. MIRANDA? UM, ERICA MIRANDA IS WITH, I'M AN EASTWOOD RESIDENT.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, UM, MAYBE THE CITY AND THE RAILROAD CAN WORK ON THE LOW HANGING FRUIT, MEANING THE EASY THINGS.
I WOULD THINK THAT IT DOESN'T INVOLVE LOGISTICS.
'CAUSE I KNOW I WORK IN LOGISTICS AND I KNOW HOW HARD THAT CAN BE, BUT I'M THINKING, PUTTING UP QUIET STONE SIGNS DOES NOT INFLICT ON LOGISTICS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN BE WORKED ON.
ALSO, PUTTING SIGNS FOR ALTERNATE ROUTES, UM, BECAUSE THERE ARE BUS DRIVERS THAT ARE NEW AND THEY DON'T KNOW THE, THE ROUTES AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
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ALONG WITH BUS DRIVERS, BOTH SCHOOL AND PUBLIC.UM, ALSO ONE OF THE, UH, ROADS THAT IS USED FOR AN ALTERNATE ROUTE COMING OFF IS BROADMOOR.
I KNOW MY MOTHER LIVES BETWEEN BROADMOOR AND MUNGER AND THE SPEED.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE GOING 40, 50 AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE PUTTING SPEED BUMPS OR SIGNS SAYING WHAT THE SPEED LIMIT IS WOULD BE GOOD.
UM, ALSO ONE OF THE ROADS THAT IS USED, UH, TO DO THE BACK WAY TO GET ACCESS TO THE ACCESS ROAD AND THEN GET INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AGAIN, IS NOT BLOCK STREET.
SO THAT STREET IS VERY, THERE'S A LOT OF POTHOLES.
IT'S VERY NARROW AND IT DOES NEED TO BE FIXED, I THINK FOR THE TIME BEING UNTIL DATA IS, IT IS PUT TOGETHER AND A LONG TERM OR MIDTERM SOLUTION IS DONE.
MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE THIS CAN BE A SHORT TERM SOLUTION.
AND ALSO ON THE LONG TERM TO THINK WHETHER IT'S AN OVERPASS OR AN UNDERPASS, THINK OF THE PEOPLE THAT WALK.
I KNOW MY MOM WALKS TO, UM, TO THE GROCERY STORE.
SO SOMETIMES SHE'S STUCK WAITING FOR THE TRAIN TO START MOVING AND SOMETIMES SHE'S WAITING TWO OR THREE HOURS BECAUSE OF THE WHOLE COVID THING.
SHE WAS NOT TAKING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, BUT INSTEAD SHE WAS WALKING.
AND SO HER TRIP TO THE GROCERY STORE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A 45 MINUTE WALK FOR HER, IT WOULD END UP BEING A FOUR MINUTE, I MEAN, A FOUR HOUR TRANSIT TIME BECAUSE SHE NEEDED TO WAIT FOR THE TRAIN.
COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS WOULD LIKE TO RESPOND.
UM, MS. ME, MIRANDA, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT, UH, WE'RE YOU, YOU WERE HOPING THAT WE COULD HAVE SOME KIND OF SIGNS OR SOMETHING TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT THERE'S A TRAIN, THEREFORE THEY DON'T SPEND THEIR TIME GOING TO THAT CROSSING.
UH, I KNOW THAT THE, UH, PUBLIC WORKS HAS REACHED OUT TO MY OFFICE, UH, AND THEY ARE WORKING ON, UH, SOME DIGITAL BOARDS.
I BELIEVE THERE'S ONE GOING UP AT LAWNDALE NEAR GRIGGS.
I BELIEVE THERE'S ONE ON WAYSIDE, AND I'M NOT SURE IF WHERE, WHERE THE OTHER ONE, UM, MAY GO.
UM, BUT HOPEFULLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, UH, THAT WILL BE TIED INTO THE SMART RAILROAD CROSSING.
UH, SO THAT WAY, UH, IT LETS, UH, THE DRIVERS KNOW THAT THERE'S A TRAIN, FOR EXAMPLE, AT THE 5,200 BLOCK OF LAWNDALE.
AND THEREFORE THE, UH, DRIVER DOESN'T HAVE TO SPEND THEIR TIME GOING OVER THERE TO FIND OUT THERE'S A TRAIN BLOCKING, UH, THE CROSSING.
THANKS AGAIN MS. MIRANDA FOR BEING WITH US, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION.
UM, WE NEXT WE'LL HEAR FROM MR. BRANDON MARTINDALE, WHO'S WITH US VIRTUALLY, IF YOU CAN, OR ARE YOU HERE IN PERSON, MR. MARTINDALE? WE'VE GOT YOU AS BEING WITH US PRESENT, BUT I DO NOT SEE YOU.
TAKE A SECOND TO LOOK FOR YOU AGAIN.
AND, UM, WE'LL GO ON TO THE NEXT SPEAKER.
MR. ROGERS, CAN YOU SPEAK UP OR HIT STAR SIX TO JOIN US? HEARING NONE LOOKING ONLINE, WE'LL, WE WILL CALL YOU AGAIN, MR. KYLE ROGERS, VIRTUALLY WITH US, OTHERWISE PROCEEDING NEXT TO SARAH GUTIERREZ.
PRESUMABLY IF YOU CAN HIT STAR SIX OR SPEAK UP, BEEN A LONG MEETING, FOLKS MAY BE GETTING SOME LUNCH.
MS. GUTIERREZ LAST CALL FOR YOU.
OTHERWISE, WE'LL MOVE ON TO MS. VIRGINIA IVANEZ.
MS. IVANEZ, IF YOU ARE WITH US VIRTUALLY, WE'LL TAKE A MOMENT TO HEAR FROM YOU OR HIT STAR SIX IF YOU CAN UNMUTE AND WE'RE NOT SEEING YOU ON.
HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? THIS IS KYLE ROGERS.
AT A RECENT THREE DAY NTSB, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD HEARING ON RAIL INEFFICIENCY, A FORMER BNSF SUPERVISOR STATED THAT BNSF UTILIZES PUBLIC CROSSINGS AS PARKING LOTS BECAUSE ITS ACCEPTABLE TRAIN LENGTHS, EXCEED RAIL YARD CAPACITY.
UH, SHOULD PUBLIC STREETS BE USED AS DEFACTO YARDS? I WOULD SAY NO.
BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT DOES BNSF THINK? WHAT DOES UP THINK? WHAT DOES THE FRA THINK? WHAT IS AN INTERNALLY ACCEPTABLE STOPPAGE TIME FOR A TRAIN TO BE BLOCKING AN AT GRADE CRASH, UH, TRACK CROSSING? IS IT 30 MINUTES, 60 MINUTES, 120? WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE FREQUENT BLOCKAGES NEAR BNSF SOUTH YARD, NEARBY
[02:10:01]
TELEPHONE, LAWNDALE AND POLK TO UP? WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE FREQUENT BLOCKAGES AT THE GALVESTON SUB BETWEEN MILBY AND ALTECH? IS IT TRAIN LENGTH? WHAT INVESTMENTS OR OPERATIONAL CHANGES IS BNSF AND UP ARE MAKING TO REDUCE THOSE BLOCKAGES? WE NEED TO KNOW THIS.AS OF THE LAST AVAILABLE DATA, TRAINS ARE STOPPING FOR OVER AN HOUR ON AVERAGE AT THE GALVESTON SUBLINE.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO, UH, WE WOULD, WE WANT TO WORK TOGETHER WITH THE CITY FEDERAL REGULATORS AND RAILROADS.
