Transportation
290 Corridor:
In the past 25 years, the US 290 Corridor has seen remarkable growth. Population has increased by 57% and road usage has skyrocketed by 95%. State road capacity, however, has only grown by 8%. Over the next 25 years, the population in the corridor is expected to increase by 64% and road usage is expected to increase 214%. The chronically congested 290 Corridor is facing serious problems.
Given these numbers, I requested $267 million for the US 290 Corridor to relieve congestion and improve the quality of life for the people who live and work along the corridor. With $227 million designated for the US 290 Corridor Expansion Project and $40 million for the Hempstead Commuter Rail, Texans can look forward to more time at home with their families and less time on the road.
In addition to reduced travel time, these funds will create over 50,000 jobs, attract new businesses to Houston, make the air we breathe cleaner, and expand a critical hurricane evacuation route.
Members of the Houston Community agree this request is an absolute necessity:
• Ed Emmett – Harris County Judge: “Commuter rail is a necessary part of solving the congestion problems in the 290/Hempstead corridor. I appreciate Congressman Culberson’s leadership in addressing this priority for Harris County residents.”
• Reginald Lillie – Chairman of the Board of Directors, Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce: “I want to offer my very strong support for Congressman Culberson’s request in the highway reauthorization bill for $267 million for the reconstruction of Hwy 290 and the $ 40 million for commuter rail along Hwy 290 also. These two projects are critically important to the mobility and economic development of Cy-Fair/ NW Houston, Waller and Prairie View communities. This is proof of his commitment and willingness to use every means within his Congressional capacity to bring relief of a major mobility burden and the possibility of expanded economic development to the residents and businesses of these communities.”
• Barbara Thomason – President, Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce: “This is an extremely important corridor for northwest Harris County and one that has grown increasingly glutted in recent years from traffic resulting from the sheer growth of neighborhoods and business expansions. Without the influx of funding that could bring commuter rail and highway improvements to this corridor, we will quickly see the deterioration of this corridor. We see this as a critical, narrow window of time in which to act. We must be as proactive as possible so that our sprawling communities can have the infrastructure they need to maintain their economic health.”
To learn more about 290 Corridor Expansion Project, please click here.
The Katy Freeway:
My first promise to you in 2001 when I was sworn in as your new Congressman was to do whatever was necessary to get the Katy Freeway rebuilt as fast as humanly possible. In January 2001, the project was short more than $500 million, and was scheduled to be finished as late as 2016. Rather than accept a funding shortfall and lengthy construction timetable, I found a federal law that allowed the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to partner with the Harris County Toll Road Authority to expand the freeway in half time without any earmarked federal highway dollars.
According to TxDOT, without the $500 million infusion from the Harris County Toll Road Authority, other Houston transportation projects would have been delayed and the I-10 expansion would have been spread out over a much longer period of time.
Our federal gas tax dollars are stretched thin and often used for wasteful projects not even related to transportation. As a dedicated fiscal conservative, I can proudly report that I have kept my first promise to you by rebuilding the Katy Freeway in record time without any earmarks, and I am pushing to make the innovative Katy Freeway expansion a model for the rest of the country.
To learn more about the Katy Freeway project, visit www.katyfreeway.org.
METRO Rail:
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have secured over $46 million for design and engineering costs for Metro’s north and southeast rail lines, and over $7 million for its exemplary bus service. I also helped ensure that Metro was reimbursed for 50% of the construction costs of the Main Street Line since the line was approved by the Federal Transit Administration and financed entirely by Metro.
In 2003, voters went to the ballot box and supported a new rail on Westpark. Metro promised the 2003 rail ballot resolution “will be binding on Metro and will constitute [a] contract with the voters…and may not be repealed, altered or rescinded by any succeeding Board without voter approval at a subsequent election.”
Since the voters approved this resolution, I will continue working with Metro on a line that complies with the ballot language and protects local neighborhoods. This line could run within the Southwest Freeway right-of-way to Westpark, without taking a lane of traffic or homes along either side of the freeway.
Water Resources Development Act
Every other year, Congress reviews the Water Resources Development Act to make updates and changes where needed. Each Member of Congress is able to submit project requests on behalf of their constituents. These projects can either request funding or suggest statutory changes. I review each request critically and only submit essential projects of great public benefit that fall within the confines of the authority granted to Congress by the Constitution.
Please click here to view my requests that were submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the Water Resources Development Act of 2010. The first request proposes legislative language to help the Harris County Flood Control District better plan and execute flood mitigation projects. The second request addresses concerns raised by the Port of Houston and other Texas ports. It proposes legislative language to address annual funding of harbor maintenance and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.
