Tag Archives: HGAC

The Uptown plan is as much about HOV as it is BRT

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe more. Most discussion of the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone’s plan, which goes before City Council this week, has been about a proposal to annex Memorial Park into the zone and spend $100 million restoring the drought-stricken park. The … Continue reading →

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The Uptown/Memorial TIRZ

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Big projects, big plans, big funding mechanism. Transit and trees – things that make urban areas move quickly and look pretty – are the centerpieces of a $500 million project that would remake the Uptown area and reinvigorate Memorial Park. … Continue reading →

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Biking to transit

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

KUHF has an update. Metro’s Strategic Planning Committee got an update on the “Bike and Ride” Access Study. Metro says it wants to make it easier for Houstonians to combine bike and bus travel. Metro officials say between 10,000 and … Continue reading →

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Take the 2013 METRO Bike and Ride Survey

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A public service announcement from H-GAC: 2013 METRO Bike and Ride Survey The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) and METRO invite you to participate in the METRO Bike & Ride Plan, a planning effort to improve connections between bicyclists and the … Continue reading →

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Help Metro figure out the bike and transit thing

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Your public service opportunity of the day: METRO and the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) are seeking input from bicyclists on the use of public transit. Want to join? You must meet the following criteria: Already integrate biking and public transit … Continue reading →

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Houston-Austin rail update

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow: The Texas Department of Transportation is planning to fund environmental and financial feasibility studies for a passenger rail line connecting Houston to Austin, according to the Texas Tribune and KUT Austin. The planned line would be a 110mph … Continue reading →

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Roundabouts in the sky

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Imagine driving into downtown Houston on interstates 10 or 45, or U.S. 59, and having to merge with all other incoming traffic onto an elevated, one-way traffic circle around the cluster of … Continue reading →

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Galveston passenger rail back on track

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry about the pun, they can be hard to avoid when writing these titles. Anyway, the on-again, off-again Houston to Galveston rail line is apparently on again. A Houston-to-Galveston passenger rail line postponed indefinitely after the economy hit bottom in … Continue reading →

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Houston-Austin rail study

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Houston Tomorrow: The Texas Department of Transportation presented results from a study on the potential for new 110 mph passenger rail service between Houston and Austin, potentially connecting College Station, according to Guidry News and documented in the minutes of the December … Continue reading →

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TPC splits the difference

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bike advocates get a partial victory as the Transportation Policy Council voted to keep the last $12.8 million of unallocated federal funds on alternate mode projects instead of redirecting it towards roads. “Whatever we do in this room is supposed … Continue reading →

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Today’s the day for the TIP

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That postponed Transportation Policy Council meeting to determine how to allocate unprogrammed federal transportation funds happens today. A proposal before the regional Transportation Policy Council last month could have clawed back $12.8 million in funding set aside for bicycle and … Continue reading →

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HGAC hearing on TIP

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Houston Tomorrow: The Houston – Galveston Area Council Transportation Policy Council will host a public hearing to discuss citizen priorities for the use of discretionary funds in the 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program on March 25, 2011 at 8:45am at … Continue reading →

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TPC delays vote on TIP

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow: The Houston-Galveston Area Council’sTransportation Policy Council (TPC) unanimously voted on Friday morning to delay by thirty days its vote on a full $79.8 million allocation of unprogrammed federal transportation funds toward Mobility – roadway and freight rail – … Continue reading →

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City to ask Census for a do-over

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. The city of Houston will ask the U.S. Census Bureau to change its official count, raising questions about whether some apartment complexes or even entire neighborhoods were missed. Houston’s population is 2,099,451, according to Census data released last … Continue reading →

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More on H-GAC and the TIP

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I received some feedback from Judge Ed Emmett’s office regarding this post about H-GAC’s Friday Transportation Policy Council (TPC) meeting, at which funding in the 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) will be discussed and voted on. There’s some context missing … Continue reading →

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Why aren’t we investing more in non-road transportation?

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow has some disturbing news. A proposal to limit bike, pedestrian, and livability funding in the 2011 Transportation Improvement Program will come before the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council (TPC) this Friday, February 25, at a public meeting in the … 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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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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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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Commuter rail along US 90A

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on a piece of the 2003 Metro Solutions referendum that has been largely quiescent till now, the proposed commuter rail line from the Fannin South station to Fort Bend County. Though efforts soon stalled after a 2003 … Continue reading →

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H-GAC Transportation Survey

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Make your preferences known. This is a brief survey about funding for roadway and transit improvements. For decades our community relied on state and federal dollars to supplement local dollars that are used to grow and maintain the region’s Transportation … Continue reading →

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H-GAC Livable Centers Study of the Ensemble/HCC Station Area in Midtown

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Tomorrow night at 7 PM at the Trinity Episcopal Church located at 1015 Holman Street at Main (map) is a public meeting for the H-GAC Livable Centers Study of the Ensemble/HCC Station area in Midtown. You can click on the … Continue reading →

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The Mayorals on mobility

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Carolyn Feibel discusses the Mayoral candidates’ plans for transportation and mobility. Two candidates, City Controller Annise Parker and Councilman Peter Brown, disagree on what Metro’s main focus should be. While supporting light rail, Parker said buses should remain the “heart” … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member Sue Lovell

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Sue Lovell is running for re-election to her third term in At Large #2. She chairs the Quality of Life committee, from which the recent ordinances about billboards, signage, and attention-getting devices originated, as well as the Transportation, … Continue reading →

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How to uncrowd the jails

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Defense attorney Rob Fickman makes the case for dealing with Harris County’s jail overcrowding problems. Jail overcrowding creates unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Locking up the wrong people does not leave sufficient room to lock up the right people, those who … Continue reading →

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Commuter rail update

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Christof has some surprisingly good news for those who want to see commuter rail in the Houston area. There hasn’t been much public movement on commuter rail since the HGAC’s study was released a year ago. But quietly, gears are … Continue reading →

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Just how viable is the Grand Parkway anyway?

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So it’s official, Commissioners Court has voted to seek stimulus funding for the Grand Parkway Segment E despite numerous concerns about the way they went about it. Houston Tomorrow explores a facet of this that I hadn’t been aware of … Continue reading →

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More on the SUPERTRAIN

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Are the stars really aligning to bring a SUPERTRAIN to Texas? Maybe so! Current plans for a Texas system envision a “T-bone” track shape connecting Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston and other towns. But much remains vague: where exactly the … Continue reading →

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Regional crime lab

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This has been talked about for some time, and not unexpectedly it’s starting to move forward. After years of scandal at crime labs across the state, local officials have proposed opening a regional lab based at the Harris County Medical … Continue reading →

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Multiways

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Andrew continues the ongoing discussion of transit options in Houston with a look at multiway boulevards. Basically, a multiway is an urban thoroughfare combining express through lanes in the middle with local access lanes on the sides. These local lanes … Continue reading →

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