WE CAN GIVE YOU THIS DATA, BUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOMETHING IN RETURN, BUT WE WOULD LIKE SOMETHING IN RETURN.
CHILDREN ARE FREQUENTLY TARDY TO SCHOOL AFFECTING EDUCATION.
GOODS ARE HELD UP AT THESE BLOCKAGES AFFECTING COMMERCE.
FIRST RESPONDERS ARE REROUTED DURING, DURING EMERGENCIES AFFECTING SAFETY AND HEALTH.
WE URGE OUR RAIL COMPANIES TO BE BETTER, TO KEEP BETTER BLOCKAGE DATA AND MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE PUBLIC TO ACCESS.
WE URGE THEM TO DRASTICALLY IMPROVE THEIR OPERATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST END.
WE URGE THE FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES AND REGULATORS TO LOOK AT HOW RAILROADS ARE OPERATING AND CHANGE THE RULES AND LAWS TO LIMIT UNNECESSARY, UNPREDICTABLE, AND UNPRECEDENTED BLOCKAGES ON OUR STREETS.
AND LASTLY, WE URGE OUR CITY, COUNTY, AND STATE OFFICIALS TO HELP CATALYZE COOPERATION BETWEEN US ALL TO THIS END.
WE ENCOURAGE ANY AND ALL FUNDING THAT WILL ALLEVIATE THANK YOU, OUR PAIN AND BE SOUGHT OUT FOR AND APPLICATIONS TO BE MADE.
UH, GREAT QUESTION AND I APPRECIATE YOUR WILLINGNESS TO OFFER THAT DATA.
WE DO HAVE, UM, THE REPRESENTATIVE, MS. DAVIS FROM BNSF, UH, RESPONDING TO YOUR QUESTION.
SIR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SHARING.
UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR CONCERNS WITH US.
UM, WE MOST CERTAINLY ARE TRYING TO MOVE, UH, OUR TRAINS AS QUICKLY AND SAFELY AS WE POSSIBLY CAN THROUGH COMMUNITIES WHEN THERE IS AN ISSUE.
AS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE TRY OUR BEST, OUR CREWS, UH, WORK TO, UM, ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES AND RESUME THE MOVEMENT OF OUR TRAINS.
UM, SO, UH, WE'LL CERTAINLY TAKE YOUR CONCERNS BACK AND TALK TO OUR OPERATIONS TEAM AND ALSO WORK WITH THE UNION PACIFIC, UM, TO, UM, WORK ON THAT COORDINATION AND THAT HANDOFF OF OUR TRAINS GOING IN AND OUT OF OUR YARD AS WELL.
UM, AS I MENTIONED IN MY PRESENTATION BEFORE, UM, COMMUNICATION CAN ALWAYS BE IMPROVED.
AND SO WE ARE COMMITTED TO, UM, BOTH COMMUNICATING BETWEEN OUR CREWS AND OUR YARD AS WELL AS, UM, BETWEEN UP DISPATCHING AND OUR CREWS.
UH, UH, NOW I WANT TO THANK YOU MR. ROGERS AGAIN FOR BEING HERE WITH YOUR QUESTION.
AND I THINK WITH THAT WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SPEAKER.
AND I'M TOLD THAT MR. TOM THOMPSON IS WITH US ONLINE.
MR. THOMPSON, CAN YOU UNMUTE OR IDENTIFY? HELLO? THERE HE IS.
ALRIGHT, SIR, GO AHEAD WITH YOUR QUESTION.
YEAH, I'M SORRY ABOUT THE, UH, POOR RECEPTION I HAVE HERE.
GO AHEAD WITH YOUR QUESTION OR COMMENT.
I I JUST WANTED TO COMMENT, UH, IN THE, UH, IN THE PRESENTATION FROM DIRECTOR DAVIS AND, UH, MS. SUMMERLAND, THEY POINTED OUT SOME EXCITING NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THAT MAYBE COULD BE APPLIED FOR SOME OF THE ISSUES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE.
OF COURSE, IT, IT SEEMS THAT ALL OF THEM REQUIRE SOME KIND OF LOCAL MATCH, AND THAT'S WHERE IT GETS TOUGH FOR US.
'CAUSE WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES, AS WE ALL KNOW.
BUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO, THE VOTERS OF TEXAS APPROVED A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT IT, THAT IT ESTABLISHED A TEXAS RAIL RELOCATION AND IMPROVEMENT FUND.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT FUND HAS NEVER BEEN FUNDED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THAT COULD BE A SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR THE KIND OF PROJECTS WE'RE TALKING HERE, TALKING ABOUT HERE THAT COULD, COULD BE USED FOR OUR MATCH TO GET THE, UH, FEDERAL, UH, FUNDING.
AND, UH, I'M A MEMBER OF TEXAS RAIL ADVOCATES.
UH, THIS ORGANIZATION IS BEGINNING A CAMPAIGN, A CAMPAIGN NOW TO SOLICIT LETTERS OF SUPPORT THAT CAN BE SUBMITTED TO THE, THE TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE PRIOR TO THE 2023 SESSION, REQUESTING THEM TO ACTUALLY ALLOCATE FUNDING TO THE TEXAS RAIL RELOCATION AND IMPROVEMENT FUND.
AND I'LL BE FOLLOWING UP WITH EMAILS, UH, TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH MORE INFORMATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. THOMPSON, FOR MAKING IT TO US AND FOR ADDING YOUR COMMENT FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD.
PROCEEDING WITH OUR NEXT SPEAKER.
I'M GONNA CALL AGAIN BRIEFLY, VIRGINIA IVANEZ, WHO I DON'T BELIEVE IS WITH US.
UM, AND FOLLOWING THAT CALL IS ONE NOW FOR BATI BANKSTON, WHO I BELIEVE IS WITH US VIRTUALLY BATI BANKSTON.
[02:15:03]
WE'RE LOOKING FOR PHONE NUMBER AND SEEING NONE.IF YOU'RE THERE, HIT STAR SIX OR IDENTIFY OTHERWISE.
MOVING ON THEN TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MR. JAMES ELLI.
MR. ELLI VIRTUALLY WITH US, IF HE CAN SPEAK UP OR HIT STAR SIX TO UNMUTE S JOIN US WITH YOUR COURT.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? WHO DO WE HAVE? THIS IS JAMES ELLI.
THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK TODAY.
UM, I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 16 YEARS IN THE SAME HOUSE IN THE FIFTH WARD, AND I'VE EXPERIENCED ALL THE ISSUES THAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS, UH, MENTIONED FROM LOUD HORNS, LOTS OF BLOCKAGES BEING STUCK IN A TRIANGLE WHERE IF YOU'VE GOT ONE BEHIND YOU AND ONE IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU CAN'T GO ANYWHERE.
HOUR, 30 MINUTE DELAYS, GETTING TO WORK, TRYING TO DO THINGS IN THE EVENING.
UH, I'LL SUBMIT THE MORE DETAILS ON THESE INTERSECTIONS AND ALSO WHERE 18 WHEELERS ARE REROUTING DUE TO BLOCKAGES THAT WILL, YOU KNOW, SHAKE MY BED AT FIVE 30 IN THE MORNING.
AND, UH, I'LL, I'LL SEND THOSE FOR A COMMENT KIND OF ADLIBBING A LITTLE BIT HERE BECAUSE I, I LEARNED A LOT TODAY LISTENING TO EVERYBODY.
AND I NOTICED TWO THEMES THAT I WOULD HOPE COULD BE ADDRESSED.