Dear Congressman Culberson,
I am writing to protest what looks like an egregious encroachment on the University of Houston property by Metro’s University Corridor. Young children at the University’s Child Care Center would not only lose part of their playground, but more importantly, they will be put at risk during construction and worse if a derailment or other such accident were to occur.
I submit below the other problems that the UH Staff Council have outlined via email this morning. What this line and the other proposed lines will do is choke off traffic to and around the university, and put people at risk.
We urge you to do whatever you can to stop the unnecessary encroachment. God bless.
Teresa Acosta
Concerned Staff and Parent
To All UH Staff,
As many of you know, the arrival of light rail onto the University of Houston campus is a reality. Preparations for the Southeast Line along Wheeler Street have already begun and initial construction is planned to begin in a matter of weeks.
Due to significant concerns raised by the University community as a whole, the Faculty Senate, in partnership with the Student Government Association and Staff Council, hosted a public meeting with METRO officials on Jan. 27 to discuss the planned footprint of light rail here on campus. METRO officials have indicated that they are willing to return to campus and provide a much more detailed presentation on their plans for completing both the Southeast and University Lines here on campus, but will be unable to do this until sometime in March.
In the mean time, METRO has indicated that we are in a public comment phase with regard to their plans for the University Line, which will close Feb. 28. METRO has informed us that all comments/concerns must be made in writing via their Web site portal.
As part of our ongoing efforts to alert METRO to the concerns of the University community we are asking that you, as a concerned member of the University community, take the time to register your concerns and comments on the proposed route by visiting the METRO comment website.
Listed below in the form of bullets points are four major concerns communicated to METRO by the University community at the Jan. 27 public meeting.
Please feel free to include some or all of these points, or to register your own comments/concerns on the METRO Web site: http://www.metrosolutions.org/go/inquiry/1068/. On the Group Identifier and the Topic/Category drop down menus, please be sure to click on “Academic” and the “University Corridor,” respectively.
Concerns
1) Planned locations of light rail stations on the UH campus: Cleburne Station on the Southeast line does not serve the University population and will disrupt traffic and shuttle bus flow in this area of campus.
2) Planned location of the rail lines themselves on the UH campus: the planned route of the rail lines appears to unnecessarily encroach on areas of campus, particularly the athletic fields, when the tracks could run in the city’s right of way instead.
3) Planned “tail” along Scott Street, south of Cleburne Street on the UH campus: construction of a dead-end rail line or “tail” in this location is a safety issue being so close to several student housing areas, encroaches on stadium parking, is unsightly, potentially dangerous and disrupts a major campus traffic corridor.
4) General safety and Access Issues on the UH campus: the planned route of the Southeast line along Wheeler Street, between Scott and Cullen, encroaches onto the existing site of the Police Station and the Childcare Center, while the overall footprint of the light rail makes little provision for access for disabled students or general movement around the campus on a daily basis by students, staff and faculty in a safe and convenient way.
Anyone interested in the University of Houston’s preferred METRO routes and station locations presented to the UH Board of Regents in December 2009, please go to http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/board_meetings/documents/121809Board/BOR1.1.pdf.
For those who want to view Metro’s general construction information Web site go to http://www.gometrorail.org/go/site/2491/. This is the site METRO officials recommended the university community visit for further information during the Wednesday, Jan. 27 meeting on campus.
Ann M. McFarland
UH Staff Council President
Congressman Culberson: I am very disappointed with you stand on the Richmond/Westpark Metro rail plan. Richmond is a much preferred location for this line by a large majority of Houstonians. Most of the voters who are against Richmond are the homeowners who bought or built houses on Richmond, or very close to it, because they were less expensive than houses well off of Richmond which has been a major street for decades. Westpark will not get nearly as many rail passengers as Richmond. I have only ridden the Main Street line once, from Midtown to the Rodeo, but it convinced me that rail today is much, much different from the 1940’s Heights streetcar that I rode many times when I was a kid, going downtown to the Saturday movies. Your constant attempts to block this have just about cost you my vote in future elections.
Mr. Culberson,
Re: this morning’s Chronicle and your obstinence in blocking Metro’s University line. Huh? “We the People” have voted for and overwhelmingly support an integrated rail network in Houston. It’s YOUR JOB to “bring home the bacon!” NOT be an obstructionist. With hundreds of thousands of new residents every year do you have a better plan for an efficient transportation system here? Or, are you afraid that easy access to our city by the ‘riff-raff’ from the SE quadrant would add to crime? Please get off your high horse and support METRO.
Dear Congressman Culberson,
I was wondering what your opinion is on establishing an high-speed rail system in Texas connecting the major cities of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. Would there be availability to utilize present rail corridors to minimize cost of construction? Also, is there a lobby such as the airlines or other industries that might directly oppose such an addition to Texas transportation?
I look forward to your response.
Best regards,
Chris Sullivan