March, 2005:

The proposed toll road that would have cut through Oak Forest appears to be dead.

A proposed toll road that would slice through the Oak Forest subdivision in north Houston is no longer an immediate threat to residents, who opposed the project at a Tuesday town hall meeting at Scarborough High School.

Alan Clark, transportation planning director for the Houston-Galveston Area Council, announced that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad will not relinquish right of way for the proposed 20-mile Northwest Corridor Toll Road to span from the Grand Parkway in Tomball to Loop 610.

Clark was there to present H-GAC’s Regional Transportation Plan for 2025 — which includes widening parts of T.C. Jester Boulevard, Pinemont and Antoine drives, and 43rd Street.

Clark was interrupted by residents who packed the school’s auditorium.

Residents interrupted Clark and forced him to abandon a video presentation on the overall plan. “What about our neighborhood?” a resident shouted.

“I’m here to help our community be a better place to live,” Clark said, prompting the audience to become more disruptive.

Taking over the microphone, Greg Ryden, president of the Oak Forest Homeowners Association, urged residents to be respectful and defended their cause to Clark.

Fearing plans for a toll road will resurface in the future, Ryden said residents of established neighborhoods “should not be penalized to address the needs of commuters who choose to live outside the city.”

In addition, widening thoroughfares such as 43rd Street and Antoine Drive from four lanes to six could reduce property values, put children who bike and walk to school at greater risk for accidents, and exacerbate air and noise pollution, he said.

“Are our neighborhoods worth preserving, or are we at the mercy of the infrastructure that serves them?” Ryden said.

That’s definitely good news, but Ryden’s question needs an answer. John, from whom I found this story, frames it thusly:

I think that in the end, if you choose to live in a remote part of the metro area, you should expect to condemned to hellish commutes, and if you don’t like that, you should push for mass transit. Wrecking someone else’s neighborhood should simply be off the table. It’s interesting to me that allowing unchecked development and road-building is usually a conservative position, when in fact it’s a kind of meddling welfare – we will save people from the results of their own choices by punishing those who made smarter choices. And yes, my bias is showing; if you work downtown, moving to the northeast corner of Harris County is just stupid, unless you are one of those few people who enjoys sitting in traffic jams.

Here’s the big scoop for people who claim they have to go out there to get an affordable house: it’s not Christmas and the government’s not Santa Claus. You do not have to go there to find an affordable house; there are tons of cheap houses in Houston, inside the loop. What’s unspoken is the other adjectives in that “affordable housing” phrase: “3000 square foot,” “brand new,” “not near too many people different colors than me,” and so on.

I’m not going to comment on the benefits of old vs new, 3000 square feet versus 1500, or any of that. We all make these choices. I like old houses; not everybody does. I don’t want a giant house; maybe somebody else does.

My point is that I am perfectly willing to live with the consequences of my choices. I want to live close to the center of the city, therefore, I will pay more per square foot. I want to have an actual neighborhood where people walk around and there are stores and businesses mixed in with residential development; therefore, there are many places in Houston with nice, affordable houses that I won’t look at.

For someone moving to a distant suburb to insist that they have to now have roads built for them is no different than me insisting that someone needs to build me a 2500 square foot brand new house in the Heights, and sell it to me for the same price as a 1200 square foot 60-year old bungalow. If I made that claim, I’d be laughed at. I don’t make that claim; I look at all the factors, decide what trade-offs make sense for me, and live with that. I’m only asking that those who want to live farther out do the same. If the commute is really a reasonable trade-off for space and newness, that’s fine. Just don’t come back and say, “hey, this house is exactly as far from downtown as it was on the map when I bought it!” and expect someone to plow down someone else’s house to make your life easier.

I agree with every word. Right now, I’d say that the road-hungry crowd has the upper hand in all this, since the essentially unfettered HCTRA and a couple of prominent local Congressmen are on their side, but the people on the wrong end of the eminent domain equation are getting better about fighting back. We’re starting to get some allies in unexpected places, as the good people of Spring have discovered that a suburban location is no protection from HCTRA’s predation. This is an issue that I hope comes up in the County Judge, County Commissioner, and as many State Rep races as possible next year, since I think it’s one that will reach across party lines. I mean, if your house gets condemned for a toll road, I can’t imagine it’s much consolation knowing that at least it was a Republican who pushed for the road to be built.

(This issue isn’t strictly partisan, of course – Debbie Riddle has filed a bill that may be of help here (I haven’t gotten a reply to my email asking about it, so I can’t say for sure), and Martha Wong has been asked to sponsor a bill that would rein the HCTRA in a bit. Note also Council Member Toni Lawrence’s words at the end of the article, and recall that at the Woodland Heights I-45 town hall, representatives from Michael Berry and Shelly Sekula Gibbs’ offices were there in support. For sure, though, Robert Eckels and Jerry Eversole have dirty hands here, and if anyone ought to be vulnerable to this kind of appeal, it should be the more pragmatic than partisan offices in the Couny Commissioners’ Court. If nothing else, I think a Democrat who campaigns in Spring on a message of making the HCTRA more responsive to neighborhood concerns would be listened to.)