UM, ONE OF THEM IS THAT THE ONUS CONTINUES TO BE ON THE CITIZENS, UM, TO REPORT THE BLOCKAGES THROUGH A WEBSITE, A PHONE NUMBER, SO MANY DIFFERENT, UH, DIFFERENT WAYS OR A THREE STEP PROCESS ON UPS WEBSITE.
UH, I REALLY THEN WITH, UH, MR. BOUNDS AND THE, UH, PILOT PROGRAM, NOTICE THAT MORE PASSIVE GATHERING OF THE DATA CONTINUOUSLY REAL TIME IS GOING TO PROVIDE MUCH MORE BENEFIT.
SO THE SECOND PART OF IT IS THERE SEEMS TO BE SO MUCH REQUEST FOR FUNDING THAT WILL HAVE TO BE OUT THERE, THAT EITHER COMES FROM FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS, PROPERTY TAX DOLLARS, LOCAL MATCH, EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND I NOTICED WITH ALL THOSE PARTNERS THAT WERE LISTED, UM, WE UNFORTUNATELY DIDN'T SEE UNION PACIFIC AS ONE OF THEM ON THERE.
SO I WOULD HOPE THAT THEY COULD BE A WILLING PARTNER, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS CHEAPEST, HE SAID, SO THAT WE CAN HOPEFULLY TURN THIS FROM NOT JUST THE PILOT PROGRAM, BUT MORE INTO A MUCH MORE CONTINUOUS ONE.
AND TO TOUCH ON WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS SAID, UH, I REMEMBER IN 2007 WHEN MAYOR BILL WHITE TOOK A HELICOPTER AROUND AND SPOKE ABOUT THE ARROGANCE OF THE STOPS TRAINS THAT WERE AROUND HERE.
UM, AND SINCE 2007, UNION PACIFIC HAS SPENT $48.2 BILLION ON STOCK BUYBACK.
YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED, APPRECI APPRECIATE THAT POINT.
AND, UH, WITH UP HERE STILL IN THE CHAMBER TODAY, UH, I THINK YOUR POINT IS A STRONG ONE FOR HOW THEY MIGHT, UH, CONTINUE TO STEP UP OR FURTHER STEP UP.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT FROM YOU FOR THE RECORD TODAY.
THANKS AGAIN FOR, FOR BEING HERE.
UM, AND OUR NEXT SPEAKER ON OUR LIST, WE'LL MOVE NOW TO MR. OSCAR AGUILAR, UH, WHO I BELIEVE IS WITH US IN THE CHAMBER.
IF YOU WOULD COME FORWARD TO THE PODIUM AND, UH, STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
WE'D APPRECIATE HEARING FROM YOU, MR. AGUILAR.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UH, I'M OSCAR AGUILAR, GENERAL COUNSEL FOR STATE SENATOR CAROL ALVARADO.
AND TODAY I'M HERE ON HER BEHALF AND I WILL BE READING A STATEMENT FROM HER DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
AS A NATIVE OF THE EAST END, I HAVE WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THE LOGICAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES THAT HAVE RESULTED FROM THE BLOCK CROSSINGS IN THE EAST END.
RAIL TRAFFIC HAS LONG KEPT OUR COMMITTEES ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER, AND AS IMPORTANT AS RAIL TRAFFIC IS, THE ABILITY OF OUR COMMUNITY TO REMAIN CONNECTED IS MUCH MORE PARAMOUNT.
MY DISTRICT OFFICE IS LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF LOCKWOOD AND HARRISBURG, ALONGSIDE A A BC RAIL LINE IN THE EAST END.
ON A WEEKLY BASIS, TRAINS SLUGGISHLY MOVE THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD, OFTEN STOPPING AND BLOCKING MULTIPLE CROSSINGS ALONG THE TRACK.
CONSEQUENTLY, MANY OF MY CONSTITUENTS DAILY ROUTINES ARE OFTEN THROWN OFF BY THE EXTENSIVE WEIGHTS AND UNNECESSARY DETOURS THAT THIS BLOCKAGES COST.
MOREOVER, FIRST RESPONDERS OFTEN DRIVE BY OUR OFFICE RESPONDING TO CALL SOURCE SERVICE ONLY TO FIND BLOCK CROSSINGS PUTTING FURTHER DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM AND WHERE THEY'RE NEEDED.
THE TREND DISRUPTIONS LARGELY AFFECT THE COMMUNITIES I REPRESENT, AND I'M GLAD TO SEE THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS WORKING TOWARDS A SOLUTION.
I APPRECIATE THE INITIATIVE THAT THE HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL IS TAKING TO FIND SOLUTION TO THIS ONGOING PROBLEM.
THE SMART RAILROAD CROSSING MONITORS PILOT PROGRAM INCLUDES SEVERAL BASIC CROSSINGS IN MY DISTRICT, AND I'M EAGER TO REVIEW THE DATA THAT THE PROGRAM WILL PRODUCE.
THE FEDERAL FUNDING SOLUTIONS DISCUSSED TODAY ARE ALSO A GOOD STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR INPUT ON
[02:20:01]
HOW STATE RESOURCES CAN BE USED.TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE, WE MUST CONTINUE THE DISCOURSE.
SO RAIL TO THAT RAIL COMPANIES KNOW THAT THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED, AND AN ISSUE THAT WILL TAKE SIGNIFICANT ACTION FROM THEIR PART TO ADDRESS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR CONTINUED WORK TOGETHER TO ADDRESS THE TRANSPORTATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE NEEDS OF HOUSTON AND SENATE DISTRICT SIX.
SINCERELY, CAROL ALVARADO, STATE SENATOR FOR DISTRICT SIX.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. AGUILAR.
AND FOR THE LETTER THAT IS HERE SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD, THANK YOU TO HER AND FOR HER INVOLVEMENT AS, AS A MEMBER OF THE SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, I KNOW, UM, WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR HER SERVICE AND FOR YOURS AS WELL.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UH, AND ALSO, UH, THANK, UH, SENATOR ALVARADO FOR THE LETTER, UH, AND FOR HER SUPPORT AND OUR, UH, EFFORTS, UH, TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE.
AND THANKS FOR GETTING THAT ONTO THE RECORD.
UH, RETURNING NOW FOR A MOMENT TO OUR SPEAKER.
WE UNDERSTAND BATI BANKSTON BANKSON IS WITH US ONLINE.
MS. BANKSON BATI BANKSON TOLD THAT YOU'RE WITH US ONLINE.
HIT STAR SIX OR LET US KNOW YOU'RE THERE.
OTHERWISE, WE'LL MOVE ON IN THE CHAMBER, I BELIEVE WITH US IS MR. TONY GARCIA.
IF YOU'LL COME FORWARD AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENT OR QUESTION FOR THE COMMITTEES ASSEMBLED TODAY.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T KNOW ME, I'M TONY GARCIA.
I'M A LOCAL EAST END RESIDENT.
I'M A BUSINESSMAN, COMMUNITY LEADER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND ALL AROUND JUST COMMUNITY SERVANT.
UM, AS I WAS HEARING IN THIS MEETING TODAY, I WAS JUST BLOWN AWAY BY THE THINGS THAT I'VE BEEN HEARING.
AND, UM, I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU MY POINT OF VIEW FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THE NUMBER 10 COMES TO MIND, AND THAT IS MY EVERYDAY TASK.
IT'S 10, IT'S 10 RAILROAD CROSSINGS THAT ARE BLOCKED WHILE I'M TRYING TO ACCESS MY CHILD TO GET 'EM TO SCHOOL, TO SEE MY MOTHER, WHO IS A GRANDMOTHER AND AN ELDERLY WOMAN REPORTING TO MY OFFICE, REPORTING TO SEVERAL OF MY BUSINESSES, AND REPORTING TO MY CAFE 10 CROSSINGS EVERY DAY THAT ARE BLOCKED IN THE EAST END RESIDENT.
