Tag Archives: TxDOT

Who wants to help build the Grand Parkway?

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The State of Texas wants to know. The Texas Department of Transportation, which has responsibility for the parkway in Harris, Montgomery and Chambers Counties, is moving toward use of a public-private partnership to get faster funding for the multibillion-dollar, 184-mile … Continue reading →

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Grand Parkway protest

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Misplaced priorities: $4.8 billion to advance SH-99 while US-290 commuters sit in traffic Coalition to protest Grand Parkway as poster child of all that’s wrong with Texas transportation policy (Houston, TX) – As TxDOT hosts the final … Continue reading →

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How would you spend $350 million of TxDOT’s money?

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

David Crossley would like to know. Let’s say you found $350 million to do a great transportation project for the Houston region. Would you use it to build a 400-foot-wide, 15-mile-long segment of brand-new highway across the Katy Prairie wetlands … Continue reading →

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TxDOT gets more high speed rail money

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Still not much, but every little bit counts. The Texas Department of Transportation will receive $15 million to begin engineering and environmental work on a high-speed rail link between Houston and Dallas, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced [last week]. … Continue reading →

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I can’t drive 75

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If the Lege has its way, in addition to being able to drive 85 on the Interstates, you will also be able to drive 75 on some other highways. Legislation that would eliminate lower nighttime speed limits in Texas, allow … Continue reading →

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Texas asks for some of Florida’s rejected high speed rail funds

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is hoping to snag a portion of Florida’s unwanted high-speed rail money. TxDOT, which submitted its application to the Federal Railroad Administration this week, is hoping to secure nearly $43 million of the … Continue reading →

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I can’t drive 85

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Start your engines, y’all. The Texas House approved a bill that would allow the speed limit on some highways to be raised to 85 mph, which would be the highest in the nation. The measure passed Wednesday on a voice … Continue reading →

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I-10 service road update

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Ultimate Heights: Two of six planned detention ponds are under construction near Interstate 10 east of Patterson Street, along with new feeder roads between Shepherd and Taylor. Work on the project began in October, with the first two detention … Continue reading →

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By the way, we have no money for roads

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just another issue we won’t be dealing with this session. During the next 20 years, the Texas Department of Transportation will need $315 billion to spend on the state’s roads and freeways for maintenance and construction just to keep traffic … Continue reading →

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TxDOT gets Grand Parkway approval

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another step in the march of the inevitable. The state Transportation Commission on Thursday granted the Texas Department of Transportation authority to begin design work and negotiating contracts to build a key segment of the Grand Parkway. The unanimous vote … Continue reading →

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Texas lags on rail: Film at 11

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this story before, but here it is again anyway. According to a study commissioned by the Texas Transportation Commission, during the next 20 years, more than $300 billion in 2009 dollars needs to be invested … Continue reading →

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TxDOT to take on primacy for Grand Parkway

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Houston Tomorrow: “There are potential opportunities to help advance [the Grand Parkway] in its entirety over the short term,” according to John Barton, assistant executive director for the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) engineering operations, told the Transportation Policy … Continue reading →

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On the road to nowhere

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Use your own favorite cliche for this. Texas soon will be shelling out more per year to pay back money it borrowed for road construction than it spends from its quickly vanishing pile of cash to build new highways. Legislative … Continue reading →

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The Ainbinder traffic impact analysis for the Height Wal-Mart

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

When last we discussed the Heights Wal-Mart development, we were awaiting a traffic impact analysis (TIA) on the roads around the site, which was to be done on behalf of Ainbinder, the developer of the project. For your perusal, here … Continue reading →

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LSG on the budget

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Legislative Study Group, chaired by Rep. Garnet Coleman, now has an analysis of the Pitts budget outline, which you can read here. The main point to remember: How We Got Here: Built-In Budget Shortfall Comes from the 2006 Tax … Continue reading →

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Department of rail-related corrections

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Sue Lovell writes a letter disputing certain aspects of the recent story about Galveston commuter rail being off track. Barry Goodman blames lack of a regional transportation policy as a big obstacle. The eight-county transportation planning region represented … Continue reading →

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Harris County hands the Grand Parkway back to the state