Worried the idea of a tollway will emerge again, one resident asked how homeowners can protect their neighborhood in the future.

Clark said as long as the railroad is not a willing partner, residents can remain at ease.

That feels like a promise written in sand to me. I see that the Oak Forest folks have launched a webpage to agitate against the toll road and other RTP items. I’d say that they’ll still need it even after this victory. I sure wouldn’t be feeling at ease.

Attention, everyone who may be affected by TxDOT’s plan to widen I-45 inside Loop 610: State Rep. Jessica Farrar is hosting a town hall meeting this Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM to discuss this.

The meeting is at the University of Houston-Downtown, One Main St.

Representatives from TxDOT are expected to provide updates on the agency’s proposal to expand the interstate between downtown Houston and The Woodlands and to increase the number of lanes between Loop 610 and I-10.

In October, TxDOT unveiled plans of its expansion to community members at a meeting at Jefferson Davis High School. The plans called for the creation of four “managed lanes” in the center of the interstate that would serve as high-occupancy vehicle lanes or toll lanes for individual drivers.

In some cases, the addition of those lanes would increase I-45 from eight lanes to 12.

Community members who attended the October TxDOT meeting, as well as a meeting hosted by the I-45 Coalition in February, have voiced their concerns over noise and aesthetic issues associated with the expansion — particularly the idea of TxDOT having to purchase homes and other buildings in order to create more right of way.

TxDOT representatives have said that initial plans call for little, if any, land purchase, but residents have been worried that they would not be able to work closely with the department before design plans are finalized.

Free parking will be available at 900 Girard. Additional parking will be in lots along North Main. I’ve got the agenda posted in the extended entry. I’ll be there.

(more…)

Remember the good old days when the Katy Freeway expansion project cost a mere $2.2 billion? How young and foolish we all were, back before stories like this started appearing.

The cost of expanding the Katy Freeway has gone up almost another $300 million, according to a state audit that faults the Texas Department of Transportation for failing to “take the necessary and appropriate steps to estimate total project costs.”

Auditor John Keel’s report notes TxDOT’s latest cost estimate is $2.67 billion, up 78 percent from the October 2001 estimate of $1.5 billion. The last estimate released by TxDOT was $2.4 billion.

“TxDOT faces a significant risk that costs will continue to rise above the $2.67 billion March 2005 estimate for total projects costs.” Keel warns in his Tuesday report to Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, which was publicly released Wednesday. “The Legislature may wish to require TxDOT to design a standard model so that it could estimate project costs more accurately.”

Do I hear three billion? Three billion, anyone?

And since I started making that silly calculation last time, I’ll update it to note that at a total cost of $2.67 billion, this project is costing $2107 per inch.

Keel criticizes TxDOT for basing the 2001 Katy expansion estimate on preliminary engineering work and failing to update the projection as further design work revealed substantially higher costs. He cites about $100 million added after the department determined it would need to rebuild the Beltway 8 interchange to accommodate the four High Occupancy Toll lanes being built in the center of the freeway.

According to the report, the highway department did not originally include $56 million for moving Houston water and sewer lines, failed to include the project’s administrative costs of more than $100 million, didn’t adjust costs for inflation or include contingencies to cover rising materials prices.

The auditor identifies another $121 million in unanticipated cost increases for land needed to widen the freeway, and suggests transportation officials raced to get the bulldozers out there before having the necessary right of way.

“TxDOT did not follow its standard practice of purchasing the majority of right of way before letting contracts,” the report states. “TxDOT made a decision to forgo acquiring right of way in advance in order to manage the project on an accelerated construction schedule.”

[…]

Keel issued several recommendations to the Legislature for mandating better cost controls at the highway department on future projects. He also cited changes needed in expediting the state’s ability to take property needed for these major infrastructure upgrades.

His suggestions include expanding jurisdiction for right of way condemnations in Harris County to include state district courts in addition to county courts. Legal delays mean only 57 percent of needed parcels along I-10 have been acquired despite nearly all construction contracts’ having been let.

[TxDOT Commissioner Ric] Williamson blames landowners for bogging down the process in a bid to get more money.

Now, I know that eminent domain is a necessary tool of government. I don’t know much about the particulars here, but I could be persuaded that a little streamlining of the system is in order. It should be possible to give everyone a fair shake while still keeping the system moving.

That said, I think Ric Williamson has a hell of a nerve blaming displaced property owners for his problems. This situation was entirely foreseeable. It’s a big part of the reason why critics like the Katy Corridor Coalition agitated to reduce the footprint of the Katy renovation – less property to take means lower costs, less time spent in court, and a better outcome for everyone. And not to put too fine a point on it, but I thought respect for private property was supposed to be a conservative principle. At least now we know where it stands when put in conflict with the roadbuilding industry and its generous campaign contributions.

UPDATE: Greg chips in his two cents.