THAT'S LAWNDALE, LELAND LOCKWOOD MILBY, OAKHURST POLK, SCOTT SAMPSON, UM, ERNESTINE, AND IF I MISSED A FEW, MY APOLOGIES, THIS JUST HAS TO STOP.
YOU KNOW, I DO BUSINESS ELSEWHERE IN HOUSTON AND THROUGHOUT TEXAS, AND I CAN SHARE WITH YOU THAT I DON'T ENCOUNTER 10 BLOCKINGS ANYWHERE IN HOUSTON OTHER THAN THE EAST END.
SO AT WHAT POINT DID OUR LIVES BECOME LESS VALUABLE? AT WHAT POINT DID THE CITY SAY IT'S OKAY FOR UP AND BNSF TO JUST PARK YOUR TRAINS ON OUR TRACKS? THIS MUST STOP NOW.
YOU KNOW, I HEARD EARLIER ABOUT DETECTIONS AND CAMERAS AND, UH, QUIET ZONES AND HOW THEY KNOW HOW THEY CAN DETECT WHEN THEY'RE APPROACHING A QUIET ZONE.
WELL, CLEARLY AN ENGINEER IS CERTAIN HE'S BLOCKING A TRACK.
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING, AND I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT IT'S ANYTHING FROM MECHANICAL OF FAILURE.
WHEN IT HAPPENS ON A ROUTINE BASIS, EVERY SINGLE DAY THEY DELIBERATELY BLOCK OUR TRACKS.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S HINDERING OUR QUALITY OF LIFE.
IT'S AS IF EVERY SINGLE DAY WE PARKED A TRAIN OUTSIDE YOUR HOMES, BNSF AND UP, AND SAID, YOU CAN'T GET OUT.
YOU CAN'T TAKE YOUR CHILD TO TO SCHOOL.
WE'RE JUST GONNA PARK A TRACK OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE.
MY NAME IS TONY GARCIA, AND I THANK YOU FOR THE TIME.
WELL, THANK YOU MR. GARCIA, FOR PAYING ATTENTION AND FOR BEING WITH US.
COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS YOU.
AND, AND THANK YOU, TONY, FOR YOUR TIME FOR BEING HERE.
I KNOW YOU'RE A BUSY MAN, AND I KNOW YOU ARE VERY, VERY, VERY ACTIVE IN THE EAST END.
SO THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR OUR COMMUNITIES, UH, IN, IN THE EAST END.
UH, AND I, LIKE YOU STATED, UH, LELAND, I KNOW YOU HAVE ONE OF YOUR OFFICES THERE ON LE LYNN, JUST A BLOCK OR SO AWAY FROM THE RAILROAD TRACK, SO I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, UH, THE FRUSTRATION THAT YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEES GO THROUGH, UH, UH, NOT ABLE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, GET, GET ACROSS THAT RAILROAD TRACK.
UH, SO AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO.
IF YOU YES, SIR, WOULD ENTERTAIN ONE COMMENT FROM OF THE CHAIR OF I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS AND I WERE RECENTLY, UH, AT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN, OR RIGHT ADJACENT TO IT FOR A TRACK COMPLETION FOR PART OF OUR PEDESTRIAN AND RAIL.
AND I RODE MY BIKE BACK FROM THERE AND WAS THROUGH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND WITNESSED MYSELF A NUMBER OF BLOCKED INTERSECTIONS.
UM, AND I KNOW FROM MY ROUTE THAT I'VE GOT AN APP ON MY PHONE WHERE I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE I WENT ON THAT BIKE RIDE THAT DAY.
[02:25:01]
YOUR 10 CROSSINGS, I WONDER IF YOU KNOW SUCH AN APP THAT YOU COULD MAP YOUR DAILY ROUTE.BECAUSE WHAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED TO ME IS NOT ONLY, UH, COMPROMISE OF YOUR PERSONAL QUALITY OF LIFE, BUT ONE THAT ALSO IS, YOU KNOW, REPRESENTING WHAT WE'RE HERE FUNDAMENTALLY FOR TODAY, WHICH IS PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE CONCERNS THAT AMONG OTHERS CHIEF PENA DESCRIBED.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU DESCRIBED MAPPED, AND IF YOU NEED ANY HELP, LET ME KNOW AND I'LL LOAN YOU MY END.
AND I'LL BE CERTAIN TO MAP IT OUT FOR YOU AND CONVEY IT TO YOUR OFFICE.
OKAY, OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS, UH, WITH US ONLINE AND VIRTUALLY, I BELIEVE THAT'S MR. ANDREW WRIGHT.
IF YOU'RE WITH US, HIT STAR SIX OR SPEAK UP AND WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
MR. ANDREW WRIGHT, ARE YOU STILL WITH US? OKAY.
WE'RE, WE'RE HEARING FROM MS. VIRGINIA IVANEZ, WHO, UH, WE THINK IS ONLINE.
IF YOU'RE ABLE TO SPEAK, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, MS. BANEZ.
IT HIT STAR SIX TO UNMUTE, NOT HEARING YOU.
I DO SEE MR. MARK KLEIN IN WITH US IN CHAMBERS.
SO LET'S MOVE TO YOUR COMMENT, MR. KLEIN, AND I BELIEVE YOU'RE ON THE NORTH SIDE.
CHAIR HORNE AND CHAIR GALLEGOS AND CHAIR ROBINSON.
I'M MARK KLEIN, PRESIDENT OF SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD 12, AND I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE 34TH STREET QUIET ZONE SINCE 2010.
AND IT'S, WE'VE WORKED REALLY LONG AND HARD.
THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS SUPPORT IT.
IT WAS A CRUSHING BLOW WHEN IN 2011, THE FUNDING MECHANISM, WHICH WAS REBUILT, HOUSTON PASSED.
AND SO THE FUNDING MECHANISM FOR QUIET ZONES WENT AWAY.
AND SO WE SPENT THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS AT LEAST, I DID, TALKING WITH PUBLIC WORKS, JEFFREY RUTHERFORD, HARRY HAYES, UH, ELLEN COHEN, FORMERLY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT C AND OTHERS.
AND WERE FOUND, TOLD THAT THERE JUST WASN'T ANY MONEY, AND THAT WE'D HAVE TO FIND SKIN IN THE GAME TO GET THE CITY COUNCIL TO PONY UP.
ITS SHARE, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WE WERE TALKING ABOUT AT THE TIME, HALF MILLION DOLLARS, UH, IT'S AN, THAT WOULD BE A MOMENTOUS UNDERTAKING FOR ANY NONPROFIT TO TAKE, UH, LET ALONE A BUNCH OF VOLUNTEERS.
AND SO WE WERE NINTH ON THE LIST WHEN THAT LIST, UH, EIGHT OF US GOT COMPLETED.
SO WHEN THAT LIST WENT AWAY, THIS IS A LIST THAT HAD BEEN VETTED BY COUNCIL, BY, BY STAFF.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE ARE FACING THAT THIS HAS BEEN RESHUFFLED.
AND NOW 34TH STREET QUIET ZONE COULD BE ANYWHERE ON THE LIST.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT REMAINS TOP OF MIND FOR, FOR YOU FOLKS AND CITY COUNCIL.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LARGEST QUIET ZONE THAT WOULD OCCUR IN HOUSTON.
IT WOULD IMPACT THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS.
