Parkway heads for big week

County to move forward

Steve Hawley, Feb 21, 09.

UPDATE: Opponents speak out against Grand Parkway. A number of people spoke out against the Grand Parkway at the Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday. Read what they had to say.

Also, the Fort Bend County commissioners approved the market valuation waiver 3-2 after a heated debate on Tuesday. The Grand Parkway has elicited strong opposition in parts of Fort Bend County, particularly in Greatwood, where the the project became a major election issue last year. The Harris County commissioners approved the market valuation waiver unanimously two weeks ago.

UPDATE: The Harris County Commissioners Court approved the advance funding agreement today. The agreement now goes to the Texas Transportation Commission, which will vote on the issue on Thursday, February 26 in Austin.

Meeting notes, February 24, 2009

Listen to the public comments and the commissioners’ discussion. The public comments occur during the first 35 minutes, and the commissioners’ debate begins about one hour into the recording. (Audio recording provided by the Citizens’ Transportation Coalition.)

UPDATE: The latest list of proposed economic recovery funding projects includes a $181 million item for Segment E of State Highway 99 (the Grand Parkway). The funds would be for a four-lane tollway from FM 529/Freeman Road north to US 290.

According to the project description, “TxDOT proposes to fund the northern segment from north of FM 529 to US 290, thereby, leveraging Harris County’s investment in the corridor.”

The list also proposes contingency projects to receive money from the statewide economic stimulus funds, and this list includes the remainder of Segment E, from I-10 to FM 529/Freeman Road, for an additional $216 million. The total, if both go forward, would be $397 million. The project will be up for votes this week at the Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, the Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday, and the Transportation Policy Council of the Houston-Galveston Area Council on Friday.

Read what the Obama administration thinks about how stimulus funds should be spent.

The Harris County Commissioners Court has posted an agenda for its meeting on Tuesday, February 24. The regular meeting, which begins at 10 a.m., will be preceded by a special budgetary meeting at 9 a.m. as the commissioners begin debating the 2009-2010 county budget.

As part of the Public Infrastructure Department agenda, the commissioners will vote on whether to execute an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) “for advance funding for development, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of Segment E and a portion of Segment D of the Grand Parkway in Precinct 3 at no cost to the county.”

According to the agenda for an upcoming Texas Transportation Commission meeting on February 26, “Under the agreement Harris County agrees to fund, develop, operate and maintain Segment E of the Grand Parkway (SH 99), subject to reimbursement of its costs by the department. The department, Harris County and the six other counties are in the process of negotiating an agreement for development of the entire length of the Grand Parkway, and this agreement would be a part of the development framework for the entire Grand Parkway. The agreement would not be effective until Harris County has exercised its primacy option for Segment E under Transportation Code, Section 228.0111(g).” A draft of the agreement between HCTRA and TxDOT has been posted by the Citizens’ Transportation Coalition.

The Harris County Commissioners Court meeting is open to the public and will be held at:

Courtroom of the Commissioners Court
9th floor, Harris County Administration Building
1001 Preston Ave.
Houston, TX 77002

You can sign up to speak at the meeting online. Past agendas are also available online.