Tag Archives: Federal Highway Administration

I-10 elevation update

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the Woodland Heights Civic Association January newsletter: I-10 Heights to I-45 Project Update: Community Advocacy Leads to Significant Changes The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has announced modifications to its $347 million plan to elevate a section of Interstate … Continue reading →

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I-45 project is back on

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Though it will still be several years before there is any real construction. Nearly two years to the day that federal officials paused TxDOT’s plans for rebuilding Interstate 45 and downtown Houston’s freeway system, national and state highway leaders have come … Continue reading →

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If not for I-45 then for something else

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Money for highways never goes unspent. Drivers on Houston freeways likely can relate: Facing a slowdown when it comes to rebuilding Interstate 45, state transportation leaders are shifting gears and changing lanes. Unable to significantly move ahead with the controversial … Continue reading →

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So what’s the deal with that I-45 deal?

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Still to be determined. Houston, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation have an agreed path forward for rebuilding Interstate 45, and a lot of steps to get there. Details big and small remain works in progress and a … Continue reading →

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Agreement reached on I-45 expansion plans

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I remain skeptical, but we’ll see. The bottleneck of design differences that has divided officials about remaking Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston is easing, officials said Monday, clearing the way for construction on the $10 billion project, perhaps in … Continue reading →

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Is this enough lipstick for the I-45 project?

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You decide. A downtown economic development group hopes proposed “green” and multimodal amenities will make the controversial I-45 expansion plan more palatable for the project’s critics. The multi-billion-dollar plan by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to widen and reroute … Continue reading →

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Woodland Heights Civic Association opposes I-10 elevation proposal

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my neighborhood, and this is the email they sent out on Thursday about it. In recent weeks the WHCA has challenged TxDOT on their plan to elevate I-10 near our neighborhood between Heights Blvd. and I-45. Due to the … Continue reading →

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TxDOT sued over its enviromental impact assessments

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. After college, Michael Moritz got a job in Houston analyzing fatal car crashes. Moritz, a 27-year-old native of San Antonio, stood on Interstate Highway 45, one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the country, and documented … Continue reading →

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If the only choices are “take it or leave it”, well…

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Leave it doesn’t sound so bad given the alternative. One year ago, opponents of the state’s plan to rebuild Interstate 45 in Houston criticized the “take it or leave it” option state officials offered regarding amending plans for the mega-project. Tuesday, as … Continue reading →

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State wants feds to un-pause I-45

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We all want things. State highway officials held fast to their plans for rebuilding Interstate 45 in Houston on Thursday, offering a litany of benefits the project will bring and pressing federal officials to lift a 12-month-and-counting pause on development. … Continue reading →

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Federal complaint filed over I-45 project

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Missed this in the barrage of news from the last few days. Critics of the plan to remake Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston filed a nearly 100-page complaint to federal officials Thursday, urging even greater scrutiny of the project’s … Continue reading →

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Some I-45 work to resume

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Just some design work, for now. Federal officials have lifted their pause on a small piece of the planned Interstate 45 mega-project that will remake downtown Houston’s freeway system and has divided state transportation planners, community groups and local politicians. … Continue reading →

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Harris County to pause the I-45 lawsuit

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna give talking a try. You never know. Harris County will pause its lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation over the proposed Interstate 45 widening in hopes that it leads to a consensus that has eluded them for more … Continue reading →

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Republicans want to get the I-45 project going again

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We all want things. Seven Republican members of Congress from the Houston area are urging federal transportation officials to quickly wrap up a review of Texas’ planned Interstate 45 rebuild, arguing that much of the opposition to the project is … Continue reading →

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I-45 remains in the funding plan

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

For now. Ask again in 90 days. Interstate 45 still is on a road to rebuild after Texas transportation officials on Tuesday kept the controversial project in the state’s 10-year construction plans, but warned that failing to get federal highway … Continue reading →

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Will TxDOT pull funding from the I-45 project?

Posted on August 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It could happen. Supporters of state plans to rebuild Interstate 45 from downtown Houston northward trekked to Austin on Thursday to keep the imperiled project on pace, fearing the region could be stuck with an aging freeway and no sign … Continue reading →

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The I-45 survey

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Who thought this was a good idea? The fate of the massive $9 billion project may depend on how many people who agree with Smith or agree with Davies fill out an online poll — after 15 years of planning, … Continue reading →

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Back to the public input phase for I-45

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They hear, but will they listen? Hemmed between a request for a pause by federal highway officials and an outcry from opponents, planners of a massive rebuild of Interstate 45 in Houston are taking their plans back to the public … Continue reading →

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Feds tell TxDOT to slow down on I-45

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

On pause for however long. In two letters released Wednesday — one to the Texas Department of Transportation and another to Harris County leaders — the Federal Highway Administration said it expected Texas officials to halt work [on I-45], including … Continue reading →

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Not everyone opposes the I-45 project

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Life is a rich tapestry. Jill Rafferty proudly acknowledges she bothers a lot of people. Better to rub them the wrong way, she reasons, than let a lack of attention wash her Independence Heights neighborhood away. Flood control efforts, mostly … Continue reading →

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The federal hurdle to the I-45 project

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I mostly missed this when it happened. The Federal Highway Administration has asked Texas’ transportation department to halt construction on an Interstate 45 expansion project, citing civil rights concerns. The news comes the same day Harris County announced it was … Continue reading →

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Harris County sues TxDOT over I-45

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Plans to rebuild Interstate 45 in Houston, which state officials say need to move forward as they work through concerns expressed by critics, took what could be a lengthy detour into federal court Thursday. In … Continue reading →

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Next B-Cycle expansion announced

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Houston’s bike share system, Houston B-cycle, will more than triple in size over the next two years, adding 71 stations with 568 bikes. The expansion will be paid for with federal grant dollars. “The expansion of the … Continue reading →

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SH 130 operator to give up its ownership stake

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Another step on the road to bankruptcy. SH 130 Concession Co. filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan Friday that proposes transferring company ownership to its largest lenders, which include the Federal Highway Administration and a group of European banks. The company … Continue reading →

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Yale Street Bridge to get makeover

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that last November the load limit on the Yale Street Bridge was reduced by TxDOT to 8,000 lbs per single axle and 10,000 lbs per tandem axle, which has resulted in truck traffic being forbidden on the … Continue reading →

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Houston gets grant for bike paths

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. It’s not a trail to nowhere, but the Heights Bike Path ends abruptly at McKee Street east of downtown, and from there cyclists have to share the road with four-wheeled vehicles. A peloton of politicians gathered near that terminus … Continue reading →

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