IT WOULD IMPROVE THE SAFETY FOR THEIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS HIGHS, THREE HIGH SCHOOLS, THE YMC ON IT.
THERE ARE, UH, THERE ARE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEXES ON IT.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THERE'S AN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY THAT, UH, HAS PROBABLY BEEN UNDERSERVED SINCE IT WAS FORMED IN 1915.
AND THAT'S INDEPENDENCE HEIGHTS.
AND THIS COULD BE AN, A HUGE IMPROVEMENT FOR THEM.
AND THEY JUST BUILT THAT NEW HIGH SCHOOL BOOKER T WASHINGTON.
AND I WANNA SAY THAT, UH, I'M ALWAYS CONFOUNDED, UH, BY BURLINGTON NORTHERN, UH, THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY PAY OR CONTRIBUTE FOR SOME OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
NO ONE'S ASKING ANYBODY TO PAY THE FULL AMOUNT OF THIS.
BUT THEY DID MAKE $7 BILLION IN PROFITS LAST YEAR.
AND THOUGH SOME OF THOSE PROFITS ARE BORN ON THE BACKS OF RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG THESE LINES THAT SUFFER FROM THE CONSEQUENCES IN OIL POLLUTION, WHICH RESEARCH HAS SHOWN, CAN BE AS EGREGIOUS AS AIR POLLUTION.
BUT NONE OF THOSE COSTS ARE BAKED INTO THOSE PROFITS.
AND SO THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A BRAND TO REALLY GET OUT AHEAD OF ITSELF AND TO, TO NOT ONLY HELP ITS SHAREHOLDERS, BUT TO HELP ITS STAKEHOLDERS IN THE COMMUNITY IMPROVE THEIR LIVES, IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE.
I'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND WHAT NOISE POLLUTION AND THE TRAIN HORN CAN DO.
AND SO THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR BNSF TO IMPROVE LIFE FOR THOUSANDS OF HOUSTONIANS AND FOR CITY CONSTABLE AS WELL.
YOUR THANK MR. KLEIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING WITH US IN YOUR APPEAL TO THE INDUSTRY.
UH, THE FEW MORE SPEAKERS ON OUR LIST, WE WILL PROCEED WITH, UH, VIRTUALLY WITH MS. RUBY THOMAS.
MS. THOMAS, IF YOU'RE WITH US AT STAR SIX OR START TALKING MS. THOMAS RUBY THOMAS LOOKING FOR YOU ONLINE STAR SIX.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. PAULETTE KUK.
IF YOU COULD TAKE THE PODIUM AND, UH, STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR SEEING MY NAME CORRECTLY.
I AM A DIRECTOR WITH THE EASTWOOD CIVIC ASSOCIATION, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION IN REGARD TO THE INTERSECTIONS BLOCKED ON THE GALVESTON SUB AS A RESULT OF STOP TRAINS.
[02:30:01]
THIS DATA WAS COLLECTED BY A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA DIRECTED AT THE CROSSING AT EASTWOOD DOT NUMBER 85 95 22 Y IN MARCH OF TWENTY TWENTY ONE, TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN TRAINS TRAVELED THIS CROSSING OF WHICH 26 STOPPED AND BLOCKED THE INTERSECTION FOR A TOTAL OF 20 HOURS.IN MARCH OF 2022, WE SAW 188 TRAINS TRAVELED THIS CROSSING OF WHICH 63 STOPPED AND BLOCKED THE INTERSECTION FOR A TOTAL OF 73 HOURS OF BLOCKAGES.
THAT'S 30 LESS TRAINS, BUT 37 MORE BLOCKAGES AND 52 MORE HOURS IN A YEAR, TWO YEAR COMPARISON.
THIS ILLUSTRATES THAT THIS PROBLEM IS GETTING MUCH WORSE DESPITE FEWER TRAINS TRAVELING THE TRACK FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS.
I'VE PAINSTAKINGLY RECORDED THE DETAILS OF EVERY TRAIN THAT'S TRAVELED THIS CROSSING.
WE SEE AN AVERAGE OF 163 TRAINS A MONTH.
OF THOSE 34% OF THEM COME TO A COMPLETE STOP AND BLOCK THE ROAD FOR AT LEAST 10 MINUTES.
THE AVERAGE DURATION OF THE BLOCKAGE IS 62 MINUTES EACH MONTH.
EACH MONTH, THIS CROSSING IS BLOCKED FOR A TOTAL OF 56 HOURS.
ON AVERAGE, THE LONGEST SINGLE BLOCKAGE WAS EIGHT HOURS AND 38 MINUTES.
WE SEE AT LEAST ONE BLOCKAGE OF OVER THREE HOURS EVERY MONTH.
THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE EAST END.
THIS IS A SINGLE CROSSING ON A SINGLE RAIL LINE.
THE IMPACTS ARE SIMILAR AT OTHER CROSSINGS.
ON, UH, OTHER LINES, WE NEED THE CITY TO ACCELERATE AND EXPAND.
ITS SMART RAILROAD CROSSING MONITOR.
PILOT, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK CANCEL AND STAFF, ARE THERE PLANS TO REGULARLY SHARE THE DATA FROM THE PILOT PUBLICLY? THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH MS. COCO.
AND, UM, I THINK THE INTENTION IS VERY MUCH TO SHARE THAT DATA, UH, HOW WE DO THAT.
I THINK WE WE'RE, WE'RE TAKING A GOOD LOOK AT IT WITH THE PARTNERS WHO'VE PRESENTED TODAY.
AND, UH, I DO SEE MR. HRAF, UH, BEHIND YOU WHO PRESENTED EARLIER WHO MAY LIKE TO APPROACH AND YOU SHARE IT.
AND WE KNOW THE CONCENTRATION OF RAILROAD CROSSINGS IN THE EAST END, THE, THE TRIANGLE THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS HAS BEEN SPEAKING OF TODAY.
SO WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR DATA COLLECTION, YOUR OBSERVATIONS, AND FOR WORKING WITH OUR TEAM.
QUESTION, UH, WE DO MISS KUK, IF YOU'D HOLD ON.
COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS WOULD LIKE TO, UM, SPEAK.
PAULETTE, IF THERE THERE WAS AN EAST END AWARD, YOU'D BE THE RECIPIENT OF THE EAST END AWARD FOR 2022.
UH, CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE HOW YOU GATHERED ALL THIS INFORMATION? YES, I'D BE GLAD TO.
I BOUGHT A WISE CAMERA FOR $30.
I MOUNTED IT AT THE BACK OF THE HOUSE 'CAUSE THE TRAIN TRACK IS RIGHT BEHIND OUR HOUSE.
AND EACH DAY I LOOK AT THE DATA THAT'S COLLECTED FROM THE CAMERA AND IT RECORDS FOR 24 HOURS.
I PAINSTAKINGLY LOOK AT EACH TIME THERE IS A STOP TRAIN AND HOW LONG IT STOPPED.
I RECORD IT AND I GIVE IT TO DANIELLE WHO CONVERTS IT INTO A CHART.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR, UH, TAKING YOUR PERSONAL TIME TO DO THIS FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
THANKS, MS. COOK HOOK AND I HAD A LIONEL TRAIN WHEN I WAS A KID.
I, I WANT YOUR HELP BUILDING THAT NEXT TRAIN SET,
WE, UH, MAY BE DOWN TO OUR FINAL SPEAKER ON THE LIST.
UH, BEFORE WE CALL ANYONE WHO WE'VE MISSED, MISS MELISSA BEELER, I BELIEVE YOU'RE WITH US VIRTUALLY.
