East Port Area cities join in plan to upgrade transportation and land use

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) has developed a new program to work with local communities on transportation and land use planning. Called the Subregional Planning Initiative, the program selects an area within the Houston-Galveston region and partners with government and business entities to improve mobility and economic development.

Meredith Dang, H-GAC Land Use Transportation Coordinator, spoke at the Houston Property Rights March luncheon about the purpose and goals of the Initiative. She said that the Council created the subregion plan because funds allocated for projects at the regional level did not necessarily match local needs. A way was needed to align local plans with the regional plans and goals.

The first Subregional Planning Initiative is focused on the East Port area. This area includes Baytown, Clear Lake Shores, Deer Park, Galena Park, Jacinto City, Kemah, La Porte, League City, Morgan’s Point, Pasadena, Seabrook, Shoreacres, South Houston, Webster and unincorporated areas of Harris and Chambers Counties.

H-GAC is conducting a series of stakeholder meetings and workshops to discuss what projects are needed in the area and get input from the community. The cities within the subregion are composed of residential, commercial and industrial land use patterns. Many of the communities are located on the waterfront, and some near the Port of Houston are impacted from freight truck traffic. Areas of the subregion were heavily damaged in Hurricane Ike and are still finishing recovery and rebuilding.

Many of the citizens and stakeholders want to find ways to reduce traffic congestion and mitigate the heavy truck traffic. They would like to see special roads or rail lines for freight traffic only. Adding and widening service roads along the SH 146 Corridor has been suggested. They also want more mobility options such as commuter transit and bikeways.

Cities along the waterfront are concerned about protecting and leveraging their asset to benefit their area. There is also local support for redevelopment initiatives in Baytown, La Porte, Pasadena and League City. Kemah is in need of better transportation and parking in the area of the Kemah Boardwalk. Most cities in the subregion want projects to construct new and improved sidewalks in commercial areas, town centers and near schools.

H-GAC says that the Subregional Planning Initiative provides local communities with the opportunity to work with regional planners to create a “Transportation-Land Use Vision for the East Port Area.” Ms. Dang says the next steps for the East Port initiative will involve a subregional profile and plan recommendations. “What is going to come out of all this, at the end of the day we are going to have a plan that we can hand to each of those local governments that have participated in the process and will have information for each of them. We will have recommended projects and strategies.” H-GAC says that then “regional planners will be able to work with local jurisdictions to identify agreed upon transportation investment priorities.”

To find our more about H-GAC and the Subregional Planning Initiative go to www.h-gac.com/community

(The Banner, March 11, 2010)