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Commissioners Court wants TxDOT to take over construction of the Grand Parkway. Harris County took control of the project about 15 months ago in the belief that the Texas Department of Transportation did not have the money to build it, … Continue reading →

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More on paying for roads and other forms of transportation

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Given that the private toll road debate is set to gear up again in Texas, it is fortuitous that the Texas Public Interest Research Group, a/k/a TexPIRG, chose last week to release a report called Do Roads pay For Themselves? … Continue reading →

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Texas gets a teeny bit of high speed rail money

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a step forward, but a very very small step. High-speed rail in Texas, long left for dead, is likely to regain a pulse today when U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announces a $5.6 million grant to plan a passenger … Continue reading →

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Bumpy roads

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This story is mostly about how Houston ranks against other cities in road conditions. Of interest to me is the reasons why we’re not likely to get any better: At the Houston-Galveston Area Council, the transportation planning body for Harris … Continue reading →

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Those road congestion blues

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m more interested in the methodology used to determine the list of Texas’ most congested roads than I am in the roads themselves, since most of us could have named the roads on that list without doing any work. Like … Continue reading →

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The revised red light camera study

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, when I wrote about the anti-red light camera folks turning in their petition signatures, I noted that the Chron story referenced an update to the January 2009 study about the effect of cameras on the collision rate at … Continue reading →

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Harris County CIP will ignore Hempstead managed lanes

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Earlier this month, I blogged about the status of the US 290 expansion, for which TxDOT’s plan rested on the assumption that the Harris County Toll Road Authority would go forth with the construction of managed lanes along Hempstead Highway. … Continue reading →

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What’s going on with US 290?

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, I wrote about the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that TxDOT has filed for its proposed expansion of US 290. This is a huge proposal, with a price tag of $4.6 billion if all of it gets done, … Continue reading →

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The TxDOT audit

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you will be surprised to learn that TxDOT has a lot of issues. The Texas Department of Transportation should significantly alter its leadership structure, reshuffle its executive ranks and reduce the role engineers play in leading the sprawling … Continue reading →

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The 290 FEIS

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The prep work for the expansion/overhaul of US290 is entering its final stages. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed transportation improvements on the US 290/Hempstead Corridor is now available for review. The proposed US 290 Program Corridor … Continue reading →

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Don’t hold your breath for high speed rail

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still years away from being anything more than a wish list item. Bill Glavin, appointed late last year as the Texas Department of Transportation’s first rail director, told the Tarrant Regional Mobility Coalition on Wednesday that years of careful … Continue reading →

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TxDOT’s shell game

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

State Sens. Jeff Wentworth and Wendy Davis, and State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon show in this op-ed how TxDOT is trying to move money that the Lege specifically designated for rail to roads. Transportation advocates won a hard-fought victory during … Continue reading →

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DART may take a big step back

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which has built out a much more extensive rail network than Metro and which has plans for a lot more, may instead scrap most of those plans due to serious financial issues. Final decisions are months … Continue reading →

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TxDOT to give a little more focus to rail

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So says Transportation Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi. “Really since the creation of the Texas Department of Transportation, roads were seen as the only solution and we’re learning very quickly that we can’t keep up with enough of the road demand,” … Continue reading →

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D Magazine on John Carona

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting profile, worth a read, on State Sen. John Carona, who’s become somewhat of a radical in his party for actually being old-fashioned enough to try to solve problems and make government work. I think he’s right about this: With … Continue reading →

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IH-10/White Oak detention facilities public hearing

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from the CTC: TxDOT is working toward adding frontage roads to IH-10 inside the loop and separating the depressed section of IH-10 from White Oak Bayou. TxDOT is required to provide new flood mitigation facilities to offset impacts … Continue reading →

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The Chron on the lost SUPERTRAIN opportunity

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron is none too pleased with the way Texas fared with federal funds for high speed rail. Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott stated the obvious: Texas needs to have more plans in that “shovel-ready” shape. Lippincott says … Continue reading →

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I-10 frontage road update

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from the CTC: More than 120 residents attended an informational meeting January 6th convened by State Representative Jessica Farrar concerning proposed IH-10 frontage roads inside the IH-610 loop. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and District H Council Member Ed … Continue reading →

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