UH, MS. BEELER, IF YOU COULD HIT STAR SIX OR UNMUTE GOING TO GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE.
AND ASK AGAIN FOR MS. BEELER TO UNMUTE OR SPEAK NOW AND HEARING NOTHING THERE.
I'M GONNA CALL ANY OF THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED.
MY CHIEF OF STAFF HAS DONE AN INCREDIBLE JOB.
I WANT TO THANK DIANA SDO AS WELL AS, UH, DANIELLE FROM COUNCIL MEMBER GA'S OFFICE, AS WELL AS JORDAN FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN'S OFFICE AND THE REST OF OUR STAFFS.
YOU ALL ARE, UM, DOING GREAT WORK FOR US.
UM, AND WE HAVE BEEN PASSED TWO
[02:35:01]
SPEAKERS WHO ARE WITH US IN CHAMBERS LATE EDITIONS, BUT WE DO WANT TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE, MR. JOHN SEGOVIA.MR. SEGOVIA, IF YOU'RE WITH US, PLEASE, UH, STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
IF IT'S STILL MORNING, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT, BUT GOOD AFTERNOON,
WE'LL TAKE ONE MORE CALL IN A MOMENT, BUT MR. SEGOVIA, GO AHEAD.
UH, MY NAME IS JOHN PAUL SEGOVIA.
I OPENED UP AN ART GALLERY IN THE EAST END, UH, ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO.
AND IT SITS IN BETWEEN FIVE TRAIN TRACKS ON SAMSON AND RUS.
SO, UM, BEING THERE EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, I GET TO WITNESS THIS, WITNESS THIS FIRSTHAND EVERY DAY.
SO IT'S HARD FOR MY CLIENTS TO GET TO APPOINTMENTS BECAUSE OF DAILY TRAIN BLOCKAGE.
UH, THE BIGGEST THING HERE IS, UH, THE TRAIN HORN ABUSE.
UH, TRAIN CONDUCTORS WILL BLARE THEIR HORN FOR MINUTES AT A TIME.
AND IT'S, IT'S VERY, VERY, VERY ANNOYING IF YOU'RE TRYING TO HOST AN EVENT THERE.
UH, YOU GET TRAINS ON BOTH SIDES COMING IN AND IT'S JUST A CONSTANT BLARE.
IF THERE'S TRAINS PARKED ON THE TRACK, THEN FUTURE TRAINS WILL COME THROUGH THERE AND STILL CONTINUE TO BLA BLARE THEIR HORN.
SO IT'S LIKE, WHO ARE THEY WARNING AT THAT POINT, IF THERE'S ALREADY TRAINS BLOCKING THAT AR THAT AREA.
SO, UM, WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THAT QUIET ZONES TO TAKE PLACE? RIGHT? I HEAR EVERYBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS.
UH, BUT REALLY HOW HARD IS IT TO IMPLEMENT THIS? WHY IS THERE TALK ABOUT ALL THIS BUDGET AND COST AND COST EFFECTNESS AND ALL THIS, AND I'M LIKE, A HUMAN KNOWS HOW TO BLOW A HORN.
WHY IS THERE MONEY BEHIND IT? RIGHT.
UM, I'VE TAKEN PICS AND VIDEOS OF BEING BLOCKED COMPLETELY ON BOTH SIDES.
AND THERE IS A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT NEXT DOOR THAT IS THE, UH, THE SAMSON LOFTS.
AND SO IF I'M BLOCKED IN AT A BUSINESS AND THEY'RE BLOCKED IN AT THEIR HOMES, UH, IF ANYTHING WERE TO HAPPEN, I KNOW THERE'S A, A CHEMICAL COMPANY THAT WORKS NEXT DOOR.
IF THAT SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN CATCH ON FIRE, WE HAVE NO PLACE TO GO.
AND, UH, LISTENING TO THE FIRE CHIEF EXPRESSES THE CONCERNS OF, UH, BEING ALERT OF TRAIN BLOCKAGE MADE ME REALIZE THIS UBER TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 12 YEARS NOW.
AND I WORKED FOR A LOGISTICS COMPANY WHO HAS ADOPTED THIS TECHNOLOGY BACK IN 2015 TO MONITOR THE DRIVING ROUTES OF THE TRASH TRUCKS.
AND WHY IS IT TAKING THE RAILROAD COMMISSION SO LONG TO IMPLEMENT THIS TECHNOLOGY? AND YOU SPOKE ABOUT AN APP THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR PHONE, AND YOU'RE GONNA PASS THAT INFORMATION TO MY FRIEND TONY GARCIA.
AND WHY ISN'T THE ROYAL COMMISSION ADOPTING THIS TECHNOLOGY ALERTING THE FIRE CHIEF OF TRAIN BLOCKAGE? THANK YOU, MR. SEGOVIA.
AND YOU HAVE BEEN JOINED AT THE PODIUM FROM MS. DAVIS, FROM THE CITY.
MS. DAVIS, IF YOU'D LIKE TO RESPOND? NO.
UM, SO AS FAR AS QUIET ZONES GO, UH, AS THE PREVIOUS SPEAKER MENTIONED, UM, YOU KNOW, PRIORITIES CHANGE, AND THIS IS PRIOR TO ME TAKING THIS ROLE.
AND SO WE HAVE ADDED MORE SIGNATURE PROGRAMS LIKE THE MAYOR STREET REHAB INITIATIVE, UM, TO WHICH WE AIM TO, UH, REDO 2% OF OUR ROADS EVERY YEAR.
WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THAT.
UM, SO SINCE COMING INTO THIS ROLE, WE HAVE BEEN MOVING SOME FUNDING, UM, TO THE QUIET ZONES.
BUT THERE'S A TWO PART EFFORT.
SO THERE'S THE PART ON THE CITY, UH, WHERE WE HAVE THE FIVE THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW THAT ARE PENDING, UH, WHERE WE ARE DOING OUR PORTION OF THAT, OF, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S, UM, UPGRADING THE, THE PAVEMENT MARKINGS OR THE, YOU KNOW, THE CHANNELIZATION FOR THE CARS.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DO ON OUR SIDE.
UM, BUT IT IS AN EFFORT FOR, WE DO THE QUIET WHEN WE DO THE QUIET ZONES.
'CAUSE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THERE ARE THINGS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN ON THE RAIL SIDE AND, AND WE CAN'T COMPEL THEM TO DO IT, BUT WE DO PARTNER WITH THEM ON QUIET ZONES.
AND SO THAT'S JUST GENERALLY WHAT CAN TAKE SO LONG.
UM, AND SO I DO HAVE A STAFF PERSON.
UH, PART OF THEIR ROLE IS QUIET ZONES IN PART IS, UM, SCHOOL ZONES.
UH, BUT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE ONES THAT ARE PENDING.
THANK YOU FOR THAT DISCUSSION AND EXPLANATION.
AND, UH, UH, WITHOUT ANY COMMENTS OR COUNCIL MEMBERS IN THE QUEUE, WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
DIDN'T SEE THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS, GO AHEAD.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
I KNOW YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT QUIET ZONE ZERO AROUND SIMPSON IN YORK.
UH, THAT, THAT, THAT, AGAIN, THAT'S WHERE, UH, WE'VE SUBMITTED, UH, TO CONGRESSWOMAN GARCIA AND CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE, UH, FOR COMMUNITY, UH, PROJECT FUNDING, UH, FOR THAT AREA RIGHT IN THERE FOR A QUIET ZONE.
UM, AND, UH, IT'S ESTIMATED THAT IT WILL COST ABOUT $3.6 MILLION, UH, TO CONVERT THOSE CROSSINGS RIGHT IN THERE FOR, UH, INTO A QUIET ZONE.
SO I, UH, CAN ONLY ASK THAT YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORS AND BUSINESSES
[02:40:01]
IN THE AREA.PLEASE CONTACT CONGRESSWOMAN SYLVIA GARCIA, CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE, UH, AND, AND LET THEM KNOW THAT, UH, THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS, UH, ASKED, UH, FOR THEM TO SECURE SOME FUNDING FROM COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING, UH, THESE $3.6 MILLION SO WE CAN ADDRESS THAT.
AND THEN I WILL ADD, THAT'S THE ONE OF OURS THAT'S A PRIORITY FOR GREAT SEPARATION.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE THAT, WE'RE AT ABOUT 30% DESIGN.
UH, AND SO THOSE ARE ONES THAT WHEN THE NOTICE OF FUNDING BECOMES AVAILABLE, AGAIN PENDING ON THE CRITERIA, THAT IS ONE AT THE TOP OF OUR LIST TO SUBMIT TO GET THE FUNDING SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE THE GAP.
AND THE CHAIR WILL NOTE ALSO THAT WITH OUR PARTNERING WITH OUR FEDERAL FRIENDS, UH, THE FOR MENTIONED CONGRESS FOLKS, UH, SHEILA JACKSON LEE AND SYLVIA GARCIA, WITH THE NEW, UH, RETURN OF POTENTIAL EARMARKS AND, UH, FUNDING, UH, SOME THINGS HAVE CHANGED WITH THE IIJA.
AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO PURSUE EVERY OPPORTUNITY WORK WITH THOSE, UH, AVAILABLE FUNDS.
SO THANK YOU AGAIN BOTH AND COUNCIL MEMBER FOR YOUR RESPONSE.
UM, WE'RE GONNA TURN TO OUR FINAL SIGNED UP SPEAKER.
MS. DID I HEAR FROM HERE HE IS.
MR. PARRAS, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, COMING TO THE PODIUM, IF YOU WOULD IDENTIFY YOURSELF FOR THE RECORD.
I LIVE IN THE EAST END PORT FIVE.
AND, UH, I LIVE ALMOST AT THE CORNER OF LOCKWOOD AND HARRISBURG AND RUSS RUNS PARALLEL TO THE HARRISBURG RAIL LINE.
AND, UH, I'VE HEARD A LOT OF GOOD ISSUES RAISED, BUT NOBODY'S RAISED THE ISSUE OF WHY DON'T THE RAIL YARDS JUST EXPAND THEIR RAIL YARDS FACILITY SO THE TRAINS CAN HAVE A PLACE TO PARK? 'CAUSE UH, THEY'RE SO OFTEN BLOCKING OUR COMMUNITIES THAT I, I CONSIDER THAT THEIR PARKING LOT, THEY'RE UNOFFICIAL PARKING LOT.
AND, UH, IF THEY HAD TO PAY FOR PARKING THERE, I THINK WE WOULD GENERATE A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE CITY.
BUT NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS ALSO AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUE.
UH, THE EAST END IS INUNDATED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUES, UH, TRAIN TRAFFIC, 18 WHEELERS RUNNING ON OUR STREETS AND NUMEROUS ISSUES, UH, THAT IMPACT OUR COMMUNITIES AND STANDARD OF LIVING.
SO, UH, I WOULD PROPOSE THAT ONE OF THE IDEAS IS TO EXPAND THE RAIL YARDS OR TO PENALIZE OR GET FINES, LIKE WHEN YOU'RE PARKING AT A METER AND IT EXPIRES, YOU GET A PENALTY, RIGHT? YOU PAY A FINE.
IF WE HAD SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IT MAY ENCOURAGE THE RAILROAD, RAILROAD INDUSTRY TO EXPAND THEIR RAIL YARDS AND ACCOMMODATE THE TRAFFIC THAT'S COMING INTO HOUSTON.
SOUNDS SO SENSIBLE AND, AND EASY.
I DON'T KNOW IF OUR CHAIR OF THE REGULATORY AFFAIRS WHO HANDLES ALL PARKING ISSUES IN THE ORDINANCE, IF YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT A LEVY FOR THE TRAIN COMPANIES, DO WE HAVE ANY INTEREST IN RESPONDING FROM BNSF OR UP, UH, MS. DAVIS, OR, UH, PLEASE COME FORWARD, SIR.
UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION.
AGAIN, FOR THE RECORD, IF YOU COULD IDENTIFY YOURSELVES.
YES, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN, THIS IS TESSA MINOR FROM BNSF.
I JUST WANTED TO RESPOND TO, UM, I'M SORRY, I MISSED HIS NAME.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE RAILROADS WERE BUILT HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO IN HOUSTON IS BUILT AT CITY AROUND THE RAILROADS, AND SO THAT LIMITS OUR CAPACITY TO EXPAND OUR YARDS.
THERE'S A, THERE'S ONE ANSWER.
HOW ABOUT YOU, MR. ZANTEC? SO I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CAPACITY PROJECTS THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT GOING ON AT INGLEWOOD, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT WHAT IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE MADE, SOME OF WHICH WE HAD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER OF BETWEEN THE SIGNAL UPGRADES AS WELL AS, UH, WITHIN THE YARD ITSELF.
SO THERE ARE THOSE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT CONTINUING TO MAKE, UH, A NUMBER OF VARIOUS INVESTMENTS WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS RELATED TO OUR SIDING PROJECTS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THE GROWTH.
FOR THE RECORD, ARE YOU TWO AND YOUR COMPANIES BOTH OFFICIALLY AGAINST A PARKING FEE?
UH, APPRECIATE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR, UH, WAYS IN WHICH TO ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS.
SO THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR BEING HERE.
UM, WE ARE NOW AT THE END OF OUR LIST.
WE HAVE, UH, NOW A POINT WHERE WE'D LIKE TO MAKE A LAST CALL FOR THOSE SPEAKERS WHO HAVE NOT.
HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE ARE CALLING FOR ONE LAST ROUND.
WHO'S ON THE LINE PLEASE? HI, THIS
[02:45:01]
IS MELISSA BILLER FROM AIR ALLIANCE HOUSTON.GO AHEAD WITH YOUR, YOUR COMMENT OR YOUR QUESTION.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
AGAIN, MY NAME IS MELISSA AND I'M WITH THE TRANSPORTATION.
I'M THE TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE COORDINATOR FOR AIR ALLIANCE HOUSTON, WHO ENVISIONS HEALTHY COMMUNITIES WITH CLEAN AIR EVERY DAY FOR EVERYONE.
UM, I DON'T WANNA TAKE UP TOO MUCH TIME.
I JUST WANNA SAY THAT WE ARE IN SUPPORT OF OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, UM, IN REQUESTING IMPROVED CONDITIONS TO RAIL OPERATIONS IN HOUSTON.
UM, WE UNDERSTAND AND ALSO EXPRESS THE SAME FRUSTRATIONS THAT, UH, THE COMMUNITY DOES IN TERMS OF THE FACT THAT WHILE WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, SOLUTIONS TODAY, UH, WITH RAILROAD COMPANIES, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING.
AND, UH, COMMUNITIES, THESE ARE THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE OFTEN GET, UM, YOU KNOW, THE HARMS AS OPPOSED TO THE BENEFITS OF OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
AND, UH, THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME CU CUMULATIVE IMPACT ISSUES, UM, COMPOUNDING WITH POLLUTION FROM THE PORT AND THE HIGHWAYS.
UM, COMMUNITIES ARE CONCERNED ABOUT, UH, TRAIN POLLUTION WHILE IDLING AS WELL.
SO THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT, UM, INDUSTRY COULD SPEAK TO A BIT, UM, IN TERMS OF WHETHER OR NOT THE BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE EMISSIONS WHILE IDLING.
AND WHILE WE DEAL WITH THESE TRAIN BLOCKAGES ARE IN FACT HAPPENING FOR HOUSTON.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO MENTION MY OWN EXPERIENCES WITH TRAIN BLOCKAGES.
UM, HAVING VISITED MAGNOLIA PARK, UM, WHEN I WAS WORKING WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT THEY'D LIKE TO SEE FOR THE BRAVE BAYOU TRAIL, UM, WE TRIED TO GO VISIT, UM, A TRAILHEAD, THE BEST TRAILHEAD THAT THEY CAN, UH, VISIT AT CAPITOL A STREET, UH, RIGHT BEHIND THE, UM, MULTI-SERVICE CENTER THERE.
AND A TRAIN WAS WALKING THE TRAILHEAD.
SO WE HAD TO GO WALK TO WAYSIDE.
UM, WHERE HAS VERY NARROW SIDEWALK, UM, IT'S OBVIOUS, HONESTLY, GRAVEL IN SOME PLACES AND NOT A SIDEWALK.
AND WE ARE FACING THREE LANES OF ONCOMING CAR TRAFFIC.
UM, TRYING TO GO IN LIKE A SINGLE FILE LINE.
THANK YOU MS. BEELER FOR, UH, YOUR COMMENTS TODAY AND FOR JOINING US ONLINE.
UM, I THINK MS. RUBY THOMAS MAY BE ONLINE.
WE'RE LOOKING AGAIN FOR MS. THOMAS.
RUBY, ARE YOU THERE? IF SO, SPEAK UP OR HIT STAR SIX.
I THINK WE'RE HAVING CHALLENGES WITH GETTING YOU ONLINE.
WE'RE GOING TO CALL ONE LAST TIME FOR MS. VIRGINIA IVANEZ, UNDERSTANDING YOU MAY HAVE JOINED US BACK ONLINE.
UNDERSTAND MS. THOMAS, YOU MAY BE TRYING TO UNMUTE, HIT STAR SIX ON YOUR PHONE, SPEAK UP.
AND IF WE CAN'T HEAR FROM YOU, YOU CAN ALWAYS SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION TO ANY OF THE CHAIRS WHO ARE CO-SPONSORING THIS MEETING.
THAT'S COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN, COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT GALLEGOS, OR MYSELF, COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID ROBINSON.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I, I, I'M GOING TO CALL FOR ANY FINAL SPEAKERS LAST TIME FOR ANY SPEAKERS TO HIT STAR SIX, UH, OR SPEAK UP.
I THINK WE HAVE COME TO THE END OF OUR TIME.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, YOUR STAFF AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, BOTH ONLINE, VIRTUALLY AS WELL AS IN THE CHAMBER.
UM, FOR FINAL COMMENTS, LET ME CALL FIRST ON COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT GALLEGOS.
I JUST WANTED TO THANK, UM, UH, MR. PATAS, UH, FOR YOUR YEARS OF ADVOCACY AND IN, IN OUR COMMUNITY ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.
SO THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU AND THE DO IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, LET ME AGAIN THANK ALL THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS WHO TESTIFIED TODAY AND SHARED THE VERY SERIOUS ISSUES THEY'RE SEEING AND FILLING IN OUR COMMUNITY DUE TO POOR RAIL OPERATIONS.
AS I TOLD YOU, PETE, BACK IN JANUARY, AND I SAY TO BNSF TODAY, IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT THE RAILROADS WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH CITIES AND COMMUNITIES TO IDENTIFY AND IMPLEMENT MUTUAL BENEFICIAL SOLUTIONS.
WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT PROLONGED BLOCKAGES, LASTING FOUR AND EIGHT HOURS, AND EVEN 14 HOURS AS IT WAS LEARNED TODAY.
BLOCKING MAJOR THOROUGHFARE AND NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS, LEAVES RESIDENTS STRANDED, FRUSTRATED, AND FIRST RESPOND.
RESPONDERS MUST SCRAMBLE TO FIND ALTERNATE LONGER ROUTES.
AND AS WE ALL KNOW, EVERY SE SECOND COUNTS IN
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EMERGENCY RESPONSES, PROLONGED BLOCKAGES ARE UNACCEPTABLE AND MUST BE CORRECTED.I ASK THE RAILROADS TO PLEASE WORK WITH US TO REMAIN ENGAGED AND OPERATE MORE RESPONSIBLY.
FINALLY, LET ME THANK DIRECTOR JESSE BOUNDS, JACK HANNA, GRIFF, AND ALL THE PARTNERS RECOGNIZED EARLIER FOR ALL THEY'VE DONE TO GET US TO THIS POINT.
AND FOR WORKING WITH MY OFFICE TO BRING THIS PILOT TO FRUITION.
I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THEIR WORK AND DEDICATION.
THE FINDINGS THEY PREVIEWED WITH US TODAY SUPPORT CITIZEN OBSERVATIONS AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT BLOCKED CITY STREETS AND CRITICAL CROSSINGS.
AND AS WE NOTED, THE DATA GATHERED THROUGH THIS PILOT WILL BE UTILIZED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND, MANAGE, AND CONTROL THE IMPACTS OF BLOCK CROSSINGS, AND TO INFORM AND ENCOURAGE DATA-DRIVEN COLLABORATION BETWEEN COMMUNITIES, FEDERAL REGULATORS, AND THE RAILROAD COMPANIES.
AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL AND LET'S ALL CONTINUE TO WORK TOGETHER.
THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS.
I CERTAINLY CAN IMPROVE ON THAT.
WHAT I DO WANNA SAY, UH, WHAT I HEARD FROM RESIDENTS TODAY WAS ABOUT A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
SOME KIND OF KNOWLEDGE OF WHEN YOUR, WHEN YOUR, UM, GRADE CROSSING OR YOUR QUIET ZONE MIGHT BE IN THE QUEUE.
SO WE WANNA TALK MORE WITH PUBLIC WORKS ABOUT A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO ADDRESS THESE, ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THESE INFRASTRUCTURE DOLLARS AVAILABLE.
THANK YOU TO THE RAILROADS FOR COMING.
WE NEED YOU, OUR, OUR CITY ECONOMY, STATE AND NATIONAL ECONOMY.
WE ALL JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN BETTER GET ALONG AND BE BETTER NEIGHBORS.
AND AGAIN, THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPANTS TODAY, THOSE WHO'VE PRESENTED, STAFF AND COUNSEL FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND ATTENDANCE TODAY.
I WANT TO, UH, REMIND THE PUBLIC, UH, AND URGE THE COMMUNITY TO CONTINUE REPORTING INSTANCES OF BLOCKED CROSSINGS TO WWW.RA.DOT.GOV/BLOCKED CROSSINGS.
AND TO CALL UNION PACIFIC AT +1 888-877-7267.
I WANNA THANK AGAIN, COUNCIL MEMBERS ROBERT GALLEGOS AND COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN AND THEIR TEAMS FOR PARTICIPATING WITH US.
UM, ALL OF THESE PRESENTATIONS WILL BE, UM, COMPILED AND PLACED ONLINE, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE IN FUTURE REFERENCE.
AND WITH THAT, UH, I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE AGAIN AND WE ARE ADJOURNED.